I recently was the lucky recipient of a free old belt sander, which takes 1"x42" belts. I plan to use it exclusively for sharpening, and I need to decide on an initial set of grits to buy.
Probably I will use the sander for rough shaping and/or grinding out nicks prior to switching to waterstones and/or sandpaper stuck to glass (depending on whatever the particular tool needs). Although, I'm also curious to hear about sharpening plane irons or chisels entirely with a belt sander. I also plan to sharpen kitchen knives, a drawknife, and some other miscellaneous tools.
I was hoping to avoid buying a gazillion different grits. I've understand you can skip some grits with a power sharpening system, but I'm not sure which ones. Should I consider buying a leather belt to use with green compound?
Thanks,
Jim S.