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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

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  #16  
Old 01-29-2017, 10:31 AM
dtec1 dtec1 is offline
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just going to take a guess here but you just said the dark parts are smoother and shinyer than the light parts that tells me the tang isn't dead flat...the belt is smoothing out the high spots (wich would be the darker areas) but the rest could be low spots so if its not getting ground equally it will show a different color this also explains why in the pictures the lighter areas are still have heavy scratch marks....only way to fix it is to go back to square one with a 60 or 80 grit belt and make aeverything dead flat....its hard to tell by a picture seeing in person would be better but that's my guess
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  #17  
Old 01-29-2017, 10:35 AM
dtec1 dtec1 is offline
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Oh also this is VERY important when using gator belts I use them all the time but I start with a 60 grit ceramic then go to a 120 bluefire , then when I start with the gators I start at 120 then 180 then 240 then 400 and maybe 600...as people have mentioned these belts don't remove much material I ONLY use them when I use all of them I wont use some gators some Norton and some hermes (except the original grind like I described abouve) since these belts don't remove much material if you have a high and low spot even if its very slight you will know it right away.
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  #18  
Old 01-29-2017, 10:54 AM
gkyle840 gkyle840 is offline
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Damon, usually have a piece of flat metal that I use to wrap dandpaper around or a flat piece of wood. I just have trouble holding it flat enough on the bevel and tang to not wash everything out.

Ray, I have a belt cleaner that is loke a giant eraser from harbor freight. It was about $9. I am wondering if it is a lesser quality that one from trugrit as it leaves a rubbery residue on the belt that smears in the metal the firsr time I grind after using it.
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  #19  
Old 01-29-2017, 10:59 AM
gkyle840 gkyle840 is offline
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Dave, I started using an 80 grit belt and removed a lot of material from each side. I then went 120, 220, 400 and 600. It was on my new pyroceram platen so hopefully it got everything flat. I did use painters tape on the tang on the oppossite side and put 2 magnets and a flat steel bar to use as a handle to grind the flats. I wonder if when I change sides the tape could have left an invisible residue that darkened?
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  #20  
Old 01-29-2017, 11:29 AM
dtec1 dtec1 is offline
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well... I just went to try and prove my point....I have a knife I put bevels on but that was it didn't do the finish grinding...so I hit it with a 120 bluefire, then started using gators....and I purposely kinda messed it up by wiggleing one way or another during the pass and i don't meen heavy wigleing I mean just barely less pressure or more pressure here or there just barely even noticeable. I littery produced the EXACT same thing in you picture I mean these high and low spots are so amall you cant feel it with your finger but just so slight that the high spot and low spot reflects the light slightly different just barely noticeable on the 120 and 180 grit gators and I was looking for it but really started to aperer around the 240 grit and 400 grit i.....the good thing is its so slight its a easy fix just drop down a grit or 2 and pay extra attention...its not that your platen isn't flat I am sure it is I KNOW mine is dead flat these high and low spots came from my hand not the platen...and you have told me you've had trouble keeping things straight and even one way worse than the other sorta thing....honestly I think its a slight wiggle or not steady even pressure on the platen remember you told me grinding one way is easier than the other for you is this worse on that side? either way its one of those things practice practice practice....go back to a lower grit and slow down take your time and really focus on any movement no matter how minute it may be....again not there to see you do it but its my opinion anyway especially that I just tried it
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  #21  
Old 01-29-2017, 11:54 AM
gkyle840 gkyle840 is offline
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Thanks Dave that sounds about right then. So when you grind the flats of the tang, do you keep the blade dead still? I have been moving it some, thinking it will use more of the width of the belt to keep it more even of a grind.
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  #22  
Old 01-29-2017, 12:14 PM
dtec1 dtec1 is offline
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I find 2 things that help number one a good magnet wich I think you said you have right? also are you grinding the blade vertically or horizontal? I always start off vertical my reason is you can fit more of the blade on the platen if its vertical compared to horizontal and that give less wiggle room for error. if it horizontal its eaisier to tilt it off the corner of the platen one way or the other. and yes I tend to move it around a lil not much just a lil circle kinda never letting the blade go off the side of the platen if the blade is biger than the platen than obviously you have to go over the top or bottom ....but as I said the whole point is so you cant tilt the blade off the side the extreme of tilting it would be having the blade only riding on the edge of the platen not on the flat but even a lil to much pressure on one side will make the other lift up slightly....the fact you got those dark lines means your close your not way off wher you get divots or ridges so just try doing it vertically and move it in a circle if you want just don't let the blade go off the side one way or another...go slow and be very conscious of your movements and I think it will come out better... I usually do the whole blade vertically up to what ever grit I want 400. 600 what ever THen I go back put the bevels in and finish them and you end up with the lines on the flat going tip to tang and the bevel spine to edge wich give it a cool look but even if you want to change the direction since I alreay went to 400 or 600 its easy enough to do without having to take off a bunch of material
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  #23  
Old 01-29-2017, 02:07 PM
gkyle840 gkyle840 is offline
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Ok, I do move the blade from side to side but dont go off of the edge of the platen. I only grind vertically because ive tried hotizontal and that was not pretty. I had pretty messed up edges from not being able to keep it flat. I do use magnets. With the lines, it seems like the longer I grind on one grit the worse they get. They are even there on 80 grit. If I use a new belt for each grit and only grind each belt for 3 or 4 seconds I can almost get rid of them.
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  #24  
Old 01-30-2017, 05:29 AM
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Crex Crex is offline
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Never thought about that Ray. Not used many "structured" belts. I have a box of tri-zaks, but have only used one so far. I just don't do enough coarse/bulk type grinding to get them used up. I forge close enough to finish that they just aren't needed much....so haven't noticed that issue.

