Forge scale eating through belts

[plane_joe]

Forged out a few W2 blades this weekend at my friend's shop and annealed them, I started grinding yseterday and went through two ceramic belts way faster than normal. The steel is annealed soft, so I'm pretty sure it's the scale destroying the belts.
Do you guys acid bath everything before grinding, or use an angle grinder first? My friend suggested vinegar, I already know that but that's an overnight wait at minimum

Maybe I should just accept that I'm going to burn belts removing scale, or is there a more efficient prep step ?

 

[David dave]

the fastest way is to get a heavy duty knotted wire cup brush for your angle grinder. It will take that scale off in minutes and barely load up
Wear serious face and arm protection, because those wires will fly everywhere, but it's the quickest and cheapest way to mechanically strip that rough outer layer before you put the blade on your nice ceramic belts

 

[Alan]

@plane_joe yeah, that scale is brutal on belts. The fastest way is a heavy-duty knotted wire cup brush on an angle grinder as it strips the scale in minutes and saves your ceramic belts.

 

[chateaudechambord]

I’ve run into the same issue. Ceramic belts just get eaten alive by scale. I usually hit the blades first with a heavy-duty knotted wire cup brush on an angle grinder. Takes off the scale quickly and saves your belts a lot of wear. Definitely wear eye and arm protection though, those wires can fly everywhere.

 

[the winner takes it all]

I knock it off first with a wire cup on an angle grinder. Takes a few minutes and saves a ton of belt life. Vinegar works but I’m too impatient for the wait. After the scale’s gone, grinding goes way smoother.

 

[Alan]

I knock it off first with a wire cup on an angle grinder. Takes a few minutes and saves a ton of belt life. Vinegar works but I’m too impatient for the wait. After the scale’s gone, grinding goes way smoother.

Yeah. Vinegar does work like OP here mentioned, but it takes much time. I have not explored other options than what is mentioned by everyone here.