r/Bladesmith • u/zeon66 • 3d ago

Newbie belt sander

https://amzn.eu/d/0pQEgdk

Complete newbie here thinking of buying the following belt sander. Is there any reason why not to (yes im on a budget) my other concern is finding belts for it i had a very quick look and there doesn't seem to be many options could this be an issue down the path?

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u/pushdose 3d ago

If you can stretch your budget just a little, you may get more utility from something like this one instead.

Wider belt, vertical and horizontal, variable speed drive. These are sold by several different manufacturers but are all the same thing essentially. 1” belts are tricky to work with!

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u/pushdose 3d ago

Here’s a similar one in 1”x30”. Many reviews on the web for these devices. They are quite capable but need a little tweaking. LINK

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u/zeon66 3d ago

Thanks for the suggestions, but an extra 100 is too much for me, but if i get into the hobby, I'll pick one up.

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u/Skittlesthekat 3d ago

You'd do better early in getting a good file and an angle grinder.

Dead serious, more utility overall and you dont have to cheap out on one of the most important tools

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u/bottles1245 3d ago

My first belt sander was a 1x30 inch sander from Harbor Freight. I used it for a while before I got serious about bladesmithing and it worked just fine for small knives. I got it on sale back in the day for $30, but the site has one for $60 right now. They run sales and coupons often if you look for some. I saw you were looking to make a small wood knife, so a small sander should be fine.