I just got one. Plan to use it with KOYO compound from Japanesewoodworker dot com.

I will let you know how it goes.

The main things are; keep it clean, no stray grits. And, keep it loaded with compound; let the compound do the work and it will last forever.

Mike

Thanks Mike. I was hoping that you would see this.

Brion

Well I had some time today and I polished the main body of my Moran Knife Vise from Uncle Als. It was the ugliest item in my shop area. I first sanded the body ring with 400# ( 5 mins) then polished it with the cork belt loaded with KOYO ( 15 mins). It is now one of the nicer looking tools mounted in the shop. The body ring's finish was worst than the inner ring that is where the blade mounts. (I added the rubber pads on the jaws to protect my finish.)

The belt works much better than I expected. Over the weekend I will polish one of my practice (junk) blades and see how that goes.

I ordered some cork belts. One for fine grit and one for finer grit. They just sling off the compound. Am I doing something wrong? They loaded partially on parts of the belt but not smoothly. I tried using it anyway but it made kind of a wavy looking polish. Any advice?

I use 2 also now. They need to be broken in before you apply your compound. I take a piece of 1084 sand all 4 sides to 400 and then hold it against the cord for about 4 min. Then I dip the end of my green koyo in a little peanut oil. Hold it against the cork for about 45 seconds. Next I polish the 1084 for about a minute. That one is now ready for my finish work. My 2nd belt I break in with the 1084. I apply shimichome to the blade very lightly and then polish with plain belt. After each pass dip blade in water. Otherwise it will heat up too much.

On the first belt keep adding compound, let it do the work. On the second on add shimichrome to the blade until you get what you want. I finish all this with shimichrome on cotton ball and polish till it shines like a mirror.

|quoted:

I use 2 also now. They need to be broken in before you apply your compound. I take a piece of 1084 sand all 4 sides to 400 and then hold it against the cord for about 4 min. Then I dip the end of my green koyo in a little peanut oil. Hold it against the cork for about 45 seconds. Next I polish the 1084 for about a minute. That one is now ready for my finish work. My 2nd belt I break in with the 1084. I apply shimichome to the blade very lightly and then polish with plain belt. After each pass dip blade in water. Otherwise it will heat up too much.

On the first belt keep adding compound, let it do the work. On the second on add shimichrome to the blade until you get what you want. I finish all this with shimichrome on cotton ball and polish till it shines like a mirror.

Thanks a lot. It seemed like I was needing to add some oil to it, but I didn't want to jump the gun if you know what I mean.

I did try spraying it with water while it was running, but it was just slinging it off too (kinda like riding a motorcycle in the rain with no fenders) HA. One of my belts is for the green compound as well. That is just a good all around compound.

Yes it is. I find that the koyo brand is easier to load the belt with. It shines and smooths very nicely.