Harbor Freight 1x30" Belt Sander for Knife Sharpening

If you flip the HF 1c30 on its back, add some kind of water drip coolant system, and get some 3M Cubitron, 3M Trizact belts, and a Leather Stropping belt, and you have a very fast, nice knife sharpener. You also can effortlessly reprofile edges also.

A step-by-step video to upgrade your Habor Freight 1x30 grinder:

Thanks Jason.

That video by CCC is very helpful. I just bought one of these on sale and am following his steps on how to get it to run better.

I'm going to use it for sanding wood and occasionally try to sharpen very dull knives, or knives without a decent apex bevel with it. I sometimes sharpen kitchen knives for friends and family, and they have some budget kitchen knives that it would really be nice to quickly re-bevel.

I'm not ready to convert the motor over yet, though having one with variable speed would be very nice.

Cal Bowie,
Yeah, CCC should have the parts in stock now. I am planning to upgrade my machine step by step, the motor and variable speed will be the last thing I do. I like mine for regrinds and relief grinds, I usually use my Tormek T4 for sharpening or just sharpen by hand. An excellent coarse oil stone from Norton is about as fast as the grinder I have found. The grinder does do an awesome job at sharpening, especially if you have good belts. I use mine to shape the Kydex sheaths for the Victorinox Paring knife package I do.

jasonstone20,

Did you have to cut away metal so that the adjustment wheel can move forward all the way without the wheel hitting?

I'm at that stage, and it appears my wheel has clearance, unlike what the CCC video shows.

One of the first projects I'm going to play with is rounding the spines of some inexpensive kitchen knives I have. I like the way a rounded spine feels when holding a knife in a pinch grip.

Cal Bowie,
I haven't started yet on upgrading mine. It is interesting to hear about your progress, however. The only thing I did to my grinder way remove the table so I could lay it flat if I wanted to and use it exclusively as a sharpener and for regrinds.