# Any pros have equipment recommendations for volume sharpening?



## crockerculinary (Jul 11, 2021)

Hey folks. So some of y’all might be aware, but I have a little knife shop and sharpening business here in Sacramento the last year and a half. I primarily use stones, and would prefer to stick with that whenever possible, but a huge part of my customers have super dull, super chipped, or just super f’d up knives. Lots of not so great knives with broken tips, bolsters to grind down or recurves to grind out, where I’m forced to go to the machines. I have a little 1x 30 with ceramic belts to do the heavy lifting, and I religiously dip in water, but it slows things down and I’m looking to upgrade here soon to something water cooled. 

What would you recommend from your experience? Im going to be doing this for years to come, so I’m willing to spend the money if it’s good value long term. What ya got?


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## ian (Jul 11, 2021)

@JBroida has a big water wheel, IIRC. @Forty Ounce, I think I remember seeing some little powered water-cooled horizontally rotating wheel thing in one of your vids. What was that?

Does your 1x30 have a vfd, btw? My crappy one doesn't and has been such a pain to use because of heat. So easy to burn edges. Just ordered a 2x72 with vfd, though, and I'm hoping that it'll be much cooler, because of the lower belt speed, the longer belt, and the fact that I'll try to use a big contact wheel for a lot of the work.

I only do this occasionally for a very small amount of side income though. Sorry to not be able to really say much from experience; probably I should shut up. GL with it!


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## cotedupy (Jul 11, 2021)

Like Ian I do this a bit, but not really enough to be much help in terms of wheels (I mostly sharpen new knives). But when I do, I use one of these that I've soaked the oil out of, which is remarkably efficient at fast material removal, and barely dishes: NORTON BEAR KS100 SILICON CARB LARGE COMB SHARPENING STONE COARSE/FINE 230x80x30 | eBay

Might be something to think about for after using a wheel / belts, and before going to posher stones...?


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## coxhaus (Jul 11, 2021)

So, when you have one of these large belt machines is it pretty fast to change belts? Or do you have multiple stations with different grits? How do you handle changing grits?


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## rob (Jul 11, 2021)

One of these, or tormek maybe.


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## crockerculinary (Jul 12, 2021)

As usual I start a convo and then have no time to engage in it…

Helpful tips all as usual, but I’m really looking for specific experiential advice from folks doing dozens of knives on the daily. I’m pretty aware of all the available options and want them all, (all the toys!) but I’m wanting to know what is most useful and well rounded in the pro sharpening environment for a big purchase- for example a rotary whetstone is definitely on my must have list for dealing with edges, but I probably wouldn’t want to use those stones to grind bolsters on it. 

Questions regarding my setup-
I have the 1x30 only for serious removal, I have it permanently set up with a 120 ceramic belt and I never change it. I used an 80 for a moment but it was too aggressive. It is not variable speed, so it’s not ideal, but like i mentioned I’m obsessive about dipping every few seconds, use a light hand, and the belt stays wet to help with cooling. I also have 3 worksharps with the blade grinding attachment, that are variable speed and run nice and slow with different higher grit belts sitting there ready for the rare miscellaneous uses for edges. I actually love those little guys, but only for the blade grinding attachment. And I dip a lot with those as well. Now that I’m better at convexing on the stones I don’t use those much anymore. The stropping belt on low is pretty helpful for finishing, but again I mostly prefer the stones for that too.

My concern with a 2 x 72 is It would need to be cooled and putting a cooling set up seems like a lot. There are a number of wet belt machines specifically set up for sharpening like burr-kings that are ready to go, and of course larger wheel systems that run wet, but those don’t seem like they would be as useful for things like bolsters. Damn you bolsters! Damn you all to hell! My instincts tell me I would be dissatisfied with a tormek for any heavy use.

Hope that clears things up. I would give anything to only be sharpening good knives that don’t need anything but stones, but alas, 90% of the knives I get ain’t that. The saving grace is once I fix them and do a little educating on maintenance, they usually come back to me the next time in workable condition.


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## Deadboxhero (Jul 12, 2021)

Anyone serious about professional high volume sharpening is using a 2x72.

