I thought this might be on interest to the community at large. I bought a 2x72" conditioning belt from CKSL and gave it a whirl on a knife I am working on. It's like Scotch Brite pad only 72" long and in a loop. ;-) One interesting effect is that it's very easy to get the brushed look where the lines go up and down and not long ways like when I hand sand along the length of the blade. This belt will still get the blade warm. As this is post heat-treat, dunking is required. You can see the lines going up and down with a brushed look. The belts come in coarse, fine, very fine etc. They're a little bit pricey, but I can imagine they last a long time. I see a use for this on an upcoming kitchen knife. Dan
That blade has a nice look to it, Dan. What grit did you use to get the effect? Fine? Very fine? Jim T
Hi Jim, I used the Norton Vortex Surface Conditioning Belt - Fine, from Rob & Marilyn, part number: 16720 Dan
I have used it on a couple D2 chef's knives and 1 or 2 D2 skinners. Another pretty nead finish you can get with these belts is putting it up against a small contact wheel instead of against the platten. One of these days I would like to try the finest grit they come in to see how it looks.
P.S. This is the Norton Very Fine conditioning belt. I don't how well the image shows the surface, but it looks great as is. Saving me tons of time.
Hey Dan, question for ya. What hand sanding grit did you stop at before using the conditioning belt? You mentioned it was saving you time, is that because of stopping at a lower grit?
Yes. I sometimes go from a 120 grit belt directly to a coarse conditioning belt. Other times I hand sand to 220 then go to the fine belt. Depends on the scratches in the blade that need to be worked out. Other times, I hand sand all the way up. The conditioning belt lets you choose between long-ways or cross-ways brushed effect. Most factory knives are finished across the blade, while most handmade knives we see are sanded long-ways. Now you get to choose! Dan
I am going to have to try a fine or extra fine Dan. I picked one up a few years ago and it's a medium which personally I find to be way too course. They do seem to last forever though. I'm sure the seam will fail long before the belt wears out. Since the medium is too aggressive for me I basically use it for clean up and deburring. It's great for knocking off the sharp or rough wire edges left after profiling with an aggressive belt. Lots of times I may profile half a dozen blades in a row and then leave them for weeks. Deburring this way removes any dirty sharp burrs that I could cut myself on later when working on bevels. It knocks off the burrs but doesn't bevel the edges like a grit belt would. What it IS great for is knocking rust off of old tools like hammers and axe heads, and cleaning up forged items where traditional grit belts would eat away the forged texture. I believe my medium belt is a beartex and is maroon in color.
Yeah it's like having your own personal Popeye with a Brillo pad, snorting spinach right there in front of you. Damn! Fine (green) and very fine (blue) are where the real finishing comes together. They certainly are expensive compared to an abrasive belt at around $25, but they last a long, long time and save a lotta, lotta time. Good luck! Dan
Yes they come in 1"x30". 3M's versions do for sure.. Finding someone that stocks them would be a whole other matter.
At the very least, I can get my hands on a part number from 3M, and have my best possible source track some down.
I had a quick peek at Fastenal. They should have 3M's part numbers on their site. https://www.fastenal.com/products/details/0820243 Dan
Anyone want to go in on a case? lol 3M Canada doesn't show much, even after running part numbers. Namely, NOTHING. Good news is, what little Fastenal has for 1x30, can be had out of the US by the case. I wouldn't exactly call that GOOD news. Back to square one, I guess.
Holy crap. You just pointed me at the mother lode, Jason! They have ALL the goodies... even Blaze and Trizact for the 1x30! And then I realized they're in the US. So what would have been maybe a $100 order just turned into FIVE MILLION DOLLARS. You can be a real sometimes, Jason.
I just got a bunch of ceramic belts for my 2x48 and they also have the surface conditioning belts for my machine too. I will be picking some up on my next order
