In looking for 1" wide belts for my belt sander, for use in prepping guide feet, I realized I have more choices than the every day Aluminum Oxide (A.O.).

For instance, Ceramic, and Black Silicone Carbide (S.C.). I am tempted to try the Black S.C. which is described as "...harder and sharper than aluminum oxide belts and available in finer grits than zirconia. S.C. belts are ideal for fine sanding and polishing glass, metal (knife sharpening), stone, etc."

Any opinions or actual experience with the different types of grit? If there is no real difference between A.O. and S.C., I am tempted to go S.C. because it sounds like it would cut "smoother".

[www.supergrit.com]

Thanks,

Tony

I got the red belts from supergrit, that's all you need. Th belts do wear out so get severl per size, they ar dirt cheap. YOu dont' need every size, 80 for larger guids, 120 for regular, and 150 for smaller ones. YOu still ned to touch them up afterwards.

Billy -

The Red is the basic Aluminum Oxide?

Thanks,

Tony

I use a medium and fine paper. On Large guides I start with a file then touch up with a fine diamond file. Hint make sure you check the edges of the feet by running over your thumb nail . If the edge cuts into your thumb nail. Take a file and just round it off. Two thing can happen with a sharp edge foot. One it can curl and cut your thread and the second it can curl and scratch the blank and cause a failure. Just my thought for the day. Tom was my info correct? I know my spelling a puncuation still suck LOL

Good Wraps Bob

Honestly, I do not know what I have. It's actually a dark red, like Burgandy colored. I dont' think you can go wrong with either, they are so cheap, andyou are usign them for minimal grinding so it probably won't matter much. The Sic belts aren't much more $$ than the ALuOx, right? Get the "better" one. I orderd 10 packs a coupl of years ago, and have 9 of each still left, lol.

Yeah, man. I sent them an email asking if they could sell singles because I see this coming. 42" of belt will last a while, especially since I use mostly Titanium guides that are much softer.

I think the Black SIC is great for finishing and polishing. I am going with that on the finer grits.

I will let you know how it goes.

Cheers,

Tony

Titanium is softer, but it is much gummier and more difficult to work/machine. It will also clog the belts more and fracture more of the abrasive off; the higher grades of ceramics help prevent this or slow it down. Plus the sparks can catch on fire easily (they burn white like magnesium), so you want to use a coarser belt and less pressure for the larger guides and maybe touch up with a finer belt. Fly guides and other smaller guides you should be OK with just using a finer belt, say 120 or 150 and going slow, but with a larger guide, like a Titanium Turbo, use a coarser belt. If you are grinding Titanium, I would not use a dust collector since the shavings are highly combustible and having them pile up while hot is not good! I have a friend who was drilling titanium and the drill shavings combusted and he had a bouncing ball of titanium in his shop. He tried to step on it wearing a flip flop to put it out and it burned through the flip flop. Titanium can be some dangerous stuff! I dealt with mostly pure Titanium when building knives, so I dunno how the guide alloys differ, but be careful of the heat issues!!

Get the better belts like has been said!! I used to make knives years ago. The AO were much cheaper, but didn't last as long, especially with the coarser grits. I usually order from a machine shop supply place and they have a huge variety of belts. I went to a blue ceramic Norton IIRC this time over the AO belts I was using originally for 2 years. I got the belts in 120 and I use it for pretty much everything. If I am doing smaller fly guides or something similar, I will switch over to a AO belt in a slightly higher grit (150 or 180 IIRC) so I don't eat away too much of the foot too quickly. You gotta be careful of the heat, too! Burning guide feet may take off some of the temper and make it more prone to rusting. Stainless Steel is stainless through the heat treating process and if you turn the guide red while grinding, you probably messed up the temper in that area. This usually happens with too much pressure, too fine of a belt for the belt speed, or trying to force a worn out belt to work quickly. I use a 1x30 and use the portion that is not supported by the platen. After grinding the feet, I switch over to a unitized disc in my drill press and polish both sides.

Timothy -

WOW.

This is the most comprehensive answer I could ever expect, especially on the topic of Titanium.

Thank you very much.

Tony

Thanks! I remember when I had to make some skeletonized Titanium handle scales for a Damascus neck knife. I set my work bench on fire a few times from that one knife!!! The Titanium can be very gummy, especially with clogged or worn out belts, so some people may press harder, which really heats it up and makes it more gummy. Then watch the bright white sparks fly!!

I dunno how the Titanium in the guide frames differs, but I know from grinding on some of the Fuji Fly Guides, Am Tackle Titans, Pac Bay Titanium Turbo's, that the guide frame Titanium alloy seems to grind much easier, but still produces the bright white sparks. Also, there is less to grind on the guide foot )most are prepped pretty close to what you need them to be) than rounding out a knife handle or blanking it out, so that helps too. Use fresher, higher quality belts and don't be afraid to go one or two levels lower in grit (say 80 or 100 instead of 120 or 150) on the thicker feet to remove the material quicker with less heat build up and then go to the higher grit belts to clean it up and then onto the polishing. Go slow with them and let the belt do the work and don't lean into it!

Timothy -

Good points. All I know is guide feet and they are either Fuji or American Tackle.

Cheers!

Tony

Tony,
I use the 1 inch belt sander all of the time to prep guides.

I use the standard - red aluminum oxide - grit 230 paper. It works just fine.

I always holde the guide perpendicular to the paper. The end result is that there are very fine groove across the guide foot when finished. The fine grooves are perfect to help hold the thread nicely on the guide foot.

Take care
Roger

Roger -

Thank you.

The person who taught me everything I know about rod building recommends this grit as well. I like the 1" belts.

Cheers,

Tony

I know it's been a while, but I just trashed a $15.00 Fuji stripper and much like the boys in the airplane hangar in the movie Fletch - I need a refresher.

When you use a belt sander, what angle of attack do you use? Do you try to hold the top of the guide foot flat on to the sandpaper? I have seen people roll them but again, whatever I am doing is causing me to shape the foot triangular and take off some of the length.

HELP

Thanks.