So if you're serious there are no other options. 

Time is money.

The knives professional sharpeners see aren't the sexy knives we talk about on the forum.

They're soft, banged up and need rough love and out the door in under 60 seconds.






crockerculinary said:


> As usual I start a convo and then have no time to engage in it…
> 
> Helpful tips all as usual, but I’m really looking for specific experiential advice from folks doing dozens of knives on the daily. I’m pretty aware of all the available options and want them all, (all the toys!) but I’m wanting to know what is most useful and well rounded in the pro sharpening environment for a big purchase- for example a rotary whetstone is definitely on my must have list for dealing with edges, but I probably wouldn’t want to use those stones to grind bolsters on it.
> 
> ...


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## cotedupy (Jul 12, 2021)

crockerculinary said:


> As usual I start a convo and then have no time to engage in it…
> 
> Helpful tips all as usual, but I’m really looking for specific experiential advice from folks doing dozens of knives on the daily. I’m pretty aware of all the available options and want them all, (all the toys!) but I’m wanting to know what is most useful and well rounded in the pro sharpening environment for a big purchase- for example a rotary whetstone is definitely on my must have list for dealing with edges, but I probably wouldn’t want to use those stones to grind bolsters on it.
> 
> ...



I'd have thought the 2x72 is going to need less cooling because of the longer belt, no? That's been my (limited) experience of using one side by side with a 1 x 30. I'd be interested to hear how they perform with different steels too, I assume that taking down finger guards is on Western knives, with softer steels and less fragile HTs...?

[FWIW - I do sharpen knives 'semi-professionally' every day, and see quite a few badly beaten up Globals/Wustof/Sabs &c., including sorting lots of finger guards / bolsters, and a coarse Norton SiC stone isn't to be underestimated... Because you can apply far greater pressure than with belts, while having it cooled by the water on it, it's not really going to be a massive amount _slower _if doing well. But if you're doing dozens of similar things back to back, it would be a silly amount of effort. And I certainly wouldn't want just that if having to do big repair stuff on a daily basis!]


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## branwell (Jul 12, 2021)

crockerculinary said:


> What would you recommend from your experience? Im going to be doing this for years to come, so I’m willing to spend the money if it’s good value long term. What ya got?



I make knives and also offer a sharpening service. About 60% of what comes in for sharpening is crap steel, 30% German or equivalent and 10% decent in some way.

Most of the soft knives come in as dull as butter knives and the harder steels come in very dull and or chipped.
I also get a fair few knives that are scalloped from people not using ceramic honing rods correctly or using those little V shaped blade killers.

Bolsters and scalloping I fix with a KMG 2x72 running slow on a VFD. Takes maybe a minute worst case. I'll also use it to set new bevels on crap steel and really badly messed up Germans. While I use a water system, if you use fresh belts and run the belt speed about 2x the speed you would sharpen aggressively on a water stone, you don't need water apart from a dip bucket even for AEBL which has a low tempering temp. That said, you cant be an idiot about it. Belts will over temper an edge pretty instantly without heating the blade enough to notice.

If you do get a 2x72 and want to run water, a mist system is nice but needs an air compressor. For a simpler setup you can use a gravity drip. With the belts running slow, the belts will stay wet enough to absorb the heat. Water collection depends on your environment. Can range from none to making a little shroud from duct metal available cheap at home depot.

If sharpening where a larger part of my business, I would likely get a horizontal wet wheel. Not sure it would be better than a wet 2x72 but I like new toys


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## jwthaparc (Jul 12, 2021)

I use a Bryxco manticore. Its 60 grit silicon carbide. Works well for when I get damage knives from customers. I usually spend about 5 minutes going through the full progression on a knife. If it's really bad, maybe raise that to 6 of 7 minutes. 

In my case I have the customers literally standing there watching me a lot of the time, so I have to move quickly. That stone is very valuable to me. Especially with the low price tag.