By what GK said about the shiny spots on his belts sounds like going to fine to soon and to fast, burnishing steel with clogged areas on the belts. If he doesn't have a belt cleaner in hand he can do almost as good with an old rubber soled sneaker. They just don't work to well on belts moving at high speeds (at least for me). I reserve the cleaner brick for my dedicated slower moving "wood" belts - very useful with them.


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  #25  
Old 01-31-2017, 10:00 PM
jimmontg jimmontg is offline
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I do not bother with the belt cleaners for metal belts much. I use Tap Magic cutting fluid on a rag. Very lightly soaked like you would dampen a rag to wipe your mouth after eating chicken wings, even lighter. Very light. It will remove metal from the belt and leave a very fine coat that gives the belt a little longer time after you use a clean cloth to wipe it off while running. This is only for the high grit type gators, trizacts or microns.

As a matter of fact I have found that using the very thin coat of cutting fluid on a new 600 or higher micron belt before ever grinding with it makes it last longer. Here is the catch, trying to use 400 grit or higher over a large area is not easy to do. You will most definitely have to finish by hand. If using a belt sander I will always go from 320 to 400. My 1x42 isn't as high speed as a Grizzly and it works better, my new 2x48 is as fast as a grizzly and I doubt I'll use it past 220 until I put a variable speed controller on it. I could go on and tell you about silicone carbide belts and damp water rags to keep it clean, but you get the idea, not enough water to fly off, just dampen. I used it for lapidary spacers of fossil wood or agate. Water is dangerous around electric motors so light is the operative word, not to mention oil makes a mess. Lightly!
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  #26  
Old 01-31-2017, 10:12 PM
gkyle840 gkyle840 is offline
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Thanks for the tips guys! I will definitely try the rag trick on the high grit belts! Just want to double check that it doesnt break down the gators?
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  #27  
Old 01-31-2017, 11:45 PM
jimmontg jimmontg is offline
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Kyle, just cutting oil and very very light. It is like just making it look wet versus dry. Hardly at all. My experience is only with Tap Magic cutting oil, it is thin and not just any kind of oil. There are better oils I'm sure, but this is the one I know.
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1084, angle, art, back, belt, belts, bevel, blade, blades, brand, carbon, etch, file, finish, grinder, grinding, handle, how to, knife, metal, scratch, show, steel, tang, wood


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