I like the Cubitron 150 grit for the finishing grind. That 150 edge seems to be just what I’m looking for. It makes me happy so that’s what I do. I have tried coarser for the last grind but, for me at least, the edge was too rough resulting in a reduction of joy.
You’re right. The Cubitron II belts are available in 120 grit. They are excellent belts, very sharp, cut like champs and last a long time. But like I mentioned, just a bit too gnarly for the finished edge for me.
That said, having some 80 and 120 C II’s around is handy for really dull blades. On the relatively slow light weight Kally, 150 grit can take a while when the edge is really dull. In those cases I’ll go coarser than 150 until I see the first hint of burr and then switch to 150 to finish things up. I would way rather keep light pressure with a coarser belt than more pressure with a finer belt just to try and speed things up. Heavy pressure just generates unnecessary heat.
Concerning the Scotch-Brite belts, I use the Very Fine blue ones. Looks like Tru-Grit has them:
https://trugrit.com/product/1-x-42-sb-av...w-stretch/
Here’s a post I made 4 years ago showing what the surface of the SB belt look like. I was unsure about them back then but have since figured out how to use them.
http://bessex.com/forum/showthread.php?t...75#pid1175
When the Scotch-Brite belts are new they are very gnarly and can easily tear up the edge so they need to be broken in. They get better for deburring after a bunch of use. The whole belt gets softer, more flexible and the surface less coarse. You can speed up the break in process: Run the belt and press a large bolt or some piece of hard steel against the platen. Use a bit of force but don’t overdo it. Wear heavy gloves or pliers to hold the metal as it will get very hot quickly resulting in unpleasant epidermal discomfort and possible damage. This will break down some of the globs of resin on the belt and smooth some of the surface abrasive particles.
Even after that the SB is still aggressive and takes care and practice to figure out how to use it when deburring. It’s easy to tear up the edge. I use EXTREMELY light pressure and just “tickle” the edge of the blade against the open belt off the platen. The idea is not to grind the edge with SB, but just to lightly touch the burr to slice it up and pry any stuck pieces off the side of the bevel. Use the SB sparingly. Only 1 or two super light passes generally seems to do the trick. After that it’s much easier to remove the rest of the burr with leather.
The Very Fine SB belts are blue in color. There is also the Super Fine (I think that is what it’s called). It is gray in color. It is less coarse then the Very Fine and may/may not work better for deburring. I don’t know because I have not tried it.
But like I said, learning to effectively use SB takes practice and understanding of what the SB belt really is and why it works the way it does. It helps to think about that glob covered SB surface, how it interacts with the burr and why you don’t want those globs digging into the edge. With practice SB is great for deburring and makes mincemeat out of even very tough burrs.
I should add that all this stuff is just what I do because I like the results and it makes me happy. Other folks may prefer a different edge finish or deburring method, etc. To me sharpening is all about what makes you happy and finding whatever methods and equipment makes that happen.
You’re right. The Cubitron II belts are available in 120 grit. They are excellent belts, very sharp, cut like champs and last a long time. But like I mentioned, just a bit too gnarly for the finished edge for me.
That said, having some 80 and 120 C II’s around is handy for really dull blades. On the relatively slow light weight Kally, 150 grit can take a while when the edge is really dull. In those cases I’ll go coarser than 150 until I see the first hint of burr and then switch to 150 to finish things up. I would way rather keep light pressure with a coarser belt than more pressure with a finer belt just to try and speed things up. Heavy pressure just generates unnecessary heat.
Concerning the Scotch-Brite belts, I use the Very Fine blue ones. Looks like Tru-Grit has them:
https://trugrit.com/product/1-x-42-sb-av...w-stretch/
Here’s a post I made 4 years ago showing what the surface of the SB belt look like. I was unsure about them back then but have since figured out how to use them.
http://bessex.com/forum/showthread.php?t...75#pid1175
When the Scotch-Brite belts are new they are very gnarly and can easily tear up the edge so they need to be broken in. They get better for deburring after a bunch of use. The whole belt gets softer, more flexible and the surface less coarse. You can speed up the break in process: Run the belt and press a large bolt or some piece of hard steel against the platen. Use a bit of force but don’t overdo it. Wear heavy gloves or pliers to hold the metal as it will get very hot quickly resulting in unpleasant epidermal discomfort and possible damage. This will break down some of the globs of resin on the belt and smooth some of the surface abrasive particles.
Even after that the SB is still aggressive and takes care and practice to figure out how to use it when deburring. It’s easy to tear up the edge. I use EXTREMELY light pressure and just “tickle” the edge of the blade against the open belt off the platen. The idea is not to grind the edge with SB, but just to lightly touch the burr to slice it up and pry any stuck pieces off the side of the bevel. Use the SB sparingly. Only 1 or two super light passes generally seems to do the trick. After that it’s much easier to remove the rest of the burr with leather.
The Very Fine SB belts are blue in color. There is also the Super Fine (I think that is what it’s called). It is gray in color. It is less coarse then the Very Fine and may/may not work better for deburring. I don’t know because I have not tried it.
But like I said, learning to effectively use SB takes practice and understanding of what the SB belt really is and why it works the way it does. It helps to think about that glob covered SB surface, how it interacts with the burr and why you don’t want those globs digging into the edge. With practice SB is great for deburring and makes mincemeat out of even very tough burrs.
I should add that all this stuff is just what I do because I like the results and it makes me happy. Other folks may prefer a different edge finish or deburring method, etc. To me sharpening is all about what makes you happy and finding whatever methods and equipment makes that happen.