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## coxhaus (Jul 12, 2021)

crockerculinary said:


> As usual I start a convo and then have no time to engage in it…
> 
> Helpful tips all as usual, but I’m really looking for specific experiential advice from folks doing dozens of knives on the daily. I’m pretty aware of all the available options and want them all, (all the toys!) but I’m wanting to know what is most useful and well rounded in the pro sharpening environment for a big purchase- for example a rotary whetstone is definitely on my must have list for dealing with edges, but I probably wouldn’t want to use those stones to grind bolsters on it.
> 
> ...



I had no idea the Worksharp could be used on that level of sharpening. When you use the stropping belt do you use the white polishing compound? Is your stropping belt leather or cloth?

I am kind of coming around to using the stropping belt on the WS KO.

PS
Which Worksharp do you have? They make a Worksharp 3000 and they had an angle bracket for it but I think they got sued by one of round wheel companies so they don't make them anymore. You can make your own.


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## Bensbites (Jul 12, 2021)

Anyone with a 2x72 should look at a misting setup. You can look at the housework YT channel for his video and get his kit from his website or you can put together yours own from Amazon parts. The “Cnc mister” is ~$20-30. My shop floor is half dirt and half concrete.


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## Dominick Maone (Jul 12, 2021)

AMK tactical also has a sharpener. I have seen a professional sharpener use one like it on YouTube but don’t remember who. Water cooled is cool, but I can use a brand new 36 grit belt with minimal heat for about 10 seconds. I know the higher the grit the more heat, but has not been a problem for me. I use stones for all of my sharpening though because I enjoy it. Standing in front of my 2x72, with my bucket underneath, it isalmost second nature to grind for a second and then dip, it probably takes 3 seconds between removing from belt and back to belt.






AMK-75 1x30 Knife Sharpener - AMK Tools







amktactical.com


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## coxhaus (Jul 12, 2021)

I usually buy better tools than Wen. They are kind of low line tools. They make a lot of tools but nothing real special just cheap.


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## RDalman (Jul 12, 2021)

I still don’t feel any need for a mist setup. When I sometimes do sharpening for locals I do most work and burr on 60 grit, take it to a ~200 grit gator equivalent, and finish deburr on a buffer with hard felt wheel and white wax. So three steps, four with wiping the blade clean. But a big grinder like it requires a "dirty" room.


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## crockerculinary (Jul 12, 2021)

RDalman said:


> But a big grinder like it requires a "dirty" room.


That too. Space is kind of an issue. And noise. And ventilation. And electrical. =[


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## ian (Jul 12, 2021)

crockerculinary said:


> That too. Space is kind of an issue. And noise. And ventilation. And electrical. =[



Are you doing it in the back of your store? You have pretty good prices, btw.


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## TB_London (Jul 12, 2021)

36 grit shredder belts running on a 2x72 are surprising cool cutting. A dust extractor running through a dust bong does a good job of catching the grindings. Quick for bolster adjustments and chip removal. Once you go above 60 grit heat can build so frequent dips in water and when the belts get worn swap them.

The risk with a 2x72 is they make the work quicker, but also make the f’ups quicker. A variable speed disk grinder can be useful but harder to change grits quickly and the smaller size means the abrasive wears quicker.


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## branwell (Jul 12, 2021)

RDalman said:


> But a big grinder like it requires a "dirty" room.


Disagree. Dirty rooms are for makers that like to build rooms  
All you need is a 2hp Harbor freight dust collector, a little ducting, some shrouds, and a spark trap and you will have no floating steel dust at less than half the cost of one of those full head powered respirators that are all the rage, let alone the need for a separate room. Its probably cooler to look like a space man though


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## coxhaus (Jul 12, 2021)

You guys are better than me. I sharpen about 4 or 5 knives and I get tried. It is hard to hold the edge on a long 10-inch knife for me using my WS KO.


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## crockerculinary (Jul 12, 2021)

coxhaus said:


> I had no idea the Worksharp could be used on that level of sharpening…
> 
> I am kind of coming around to using the stropping belt on the WS KO. Which Worksharp do you have?


