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Thanks for the advice. I looked around town again for the soft refractory fire bricks and apparently they can't be found locally. So, I guess I'll just wait for the kiln to come in. I was trying to get a head start heat treating, but if I have to order soft fire bricks online and wait for them...

Ok, thanks for the advice!

Ok, cool. I was a bit worried my torch wasn't going to work for a forge! :D Any thoughts on the size of hole for the torch flame? And, would the set-up in the pics I posted have worked if I had the right bricks?

You mean using the torch to heat the blade directly? I can still use the torch to heat a refractory brick forge though, right?

Thanks. I guess the local brick guy i went to didn't know what he was talking about. :34: At least I'm only out $20 for the ten bricks I bought. And I can probably still find a use for them. The main reason I wanted to do this is that I've got a heat treat oven on order that will take some...

I wanted to try building a little propane forge today so I called around and found a place that sells fire bricks. After chipping at them a while I think they are not actually the soft insulating bricks, but rather the harder fireplace bricks. In any case, I was able to drill a hole in one of...

Well, I wound up getting some Norton Zirconia Alumina belts in 80, 120 and 220 grit to get started with. They are supposed to show up today.

Thanks for the advice. I actually went quench tank shopping today. I had planned on getting a stock pot but came home with a blue enamelware roasting pan. It's oblong shape looked like it would be better for quenching a longer blade. I will probably have to upgrade to a tank that holds more oil...

Ok, I lengthened the arm about another 5/8" or so and the belt is as tight as it's going to get. I added 2 layers of electrical tape to the center of the idle/tracking wheel and that has made a big improvement, but it still drifts away from the plunge line when I apply the blade to the platen.

Thanks for the tip. I will try that and see where to go from there.

Hmm... I've got the tension set right now where the spring is almost fully compressed and the belt is a little tight going on the machine. The belt will track straight wherever I run it, but it begins to drift when I try to grind a blade blank. I'm wondering if the tension spring on my machine...

I'll loosen it some. But I still need to figure out what to do to fix the tracking. I've searched around and found a lot of people recommending electrical tape around the crown of the tracking wheel. I haven't tried that yet but that will be the first thing I try after giving the belt a little...

I've got it adjusted so the tension spring is almost fully compressed with the belt on. I might need to go ahead and try the glass platen liner or something. I've read that some folks like to track the belt 1/8" to 1/4" off the side of the platen and/or contact wheel to make smoothly rounded...

Thanks for all the help so far! I started grinding my first knife today and had a heck of a time with the belt wandering all over the platen. Is there anything that can be done to keep it steady?

Thanks for the pics. Yeah that grinder in a box looks like a solid piece of equipment. Funny thing is I had to decide whether to spend my money on a mini milling machine, or a grinder and heat treat oven. I opted for the grinder/oven, but now I can see that eventually a milling machine will come...

Thanks! Did you notch your tool rest as well?

I'm not planning to use any hollow grinds to be honest. I think most of my stuff will be flat or convex and the occasional Scandi grind. I like the idea of practicing grinding on mild steel. I guess it's cheap enough anyhow, and I would like a repeatable pattern for profiles I'm happy with...

Yeah, I have been eyeing the glass liners, and have read some about folks using ceramic tiles too. I guess I should see how it goes with the existing platen first. There's this "stuff" on mine that Grizzly calls "graphite" and it has been flaking off all over the place into little shiny round...

Thanks for all the responses. I apologize for starting a new thread, considering there is an existing one already going! Anyhow, I live in a very small town and there aren't any places locally that carry 2X72 belts here either. The only belts you can find are ones for the hand held belt...

I finally got my belt grinder situated, and now I'm looking to get a good selection of belts. What I'd like to know is which type of belt offers the best value. I don't mind paying twice as much for a belt if it's useful life is more than twice as long as a lower priced belt. And I'm also...