Belt Sanding Chisel or Plane Iron Back?

[Stew Denton]

A while back I think there was a post that mentioned use of a belt sander to sand out the corrosion on the back of a chisel blade or plane iron.

Am I remembering correctly? If so, what is the technique and how do you prevent getting the steel too hot? Finally, what grit belts, etc., do you use?

Is belt sanding the corrosion on the back of the chisel or plane iron a bad idea? It takes me a long time by hand.
Is there a better way?

Thanks and regards,

Stew

[Mel Miller]

I think you're going to spend as much on sanding belts as you would if you just bought a rust free chisel in the first place. Good chisel steel is hard and wears sanding belts rapidly.

[Jude Kenny]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ron-Sharpening

Here's the link to a sawmillcreek post.

I've used a belt sander to fix up chisels that have been abused or if I were on a job site. Also, this was before I learned about diamond plates etc.

[Kees Heiden]

I've never been very lucky with the belt sander for the backs. they lead to dubbing of the edges in a hurry. And they also heat the steel pretty quickly. But we don't have these metalworking belts overhere easilly available, so I use a woodworking belt, which isn't too suitable of course.

On a few occasions I have use the beltsander to create a hollow in the back, a little bit like a Japanese blade, but not as nicely. That helps to reduce the workload on the stones.

[bridger berdel]

I've never been able to get backs flat with a belt sander either. What I've been doing lately for badly pitted or out of flat backs is alternating a few strokes on a very coarse diamond plate with a few hits at the high spots shown by the plate using a 2" disc on an angle die grinder.

[steven c newman]

I guess I have been the lucky one, then?

Yep, just used the sander the other day on two chisels that needed a bit of work:
Sander is a B&D Dragster 3x21
Belt on board at the moment is a WORN 80 grit. Have usually used 100-150 as well.
I use a honing guide to hold the item at the needed angle.
I will take the item, hold it at the side of the sander, to do the flattening of backs.
Fingertips are also heat-sensors. Too hot for a fingertip? Dunk it in the handy-dandy cup of water.

I use the sander to get a new bevel. Run until a wire edge comes up at the edge. Then the sander is turned off, and off to the regular sand paper on tile. I only go up to 2.5K, though. Still getting a mirror polish, though. Used it last week to bring a ParPlus 2" iron back from the dead. IMAG0190.jpg

The sander is just to start an edge. Rarely use a grinder, unless the edge is way out of whack. The beltsander does a decent job of getting a flat bevel, so the honing doesn't take as long.

[Pat Barry]

I think trying to get the back 'completely' flat is not even a good idea. If it is 90% flat and all that you have is some pitting due to rust it will not matter in performance. Just get the cutting edge right. That's the only way a pit or two will cause a problem.

[Robert Hazelwood]

I've used a belt sander on some pretty bad chisels and irons. It takes a light touch, and care not to dub the corners (one 'oops' can cause a lot of extra work). Also I keep a jar of water nearby the sander and dip the blade in frequently- I sand in short increments of maybe 5-10 seconds, dip them in water then sand a bit more.

The consumer-grade belt sander I use is not going to make a perfectly flat back, and will require some touch up with manual sanding- I use a granite block with 80 grit sandpaper glued down to start with. But the belt sander will get major pits/problems out much faster than by hand. I wouldn't bother with some of these vintage chisels if I had to flatten them completely by hand.

[Jim Koepke]

I have not tried a belt sander on blades.

There are two alternatives in my shop. One is a 4 foot long hunk of granite on a tall horse with PSA backed 80 grit.

Here is the granite on the horse when it was first set up:

Granite on Horse.jpg

Gee, my shop was much less messy back then.

The other is the Veritas® Mk.ll Power Sharpening System:

http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/pag...35&cat=1,43072

Both are great assets for working blade backs and bevels.

jtk

[Steve Friedman]

Like many, I just use sandpaper on granite. It's a lot of work if you're trying to flatten the back for aesthetics. Not so much of you're only doing 1/2 inch for utility.

I have my 1 x 42 belt sander and always end up making it worse than it was when I started. I then called Viel (the Canadian company that makes the 1 x 42 belt sander that LV sells. They have an attachment (S025) that's a carriage for sharpening Logosol-type knives. No idea what those are, but the attachment uses magnets to hold the blade perfectly vertical to the belt. You also need the hand wheel attachment for it to work. It turns out that Logosol-type knives are thicker or thinner (don't remember which) that chisel/plane blades, so they modified the jig to adjust the depth. It does work, but I virtually never use it. I still prefer sandpaper on granite because I'm only flattening a small part of the back and it just doesn't take that long with 80 (or 60) grit paper.

If anyone is interested in trying out the attachment(s), PM me and I'm happy to lend it out. You just have to pay return shipping.

Steve

[David Weaver]

You need a belt grinder with good tension and a hard platen. I've recovered otherwise kaput vintage irons for about 80 cents (the cost of an 80 grit belt in 1x42.)

I wouldn't use a cheap belt sander.

[Steve Friedman]

One is a 4 foot long hunk of granite on a tall horse with PSA backed 80 grit.

Jim, you may have posted this before, but where did you find that piece of granite? How much does it weigh? How did you get it home? I have a piece that's 12 x 18 x 3 and it weighs 80 pounds. I would love to get a larger slab like yours, but can't imagine where to get one and, even if I find one, how to get it home and move it into position.

Steve

[Jim Koepke]

Jim, you may have posted this before, but where did you find that piece of granite? How much does it weigh? How did you get it home? I have a piece that's 12 x 18 x 3 and it weighs 80 pounds. I would love to get a larger slab like yours, but can't imagine where to get one and, even if I find one, how to get it home and move it into position.

Steve

The piece was found at the local monument maker, (tombstone cutter). The guy let me have it for $25 and helped me to get it in the car. Someone estimated by the approximate volume that it is about 150 Lbs. If you go this route you may want to bring a straight edge with you to select the best piece.

Here is how it got home:

Hunk of Granit.jpg

That is in the back of a Chevy Tahoe.

I learned a lot from my father about handling heavy loads. My folks had a furniture and appliance store and I was often used as a delivery person.

It was carefully slid out of the back of the car onto a hand truck. it was then positioned to lean on one end of the horse. The free end was carefully lifted and slid on to the horse. The abrasive hasn't been changed in awhile. It was used recently to clean the back of a chisel and the sole of a K3 plane from last weekend's rust hunt.

jtk

[bridger berdel]

You need a belt grinder with good tension and a hard platen. I've recovered otherwise kaput vintage irons for about 80 cents (the cost of an 80 grit belt in 1x42.)

I wouldn't use a cheap belt sander.

I have one like that. I still havent had much luck with it on backs.

[steven c newman]

The Dragster has a solid platten that does not move. It is a 3" wide belt. I use the belt sander mainly as just the first step. I place the iron/chisel in the guide. I can set the guide right up to the side of the sander and flatten the backs. I set it at the center of the platten when doing backs. Fingertips to check for heat. Usually just a single finger to press down onto the item getting it's back flatten.

Have another beltsander in the shop. A 1" x 30". Not too great for this type of work. It WILL round over about anything i press against it. Can never get the table to 90 degrees to the belt and platten. Rarely use it for metal objects...

Like i said, the beltsander is usually step #1 in the process I use. Just a step, is all, not the whole process.