Just to clarify, this is the worksharp with the “blade grinding attachment”. For the Ken onion. “Attachment” makes it sound minimal, but it’s a whole different machine. Basically turns it into a tiny, well, blade grinder, with multiple slack areas and a little platen. If you haven’t seen it you should look it up. Sorry, I sound like a shill. It definitely isn’t perfect but it’s pretty fun. I mainly use it for the stropping belts, so I give that application a thumbs up. They come in handy with finishing serrated knives. They make a 6000 and 12000 belt, and maybe a leather one? I usually have the 12000 loaded.



ian said:


> Are you doing it in the back of your store? You have pretty good prices, btw.



Sorta. I have a little loft thing where I do shipping and keep my shop snacks. It would have to go up there.

You mean my sharpening prices? Yes, it’s to balance out all of my insane knife prices. =]
But seriously, they’re as low as you can get in my region. I’m basically trying to match prices with the local “grinders” and less expensive mobile sharpeners to prove it can be done better for the same price. I should be charging more but I don’t want to. It’s a good draw.


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## ian (Jul 12, 2021)

crockerculinary said:


> You mean my sharpening prices? Yes, it’s to balance out all of my insane knife prices. =]



Touché, my friend. 

Yea, good on you for offering good quality stone work for those prices. Solid. 

Edit: Also, here's to eventually raising your prices once people understand the quality you're putting out!


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## Forty Ounce (Jul 12, 2021)

ian said:


> @JBroida has a big water wheel, IIRC. @Forty Ounce, I think I remember seeing some little powered water-cooled horizontally rotating wheel thing in one of your vids. What was that?
> 
> Does your 1x30 have a vfd, btw? My crappy one doesn't and has been such a pain to use because of heat. So easy to burn edges. Just ordered a 2x72 with vfd, though, and I'm hoping that it'll be much cooler, because of the lower belt speed, the longer belt, and the fact that I'll try to use a big contact wheel for a lot of the work.
> 
> I only do this occasionally for a very small amount of side income though. Sorry to not be able to really say much from experience; probably I should shut up. GL with it!


I think my wheel is an RS-265.. it's really nice for quick material removal, but so is a nice 2x72.


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## juice (Jul 13, 2021)

crockerculinary said:


> You mean my sharpening prices? Yes, it’s to balance out all of my insane knife prices. =]


Balance in all things


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## Luftmensch (Jul 13, 2021)

crockerculinary said:


> You mean my sharpening prices? Yes, it’s to balance out all of my insane knife prices. =]
> But seriously, they’re as low as you can get in my region. I’m basically trying to match prices with the local “grinders” and less expensive mobile sharpeners to prove it can be done better for the same price. I should be charging more but I don’t want to. It’s a good draw.



Given you are already potentially undercutting yourself on sharpening, think about your time productivity. 



Deadboxhero said:


> out the door in under 60 seconds





_Your_ time is the most expensive component of all this. If you are sincere about doing this for the next <X> years get the equipment that will lower your time per job. Not only does this lower the cost for you... it will free up your time for doing more of the fun stuff.

I understand if capital outlay makes this easier said than done. With bigger, louder, messier tools - part of the 'tool' is the space you operate within. A variable speed 2x72 with cooling implies a workspace that can accomodate the noise and dirty - even with proper PPE and extraction (again additional cost). It may be that your loft space is incompatible with this...

If you can't make that work... maybe you need to change your pricing structure to reflect the amount of work that goes into fixing really f'd knives?


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## spaceconvoy (Jul 13, 2021)

Luftmensch said:


> Given you are already potentially undercutting yourself on sharpening, think about your time productivity.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That is one way of looking at it... what if the thing you're sincere about doing is very difficult to market? What is the value of a metaphorical 'door-buster' that gives you access to a much wider customer base than you'd have otherwise?


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## bsfsu (Jul 13, 2021)

Thanks for the great thread, I'm in the process of setting up a knife/sharpening shop in NZ and a lot of the questions running around in my head have had some answers thanks to the crowd here. The quality of the average knife I get for sharpening is shockingly bad and I think I need to stock up on some cheaper stones.


