Been using a steel master to sharoen my simmons. Ran across some belt sander viseos on Utube - My question is has anyone used a belt sander to sharpen the concave blades on a simmons? Seems to me that the flex in the belt would allow it to sharpen thses heads weel? I also see that they make leather belts for final honing. Hopefully somneone has tried this and can give me their results before I spend too much on another sharpening system. I tried the rada and jewel stick and get only satisfactory results with them.
Personally,I never sharpen blades on any motor powered tool.It can wreck the temper faster than you think and in the case of a belt sander,could take a lot of metal off very quickly.One or two times doing that could lighten a point enough to even mess up the tune of your setup.There have been a few good threads on this site,about sharpening those heads.
Belt sande with a dimmer switch would allow for slower sppeds. 120-600 grit for slow removal and then they also make leather and 6000 grit paper that should be able to hone. I know a lot of knife makers are going to belt sanders and they too worry about temper and overheating but have work arounds.
I have a jig I made for my standard 6" belt sander and it works fine ( for standard non concave heads). Go light, quench VERY often and I have not seen any issues at all. Just take it easy, its a power tool.
CHuckC
if you are having trouble with the curved portion of the head get yourself a half round file..single cut....about 8 inches long...and try that.
Should help you. As a knifemaker I can tell you power sanding to sharpen heads will end up causing you issues with your temper.
I'm with Ray on overheating the BH with a belt sander. I finally got a variable speed control for my 6x72" belt grinder (a dimmer switch will not work!)and can slow the belt down to a walk. I've done a few that way, but really find it just as easy to set the bevel with a file and then use fine stones for the sharp edge.