What’s the difference between a flexible backing and a stiff backing – which is right for me? In the world of knife making abrasive belts, it can be daunting when you are trying to find the right belt at the right time! Some people like a stiff-backed belt, commonly a YWt or a XWt backing. These are a heavy polyester and are stiff. They allow more abrasive to be bonded to the backing so you can get very high performance from them, just if you use enough pressure – if you don’t, they will glaze up and feel dead! JWt belts are a hyper flexible alternative backing. They are like wet spaghetti but have several benefits over the heavy weighted belts – they need less pressure so won’t glaze up and due to the flexibility of them allow you to grind into tight corners or even slack belt grinding!
Benefits Of A YW or XWt Belt
- Heavy Pressure for fast grinding
- Long Lasting
- Can get grits in excess of P24
- Wide Range of Choice including Shredders, Bora 7 and 3M 784F
Benefits of A J-Wt Belt
- Prefer a lower pressure so won’t glaze up
- Extremely flexible
- Can get grits of up to P220 in Ceramic or P600 in Alu Oxide
- Wide Range of Choice including Bora 3 and SIA 2546JJ in ceramic or Hermes RB346J-Flex in Alu-Oxide