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## crockerculinary (Jul 13, 2021)

Lol, while its nice that y’all are so concerned, my business model is fine, I’m happy with my pricing structure and profit margins, I’m generally very pleased with my productivity, and I have more than enough work. KKF always does as KKF always does, but I’m not really asking for business advice, I’m asking fellow sharpeners about their experience with their favorite equipment. Again, while I appreciate the concern that I’m valuing my time properly, I’m trying to do things a little differently and I’m not looking to necessarily be “out the door in 60 seconds”. As is I’m averaging 10-12 knives an hour when I’m flowing, so if you do the math, it’s actually a pretty good hourly rate for a small one man shop with relatively low overhead.


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## M1k3 (Jul 13, 2021)

I'd price out converting the 1x30 to have variable speed, versus other powered options (tormek, horizontal water wheel, whatever). Lowered belt speed means slower heat buildup.


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## TB_London (Jul 13, 2021)

M1k3 said:


> I'd price out converting the 1x30 to have variable speed, versus other powered options (tormek, horizontal water wheel, whatever). Lowered belt speed means slower heat buildup.


Not sure this is always the case, coarse ceramics cut cooler at higher belt speeds in my experience, presumedly as the removal rate means the heat is lost to swarf. 
Finer belts do heat up mighty fast at full speed though


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## Luftmensch (Jul 13, 2021)

spaceconvoy said:


> That is one way of looking at it... what if the thing you're sincere about doing is very difficult to market? What is the value of a metaphorical 'door-buster' that gives you access to a much wider customer base than you'd have otherwise?



Definitely! Those non-tangibles are difficult to value.

Don't get me wrong!! I am certainly not intending to discourage @crockerculinary. Rather unfairly, I have imposed my value judgments on the discussion... I like sharpening _my_ knives. In general I don't mind sharpening any good knives. But sharpening other people's abused ****** knives?? It is a chore! I won't do it. I'd rather do something else! People who do are far more generous souls than me! Although... I rather suspect I am not alone in this 

@crockerculinary _should_ be soliciting experience from other craftsmen. I just rather suspect most of the advice is going to gravitate towards the predictable... mainly because, if the alternative solutions were sensible... they would be the predictable answer 


For a short while I was interested in Tormek. Experience on KKF is middling. From bad - ask @Dave Martell. To reasonable - ask @Brian Weekley. I rather suspect it might be okay as a stop gap - labour saving for doing heavy edge work before stones (if required) but the wrong tool for bolsters, heavy thinning and chips. It also looks fiddly!


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## Luftmensch (Jul 13, 2021)

crockerculinary said:


> I’m trying to do things a little differently







(Makita make a small version of these... not sure if they are still available...)


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## Brian Weekley (Jul 13, 2021)

I use a Tormek T8 for crap to German steel. I use stones and strops for the rest. The Tormek is just OK for sharpening and I stop at 1000 grit on the Tormek stone followed by a couple of strokes on a King 1000 to deburr. The Tormek does a great job on woodworking tools. I don’t encourage people to bring me crap steel except for the occasional bone handled heirloom set and, at that, I caution customers against using them. Quality steel gets a full progression on stones and strops.

Covid-19 put an end to sharpening for customers. Maybe it will come back when things settle down. Was a good little business.


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## coxhaus (Jul 13, 2021)

M1k3 said:


> I'd price out converting the 1x30 to have variable speed, versus other powered options (tormek, horizontal water wheel, whatever). Lowered belt speed means slower heat buildup.



I do most of my work with the Worksharp KO at slow speed. It seems easier and more forgiving.

I have not seen a heat buildup problem with me sharpening but that could be cause my knives never really get that dull or me running at slow speed.


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## Dave Martell (Jul 13, 2021)

One of the things that I never expected when I got into pro knife sharpening was the edge work is almost irrelevant - the repairs are what matter - and they all need repairs! If you get into this business even casually you will quickly discover this to be true.

