Wet Belt Sanding

[Sandy]

In pursuit of the perfect(ly rectalinear) pattern bar, I've purchased a vertical wet belt sander. I thought that if I could make the bar as square as possible (after firing), the slices that I would then cut from it would better fit together to mimize intersticial gaps and possible pattern distortion from subsequent firing cycles. I purchased several silicon carbide belts, the coursest of which is 80 grit. I was disappointed to find how little material it removed (completed bars are 3/4 X 3/4 X 10").

My grinding bits (and any others I've seen) aren't adequately 'high' (3/4")for a uniform pass. Am I faced with purchasing a much more (25X) expensive diamond mesh belt and, if I do, can I expect any better results?

[Kevin Midgley]

I use 50 grit silicon carbide belts. Brock I believe uses 40 grit. They will hog off material much faster than 80. Large areas are tough to do. Also the initial cutting speed of a belt will wear (slow) to that of the next standard grit quite rapidly. If you have been grinding a while with an 80, the effective working grit will be about a 120. If you want absolutely flat surfaces a belt sander is going to be tough to do it on. A flat disc lapping machine such as an SW machine would possibly do it flatter quicker and better. Kevin in Tofino

[Bob]

Hi Sandy,

Why don't you cut the bar into tiles and then square the tiles with your grinder? It might be faster. Also some of the tiles may chip while being sawn so you will only want to square those tiles that are intact.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Bob