VSM. Found a new belt with great price to performance ratio

rhinoknives

Well-Known Member
Hello Dog's & Dogette's

I recently was given some test belts from Scott at www.trugrit.com Ontario.

The Brand is VSM from Germany and these are at the price point or lower than the Norton Ceramic Best Value belts I wrote about awhile back.

I ordered 30 of these belts of 10 each in 36G 60G & 120G The Rep " Ralph" happened to be at Trugrit when my order was filled and he offered to deliver my order. We talked a bit and he said VSM wants into the knife maker market and are glad to listen to what we want. That was refreshing to hear!
Also he will have other products for me to check out in the near future.

The 36Grit works great and I get just short of three of my big 8 1/2" x 3" x 14 1/2" OAL Chef blades done per belt. At under $5.00 each this is a very good bargain for a Ceramic.

The 60 Grit do there job as well, Can't remember the quote? Then the 120 Grit which are under $3.00 work great. At the price point of under $3.00 I don't care if I only get the finish work on the bevels of one of my big knives per belt!
The cleanest cutting part of the life of any belt is in the first half of the grit.

That's all I have asked out of the 120's then I use them for cleaning up the flats on my full tangs after HT..

Another aspect that I like about these VSM Ceramic belts is that they have no dyed back or other Crud that can end up on the flat platen and give chatter marks.
I am experimenting using a grinding fluid that I spray on to the belts from Angler Industries named AccuCool 1975 with great early results.
With the Norton Best Value belts the red dye in the ceramic grit was coming out and staining my hands and flying on me etc and the blue dye in the backing was getting messy. I am real happy that these VSM belts don't have that problem with the dyes running. I will do a review of sorts of the AccuCool 1975 soon if anyone is interested?

I really think you guys will also like these belts and at this price point they are a excellent deal.

Bossdog you may want to look into carrying these belts?

A abrasive company that want to listen to us sounds great to me!

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
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just placed an order with trugrit and they are sending several VSM belts as the one i ordered was not on hand. i think it is the 120 grit. my grinder is 4x36. will let you all know how they work.
scott
 
Mark,
I thought you were asking about the Pros & Cons of the VSM Belts when I read your question early?

The AccuCool 1975 is a lube of sorts and so far works great with the VSM ceramic belts.
I used the stick type grease lube tube on A/O belts years ago and didn't think/Feel any benefit.

I do 90% of my work after HTment
The AccuCool 1975 I use with the VSM belts in a spray bottle with a 1-4 mix ratio and have been very pleased at the results. The people at Angler Ind. Said to use a 20-1 mix ratio and I found this to light since I wasn't running a contentious coolant bath on my work.

more on this later.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
Laurence,

I appreciate that you are willing to test some of our VSM Ceramic belts and in turn helping other knife makers with better products and developing cutting edge technology. We spoke today and you asked VSM to come up with some options that might better fit your application...We are looking into your request and will get some belts to you for evaluation. We want to know what products work best in your industry just as much as you want to improve the products that you use daily. VSM has a lot of abrasive belts to present with over 15 different ceramic options - we have a product that is manufactured with micro-grain that I also want you to take a look at somewhere down the road. Custom knife makers are just that - custom - and the general rules of offering belts goes out the window when you are dealing with craftsmen (and women)... I look forward to partnering with the knife making community to offer outstanding products at competitive prices. Tru Grit is working closely with me to offer products that work for you guys, and hammering us to keep the prices competitive so they can save you money... Laurence I will stop by when the belts come in and we can see if we have something or need to go back to the drawing board... thanks again for your time and effort. Ralph Scott - VSM Abrasives.
 
This sounds great!

A plus point to me is the country of origin - Germany. Much closer to me in the UK than the USA is! :D

I did a quick google for VSM Abrasives and found they have a number of branches across the world but most importantly, there's one in the UK.
Even more important than that is that they're only 20 miles from my house! I think I'll have to see if I can pay them a visit at some point!!! :D
 
Stew,
Glad that it may help you.
I am real happy with their Ceramic Grinding belts in 2 x72. The make alot of stuff and Scott at Tru-grit here in the USA was telling me that they make excellent 9" Disk abrasives also.