When I first started out I bought an EdgePro, then a Tormek, then a 1x30 belt sander and this is the point that I started to make some money. The belt gave me the speed and the ability to do small edge chip repairs (to which 99% have) but I needed more so I bought a Coote 2x48" belt grinder and that's been my machine ever since. What makes this grinder superior to a 1x30 is it's platen (1"x9" in size) as that allows me to correct profiles, do (major) tip repairs, deal with bolstered German knives, do wide Japanese bevels, and a whole slew of other repairs all with ease. I have the grinder set up in a configuration where the belt sits horizontal to the workbench running away from me, very much like a large water wheel would work.

Wheels like cardboard (paper) and buffs also play a roll in the sharpening/repair process but the grinder is the one tool I couldn't do this job without.


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## Dave Martell (Jul 13, 2021)

Check out YouTube for a couple of videos that were just recently made by Never a Dull Moment visiting DistrictCutlery, starring Ryan Swanson. He shares a lot of tip & tricks - these videos are gold to a new sharpener!


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## Deadboxhero (Jul 13, 2021)

I'll share some advice from my experience for other people that are curious about professional sharpening equipment.




Most guys will start out using a 1x30

The 1x30 has two severe limitations that become more obvious the more it's being used.


1. No variable speed control.

This is a difficult thing for people to understand why.

I mean what's the big deal? Don't we want to go faster so that we can cut stuff faster?Why do we want speed control?

it's important but it's important for several reasons that you can't fully be aware of unless you have used both.

Huh?

While it may obvious that the faster speed generates more heat what is not so obvious is that the belts work better at lower speed especially for sharpening. At lower speeds, a user will get more belt life, the belt will be able to cut and do more work rather than just shearing off all the sharp points off the abrasive grains causing them to generate more rubbing and friction.

It's the rubbing/friction that generates most of the heat. Cutting is cooler hence why sharp belts doesn't generate as much heat.


With a 1x30 there is no speed control, It's moving too fast to get any efficiency out of the belt.
That's why people that are stuck with a 1x30 will dress the ceramic belts to keep them working because the high quality ceramic belts that one can buy for a 1x30 are designed for bigger grinders where more force can be exerted to help the belt work. So, dressing will fracture the grains to get sharp points back on them so that the belt can cut a little longer.

2. 1x30 has Low belt life due to size.

Another problem with the 1x30 is the belt size.

With with such a short length to the belt there's just not as many abrasive grains, So it simply Dulls faster ( Captain obvious over here)

More sharper grains means it will cut longer and cooler combine that with the VFD and you have a winning combo for efficiency, speed and enjoyment.

Those two are the most significant, however, the real big problem is being so severely limited in belt selection.

Most folks also just use the cheap harbor freight 1x30 aluminum and zirconia belts both of which are hot garbage. They dull extremely fast and don't cut very good generating a lot of heat.

That's why people buy the "ceramic" y-weight, stiff backed belts from abrasive suppliers one such belt is a orange, Norton Blaze 980p etc

The problem is that there is so little selection for 1x30 when comparing to a 2x72, It's not as ubiquitous as a 2x72.

It also adds up, the 2x72 belts are not significantly more expensive compared to the 1x30 and the last significantly longer and cut cooler.

So it becomes a rip off buying all these 1x30 belts and worksharp belts just to suffer while being completely unaware of the suffering.


The 2x72 belt is essentially one of the most universal belts, It has the widest selection; all kinds of different exotic belts that can make ones life significantly easier.

There's no shortage of the different combinations of belts to speed the process up Make it more efficient or make a better quality edge.

In the 2x72 world, people are in the know about all the different belts just like we see here on the forum about the different stones. It's just not as talked about as often as stones because there's less of a hobby for it in itself.
There's less "belt language" in the 1x30 community Scotch-Brite belts, trizac belts etc might be less known.


Concerns about making more steel dust with a 2x72 versus a 1x30.

They both make the same amount of steel dust unless you're grinding more with one of the other.

Concerns about more heat generation with a 2x72 versus a 1x30.

Less heat is generated with the 2x72 due to having a longer belt with more sharp abrasive causing less rubbing and friction, also don't forget variable speed control is a game changer.


Concerns about being able to use smaller/narrow belts on a 2x72.

