Grinding belts! Types, grits, and maintenance!

Hopefully this helps with wending your way through the sometimes confusing world of grinder belts!
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[@verdigrissirgidrev4152]

ceramics can be divided into standard ceramics like cubitron and directed ceramics like cubitron II. if you're noticing a difference in performance that may be the cause. also either aluminum oxide or zirkonium oxide can be used in ceramics as the name denotes a method of manufacturing, not a material by itself - that is, bonding smaller grains into larger ones, ceramically, i.e. by vitrification I assume, so as to create a macro grain that shatters partially to reveal new sharp grinding surfaces instead of just dulling and eventually breaking off as a whole, like the standard AO/ZO grains do. The directed version has all the grains aligned in the same direction instead of randomly, kinda like the teeth on a file.

[@SamTownsBladesmith]

Thanks for the clarification! I was unaware of the ceramification process, that explains quite a bit.

[@ypsiloneksugarek4157]

Awesome video with deep dive into details. Subscribed. Keep up the good work.

[@grahamharris4444]

This is the best explaining of belts

[@ValhallaIronworks]

This is the kind of deep-dive info a 2x72 newbie like me needs...

[@thomaschetney990]

Thank You for your vid very informatively presented 😊

[@kellyroy8506]

I’ve just built my first 2x72 and I’m totally a newbie when it comes to belts. Your video was very helpful. Thanks for posting 👍

[@brysonalden5414]

I found this very useful, as I am on the verge of buying my first 2 x 72 and what I know about belts would fit comfortably in your eye! Thanks for sharing!

[@SpeargrassForge]

They won't hold my pants up! Lol but good job mate! Lol very informative and will remember this for future reference

[@arthurbarrios888]

Extremely informative thanks

[@halloweenchainsawsforgoo]

Happy new year sir.

[@StuartBpPce]

Thank you very much for this very infomative video. It helped me a lot!

[@ed.sol.crafts]

Awesome video! Really enjoyed it!

[@SamTownsBladesmith]

Glad to hear!

[@wiley979]

Thanks for the info Sam. With the industry and tech changing so quickly it's nice to have someone with experience to rely on for advise. Thank you

[@wiley979]

Question: what is your opinion of the rubber stick belt cleaners, do they actually extend the life of your abrasive ?

[@BBForge]

thanks Sam very helpful

[@georgebecker1191]

Great info! I have recently started buying belts and this video answers my questions about trizak and finishing belts. Thank you for sharing it.

[@GWIRailroad]

Thanks Sam that was a big help , defining grinding belt. Happy New Years Wayne!!

[@mattman8685]

Good job bud!

[@OuroborosArmory]

In process of building one of these.. and I need to buy belts.. so this is helpfull

[@veteranironoutdoors8320]

Ouroboros Armory are you videoing it? I need to build one as well

[@OuroborosArmory]

Veteran Iron&Wood I can.. I bought my plans from Jeramy Schmidt because it looks like an AWSOME grinder, and as he made his own build video I didn’t think I would need to duplicate it. Do you want me to?

[@oystercovecraftsman9219]

Great informative presentation 👍

[@oystercovecraftsman9219]

I have a question for you.. when you use your belts and they start too wear, do you discard them? Or as the grit wears down do you treat it like a higher grit belt? E.g. if you had a 50grit belt, have used it a while so it is no longer performing like a 50 grit belt. Would you put on a new 50 grit, and treat your old one like it's a 120 grit. Or just bin your old belts.

[@patriciusvunkempen102]

good belt guide, now i certainly will get some ceramics i already have zirkonium ones but i need to sue up a small cellection of aluminiumoxide belts i got froma friend

[@mitch3384]

Trizact goes a fair bit higher, A5 and A3 are around 3000 and 5000 grit respectively.

[@SamTownsBladesmith]

Thanks for the info! I was going off what was available in Aus at the time, but that's awesome!

[@mitch3384]

@@SamTownsBladesmith I get mine (and all my Trizact) from Aliexpress, hard to find elsewhere down here (I'm in NZ). That said, I've never used it for a job (I'm a sharpener), it just sits there for that one guy who eventually asks for a mirror polish 😆

[@Back40Forge]

Good info!!!!!

[@jackdawg4579]

cheers Sam - what grit medium is on the intermediate belts? Can you also cover in the "how to use them" whether or not they are suited to the use of mist cooling?

[@SamTownsBladesmith]

By intermediate are you talking about the trizact and norax? They are ceramic. Next week's video will cover use, though not in relation to misting. All heavy cloth backed belts should stand up to prolonged water exposure.

[@jackdawg4579]

@@SamTownsBladesmith yes that was the belts I was asking about thank you Sam.

[@urknotfunny6030]

Appreciated. What grit should be used to “hog” off material

[@SamTownsBladesmith]

It very much depends on the size of knife, for anything 4" or smaller I start with 50/60g for larger blades I start with 36/40g

[@anasmohammad1156]

Sorry to bother you but what’s the name of the white finishing belt? The experimental one from Italy?

[@SamTownsBladesmith]

Unfortunately I don't actually have a brand name on that one, it was given to me by an abrasives supplier with no further information than that it was made in Italy, sorry

[@anasmohammad1156]

@@SamTownsBladesmith thanks for responding, we found a similar one that we got from 3M