"Michael Billings" writes:

I'm looking at buying a bench grinder at this point more for fixing and
sharpening blades for hand tools.
snip

"Larry Jaques" answers:

Yes, a 1" belt sander is not as hard on the irons as a grinder.

I'm with Larry on this one.

A bench grinder is the quickest way in the world to destroy a cutting tool
IMHO.

When I have to remove a chip, I'll sand past it with 120 grit.
Then I take out my 600 grit diamond stone and clean it up, finishing
the polishing with Scary Sharp(tm) paper in finer grits. (1000,1500)

That's more work than I'm willing to do or have been.

But then again, my biggest sharpening job right now is a 10" pair of shears
(scissors) used to cut fiberglass cloth.

HTH

Lew