Phillip Patton
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2005
- Messages
- 5,344
Hey guys,
Today I modified the flat grinding platen on my KMG by adding a piece of glass, and thought I would take some pictures of the process and share them with you all.
The steel platen works fine for rough grinding, but whenever I switch to 240 or finer grit, it leaves divots all over the blade.... It's also getting some grooves cut in it.
The first grinder I had (which I built) had the same problem, so I modified it also, and adding the glass fixed it. So now I'm doing it to my newer grinder.
The glass I'm using is the special, high temp stuff they use for fireplace windows. In fact, the piece I have was scrounged from our old wood stove.
It's really wear resistant.
First step is to cut out a piece the same size as the existing platen.
I did this with a diamond tile saw, which is probably the only way to do it, as hard as this stuff is. I didn't get any pictures of cutting it, but here it is all ready to go:
Next, I welded a "step" on the bottom of the original platen. I got this idea from someone else here on the forums, I don't remember who.
The purpose of the step is to keep the glass from creating a catastrophe if the adhesive should fail.
Here's the step:
I also bead blasted the steel platen and the glass, so things should stick quite well.
Next, put a bead of good old silicon rubber on the platen:
Spread it around:
Then clamp it down:
When I did my first grinder, I didn't have the step on it, and I didn't bead blast it, and I haven't had any problems with it loosening, but, better safe than sorry.
Today I modified the flat grinding platen on my KMG by adding a piece of glass, and thought I would take some pictures of the process and share them with you all.
The steel platen works fine for rough grinding, but whenever I switch to 240 or finer grit, it leaves divots all over the blade.... It's also getting some grooves cut in it.
The first grinder I had (which I built) had the same problem, so I modified it also, and adding the glass fixed it. So now I'm doing it to my newer grinder.
The glass I'm using is the special, high temp stuff they use for fireplace windows. In fact, the piece I have was scrounged from our old wood stove.
It's really wear resistant.
First step is to cut out a piece the same size as the existing platen.
I did this with a diamond tile saw, which is probably the only way to do it, as hard as this stuff is. I didn't get any pictures of cutting it, but here it is all ready to go:
Next, I welded a "step" on the bottom of the original platen. I got this idea from someone else here on the forums, I don't remember who.
The purpose of the step is to keep the glass from creating a catastrophe if the adhesive should fail.
Here's the step:
I also bead blasted the steel platen and the glass, so things should stick quite well.
Next, put a bead of good old silicon rubber on the platen:
Spread it around:
Then clamp it down:
When I did my first grinder, I didn't have the step on it, and I didn't bead blast it, and I haven't had any problems with it loosening, but, better safe than sorry.
