Shopsmith Forums

I searched high and low for a leather belt like the one Nick uses on the strip sander to polish and remove the burr on a knife. I believe I purchased the last one from Dick Belcher. He might be ordering more if there's enough people interested. Tonight I found what I believe another leather belt for the strip sander from woodworkingshop.com:
1"X42" LEATHER BELT
Item:WP42000 Your Price: $19.95
Belcher's site is: http://belchercarvingsupply.tripod.com/
He sells the white abraisive componf to provide a shiny polished surface.

What about this stuff as an alternative to the "white" compound?

http://www.woodcarvers.com/buffingwh.htm

Here's another site that talks about the different types of compound -- another thing I've got NO knowledge of:

http://www.nicks.ca/sanding.html

Lee Valley also sells the leather belts, and their compound is green.

Mine came from a larger Klingspoor retailer. I'll try to find them. I know of another that used to do thicker ones, too, but they shut down for awhile.

I do and sell leather covered heavy purpleheart wheels- 8" dia. 2" wide and with first quality 1/8th thick chrome tanned leather. I can accurately bore 5/8ths. I preoil with walnut oil and recommend greenbar from Lee Valley. A plain wooden wheel, of the same specs and oiled will also hold greenbar or, believe it or not, diamond paste. I first did the diamond paste bit on a similar rock maple wheel on a Tormek- the polished burr removal with either is simply astounding. Also uncanny is that the leather does not bury the diamond particles as would be expected. About 3 applications and burnished into the leather, and the steel edge will scare you to death.mt--PS I have been studying shaping and honing for about 45+ years. The popular "saw" about lathe chisels not needing a superior sharp edge is bunk. Sharper tools produce smoother surfaces, reduce catches and allow subtle detailing without much risk of break-out as well.

Sorry, I could go on for hours and hours. The flat sanding discs, conical discs and abrasives and leather on the Strip Sander follows the SS tradition - great flexibility and options for using as a honing center with no fuss, no bother. If you have read this far, thank you for your patience. The topic is so fascinating to me that I am doing a DVD set covering the waterfront on all manner of edge work. My SS's will be a pair of prominent stars along with my Tormek and Wolverine systems. then on to stones and stropping.mt.

I don't know about others, but I don't have the strip sander (yet) but it sounds interesting for this reason.. If I'm reading correctly, it sounds like I can sharpen my lathe knifes on the SS as well as perhaps my kitchen knives? Sharp kitchen knives are not to be found in my house.. They're constantly dull -- mostly because I've got no clue as to how to properly sharpen them.. A local restaurant supply place has an entire book on the art of cutting and sharpening kitchen implements but they want >$50 for it.. Seemed kinda expensive, but perhaps it's worth it..

So, can my SS really be used to sharpen my kitchen knives?

Klingspor's woodworking shop- 1 x 42 leather belt( mine fit the Strip Sander perfectly). They also sell a sleeve that fits on a sanding drum. It is only $10, belt is $20, plus shipping.mt

Is there any other source for 1” x 42” belts?

I tried to order some strip sander belts from shopsmith but they have been on back order for several weeks. I have one 80 grit belt and this does a decent job on my gouge and mower blades but I don’t want to sharpen my kitchen knives with it.

All of my regularly used kitchen knives are Japanese laminated blades- all high carbon. They never see anything but a translucent Arkansas Stone with soapy water and a flat, 3" by 8" mounted hard leather strop.And, all must be wiped down with camellia oil because they are definitely not stainless. They are quite an investment but such a pleasure to use if one enjoys cooking.mt

paul269 wrote:Is there any other source for 1” x 42” belts?

I tried to order some strip sander belts from shopsmith but they have been on back order for several weeks. I have one 80 grit belt and this does a decent job on my gouge and mower blades but I don’t want to sharpen my kitchen knives with it.

Many it is a standard size belt, just do a Google search, I found the folowing sizes on the first try.

Aluminum Oxide Grits: 36, 40, 50, 60, 80, 100, 120, 150, 180, 240, 320.
Zirconia Grits: 24, 36, 40, 50, 60, 80.
Leather

mtobey wrote:All of my regularly used kitchen knives are Japanese laminated blades- all high carbon. They never see anything but a translucent Arkansas Stone with soapy water and a flat, 3" by 8" mounted hard leather strop.And, all must be wiped down with camellia oil because they are definitely not stainless. They are quite an investment but such a pleasure to use if one enjoys cooking.mt

I was wonder where you got your Japanese knives from? I recently purchased Murray Carter sharpening DVD. He makes Japanese knives and uses only two stones to sharpen: 1000 & 4000 grit Japanese water stones. I recently purchase stones from Woodcraft during their Mar 1st sale. My knives might not be as sharp as one of his, but they are far sharper than they have ever been by simply following his 6-step sharpening process.