Sorby Belts, Pt II

[John Grace]

The standard Sorby belt assortment stops at 240 grit. I see other abrasive companies offer up into the several thousand. For those of you who use the pro-edge sharpening system what grit do you typically stop at and why? The question is relative to bowl gouges and skews, thanks...j

 

[William Rogers]

I don’t sharpen my bowl gouges using the Sorby. The extension needed for bowl gouges is a lot using the Sorby. I use the Hannes vector jig for bowl gouges, I use the Sorby for my skews, scrappers, and roughing gouges. The highest grit I usually use is 220. I hone my skews and burnish my scrapers. The edge is fine for my spindle gouges. I have those high grit belts, but never use them. I do use a 40 grit for re-shaping and a 120 grit sometime.

 

[Bernie Kopfer]

The standard Sorby belt assortment stops at 240 grit. I see other abrasive companies offer up into the several thousand. For those of you who use the pro-edge sharpening system what grit do you typically stop at and why? The question is relative to bowl gouges and skews, thanks...j

I use the Sorby system but have been unable to find ceramic grits higher than 120. 120 is good but in my experience higher would be a bit better. But the 600 or more grits are usually used for knife sharpening.

 

[Bill Alston]

I use an Axminster Pro Edge that takes the same size belts as the Sorby. Here in the UK I often use 800g blue film belts sold by Axminster. Normally only on spindle gouges or scrapers though prior to pressing a burr with carbide.



Here in the UK you can normally get custom belts made, albeit with a minimum order of 10 belts.
I also make up my own belts from time to time. I’m not sure how fine abrasive rolls are commonly available though?