Commonly what folks will do is they will split belts, one can take a 2x72 belt and "split it" (cut it) to a 1x72 or any size one would like. The Platen can also be modified to fit a 1x72 belt or any size smaller or in between the 2x72.


What about muh Tormek?

Too slow Joe


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## ian (Jul 13, 2021)

Dave Martell said:


> One of the things that I never expected when I got into pro knife sharpening was the edge work is almost irrelevant - the repairs are what matter - and they all need repairs! If you get into this business even casually you will quickly discover this to be true.
> 
> When I first started out I bought an EdgePro, then a Tormek, then a 1x30 belt sander and this is the point that I started to make some money. The belt gave me the speed and the ability to do small edge chip repairs (to which 99% have) but I needed more so I bought a Coote 2x48" belt grinder and that's been my machine ever since. What makes this grinder superior to a 1x30 is it's platen (1"x9" in size) as that allows me to correct profiles, do (major) tip repairs, deal with bolstered German knives, do wide Japanese bevels, and a whole slew of other repairs all with ease. I have the grinder set up in a configuration where the belt sits horizontal to the workbench running away from me, very much like a large water wheel would work.
> 
> Wheels like cardboard (paper) and buffs also play a roll in the sharpening/repair process but the grinder is the one tool I couldn't do this job without.



Huh, do you grind your own knives on the 2×48, too? And wait, was the 1 x 9 wide platen on a 2 x 48 a typo?


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## Dave Martell (Jul 13, 2021)

ian said:


> Huh, do you grind your own knives on the 2×48, too? And wait, was the 1 x 9 wide platen on a 2 x 48 a typo?




Yes and yes! 

Yeah my platen is 2x9 not 1x9.  

I do indeed grind my knives on my little Coote 2x48 grinder. The thing is a tank of a grinder, a terrific sharpener/repair workhorse, but it's severely limiting in what it can offer for knifemaking. The belt size is the first limitation, and this is significant, as even though there's a lot of availability today in belt choices for 2x48 there's nowhere near the options available to the 2x72 user. The next is that it's a 2 wheel system, no options for small or large contact wheels. I would kill for a 1/2" contact wheel! And then there's all the configuration changes that the modern 2x72 grinders offer for unlimited ways to provide solutions. I love the Coote for my sharpening/repair work but it's not at all close to being the best for knifemaking.

One day I'll get a 2x72 grinder for knifemaking but I can't ever see me getting rid of my 2x48 for sharpening/repair work, it's just so perfect for this purpose.


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## tostadas (Jul 13, 2021)

Dave Martell said:


> Yes and yes!
> 
> Yeah my platen is 2x9 not 1x9.
> 
> I do indeed grind my knives on my little Coote 2x48 grinder. The thing is a tank of a grinder, a terrific sharpener/repair workhorse, but it's severely limiting in what it can offer for knifemaking. The belt size is the first limitation, and this is significant, as even though there's a lot of availability today in belt choices for 2x48 there's nowhere near the options available to the 2x72 user. The next is that it's a 2 wheel system, no options for small or large contact wheels. I would kill for a 1/2" contact wheel! And then there's all the configuration changes that the modern 2x72 grinders offer for unlimited ways to provide solutions. I love the Coote for my sharpening/repair work but it's not at all close to being the best for knifemaking.


Do you run a variable speed setup for your use?


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## Dave Martell (Jul 13, 2021)

tostadas said:


> Do you run a variable speed setup for your use?



I don't. That's not to say that I shouldn't, just that I've been using it with a 3-step pulley system for so long now I've got used to it. I think that the only thing I'd benefit from variable speed is on the very low end and top end as I could see gaining more control from a slower speed and more productivity in steel removal from a higher speed. Now that I've been at it for all these years I can't get enough speed!


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## ian (Jul 13, 2021)

Dave Martell said:


> Yes and yes!
> 
> Yeah my platen is 2x9 not 1x9.
> 
> ...



It’s inspiring that you’ve managed to develop a real name as a knife maker on a 2x48 without vfd. ‘Bout the skillz, not the toolz. IIRC, @Isasmedjan hasn’t bothered to get a vfd either?


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