I am looking into their wet grinding 2 x72" belts to use with AccuCool grinding fluid.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
Hi Laurence,
70.
I just got off the phone to them. Might be a struggle to go direct but not too surprised.

Is the belt code you're using the XK760 or XK870? I asked about trizact equivalent just to see what was said and the lady suggested that was the XK870.
 
Over several years I have finally come to realize that belts are no different than other goods. In order to get the best quality you must pay more than ones of lesser quality. Buying two to do the work of one doesn't seem to be a gain, just more handling and more for the garbage. It's true, however that the best belt for one job is not necessarily the best for others. An example would be silicon carbide belts and ceramic ones. Frank
 
Over several years I have finally come to realize that belts are no different than other goods. In order to get the best quality you must pay more than ones of lesser quality. Buying two to do the work of one doesn't seem to be a gain, just more handling and more for the garbage. It's true, however that the best belt for one job is not necessarily the best for others. An example would be silicon carbide belts and ceramic ones. Frank

What you say is true to a large extent, There are other factors at play.

Some belt makers have name recognition and huge advertising and distribution networks to pay for.

This company is relatively new in the USA and wants in to the knife maker market, They have priced these belts very competitively. These belts from VSM work better than needing two to do the work of one other belt that's twice as expensive like a 3M or Norton so they are cost saving. Also I have found that I prefer how a belt cuts for appox the first half of its grit. They still cut after that, But not as even or as fast and time is money.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
Laurence.
I'm not wanting to be offencive and I'm sure everyone realizes your being sinceree in wanting to help, but VSM belts have been around for many years, and I don't mean three or four. With respect. Frank
 
laurence im glad to hear guys like you keep on top of quality vs the price . I wont sacrifice it and just maybee this new company is onto something that will make the competators more price weary. I will always spend more to get the best but if you can do it at half the cost thats a huge find. thanks for sharing kellyw
 
laurence im glad to hear guys like you keep on top of quality vs the price . I wont sacrifice it and just maybee this new company is onto something that will make the competators more price weary. I will always spend more to get the best but if you can do it at half the cost thats a huge find. thanks for sharing kellyw

Hell HellGap,
This is the first time I know of where a Rep from a company came out to see a maker, Not a supplier and talked about wanting in to the Knife Maker Market and being interested in what we have to say about our needs and wishes?
The products I have tested and purchased are excellent and at a excellent price point!

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
Good info, Laurence. You are right about the dye, glue, etc on belts. When a company says that they are NOT wet/dry, they mean it. You can end up with a gummy mess on the platen. I will be interested to see if this company has moisture resistant belts like this in grits finer than 120.
 
Good info, Laurence. You are right about the dye, glue, etc on belts. When a company says that they are NOT wet/dry, they mean it. You can end up with a gummy mess on the platen. I will be interested to see if this company has moisture resistant belts like this in grits finer than 120.

JM,
They don't have to even get wet to have trouble with dye, ink, backing lube & glues collecting on the Platen and messy up my grinds. I became a belt orphan after I was having this very problem with my Norton Blaze belts.

I used Blaze only for my 36, 50, & 120 grit belts for over 8 years until this problem started and the quest for new Ceramic belts started.

I should hear back from VSM about some wet grinding belts soon and will post here with the results.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com



Laurence
 
I too received some VSM 36 and 50 grit belts to try from TruGrit. I previously was using Blaze and Norton Ceramic ALUMINA. The VSM really preformed well, cut and held up much better then expected and my Blaze are still hanging up on the rack because I am currently preferring the VSM.

I will be picking up some more and giving them a long term chance before I give up the blaze.
 
This is some very interesting stuff Laurence. I'm sure I dont use the quantity of belts that you do but a price break would sure help out us little makers. I dont make much money on the knives I make because I am a relative newbie and the money I can save is helpful.
I wish they would send me some belts to test. I could use some new ones right now...waiting on a shipment from true grit right now.
 
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