[spazola]

Here is a picture of the curved platen that I made for my 1X42 belt sander/sharpener. It works pretty well with the cooler running lower grit belts. It is 1” wood with sheet metal tacked to the outside surface. I had to change the tension spring.

It seems like a pretty easy way to get into hollow grinding on the cheap.

Charlie

[Chris L]

Interesting grinder design, Charlie. Let us know how it works.

Chris L

[nun2sharp]

Originally Posted by Chris L

Interesting grinder design, Charlie. Let us know how it works.

Chris L

Same here, I am quite interested!

[Mike Blue]

Nice setup Charlie. Do you have any backing material between the belt and the wooden piece to reduce friction?

[Bruce]

Do you guys run the belt into or away from the edge?

[JoshEarl]

Blade grinding is always done edge up. So the belt runs into the edge. You'd think it would catch and chip, maybe send the blade flying, but it works just fine.

Josh

[spazola]

The set up works well, it does not finish as nice as a softer contact wheel but it does an adequate job. It works fine to about 120 grit. With the relatively high belt speed it heats up to quickly with finer grit belts. I would say that it works great considering that it is a tool sharpener from Lee Valley with a piece of scrap wood screwed to the platen. I think that it would be an easy way for somebody with a woodworking 1X42 sander to tinker with making a razor.

On the best blade that I have ground yet I went to 120 with the curved platen then used my lowbudget grinder with a soft wheel for 320 and 600 grits.

Mike, I have a strip of sheet metal on the wear surface. I thought about ordering some of the graphite impregnated canvas but have not since it seems to be doing ok the way it is.

Now for my disclaimer I ground less that 5 razors and am no expert, but I can tinker with the best of them.

Charlie

[Mike Blue]

I was thinking that the graphite canvas would be an excellent idea.

[Milton Man]

Love the idea, Charlie - an excellent budget conscious way to get into grinding - I figure once you outgrow this setup, you've confirmed that you like doing this and may be worth a bit more investment - but this is really cool.

Have you thought of putting an arm and a contact wheel where the platen is and making it a 72" belt? You could slice the 2" belts in half and get some really cool stuff going!

I'm still thinking about the high speed though - any way to put a dimmer switch on the motor, or use a bigger drive wheel?

Mark

[spazola]

1 X42 belts are cheap and available in many grits from low grit ceramic belts to micron graded belts.

I have not thought of making it a 72", that would be too complicated. I still use the grinder for sharpening (wood working). The way it is set up now, it is easy to change back to normal operation.

A smaller drive pulley would be an easy way to lower the belt speed to whatever you wanted.

I had to change the tension spring to make the platen work.

I think this is a good way to experiment. Different diameter platens are easy to make.

I have never used a 2 by 72 grinder but I assume that this is slow going compared to them. It is not the bee’s knees but a viable approach for a hobby maker.

Charlie

[Mike Blue]

I started out on a 1 x 42 hooked up to a router motor. I could rip all the grit off a belt in about 5 seconds. But it worked when it was all I could afford.

The rule is to use the tools you have until you have to get, and can afford, something better. There are plenty of good usable sharp things out there that have been made with files and sandpaper. It doesn't have to be the latest-greatest unless you're going into factory production mode.

[Milton Man]

Oh absolutely - in no way was I even remotely knocking the set-up - in fact, I admire it so much I'm probably going to copy it - but since I'm not into sharpening knives, I was just thinking out loud of how it could be even further modified. I like making tools for which I can neither afford or for which do not exist...it satisfies the inventor in me.

Again, Charlie, I think your setup is sweet, and a great example of what a little ingenuity can achieve!

Mark

[L R Harner]

i was making kitchen knives on a 1x42 for a year or 2 and then i got my KMG 2x72 variable speed grinder

it was like the heavens opened up and a light shown down on me WONDERFUL