A bench grinder is the ideal tool for all those sharpening jobs around the house, but if you don’t own one you might find a belt sander works as well. Invert the sander and clamp it to your worktable, so that the belt is facing up. Lock the trigger switch “on” and you’e in the sharpening business. With an axe, for example, angle the blade slightly down to the oncoming belt and rotate the axe back and forth following the arc of the blade. And always remember to wear your safety glasses.
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Hello,
What belts do you start with, and what do is your final grit. Where can i purchase about using a belt sander. In other words other than using free info from the internet
Thank You,
Walter
Hi Walter, Glad you liked our belt-sanding tip. When sharpening with a belt sander I typically use just an 80-grit belt. However, if more sharpening is needed, I’ll progress through to a 100- and finally a 120-grit belt. Ordinarily though, I’m just sharpening and cleaning up garden tools, axes, putty knives and other tools that don’t require a razor-sharp edge.
One place to find information on belt sanders is, of course, in the instruction manual that comes with the tool. I don’t know of any book devoted to belt sanding, but your local library or bookstore will likely have several woodworking books that show different belt sanding techniques. Thanks for writing and good luck!–Joe T.
This really works…we used to do this to sharpen our countersink bits at a cabinet manufacturing plant I worked at in the past. A little trial and error and you get the hang of the angles and it makes short work of putting an edge back to a dull item.
Hi Tim, Thanks for the tip. I would not have thought of using a belt sander to sharpen countersink bits. I’ll give it a try!–Joe T.