Off Topic Arrrrggghhhhh. The Never Ending Parts-Needed Black Hole

Use enoughand the glass wears out too. I replace mine about every six months or so. I've never had one break but I do have a lip and I use JB Weld.
 
Horsewright said:
Use enoughand the glass wears out too. I replace mine about every six months or so. I've never had one break but I do have a lip and I use JB Weld.
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Thanks Dave. My guess is I will never match your production throughout - I am lucky to get a couple hours in the shop every other day or so :-( ... so it will likely last a while... I’m developing a backlog of blades that need to be ground!

I got the glass glued up yesterday, and we are batting snow / freezing drizzle today ...maybe I will go hibernate in the shop and get some grinding done!
 
Cushing H. said:
Thanks Dave. My guess is I will never match your production throughout - I am lucky to get a couple hours in the shop every other day or so :-( ... so it will likely last a while... I’m developing a backlog of blades that need to be ground!

I got the glass glued up yesterday, and we are batting snow / freezing drizzle today ...maybe I will go hibernate in the shop and get some grinding done!
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Good deal. Yeah we've been having some weather too which is a good thing, we were pretty dry. Now cleaning the horse pens reminds me of that scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail where King Arthur stops to talk to the oppressed peasant slithering around in the mud.
 
Horsewright said:
reminds me of that scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail where King Arthur stops to talk to the oppressed peasant slithering around in the mud.
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"Oooooo, there's some lovely filth down here!"
 
Cushing H. said:
I have heard that ... presumably to help make up for irregularities in the underlying metal, but I killed the thing, so I know i am smooth within a couple mills ... also, tape can be “undone” with acetone. In this case (conscious decision), the shelf is narrow 1/8”), and i do not want to risk the thickness of the tape raising the glass too much above the shelf, and if need be to remove the glass ... as horsewright and others have said ... a blowtorch softens the job weld. Glass is not really expensive, so I am ok going that route.....
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Actually, I would only suggest double sided tape if your glass and platen were perfectly (or very close to) flat. That is, if using the standard thickness of carpet tape, which really doesn't raise the glass much at all. I actually use two layers (one on the steel, and one on the glass) so that I can ensure better adhesion by burnishing the tape onto each piece before I remove the backer and stick them together.

At any rate, your platen is looking pretty good. Just make sure that when you apply the JB weld, you DO NOT CLAMP the glass. A little bit of painters tape shouldn't hurt anything if you're worried about it sliding out of place while it cures, but I've seen a few makers "over clamp" the glass, and that can potentially do a couple of things: Squeeze out your JB weld and reduce its holding strength; induce stress into the glass which will cause it to crack prematurely.
 
When you want to bond something forever, use the 3M VHB tape strips. The most handy size for us is an 8 pack of 2X6X.10" strips for $7:
3M VHB F9473PC ADHESIVE TRANSFER DOUBLE STICK TAPE ( 8 ) 2" X 6" STRIPS FR SHIP 50021200561462 | eBay

They put the granite façade on buildings with that stuff. It comes in a variety of thickness, from just a few thousandths (great for some knife scale tasks) to a foam core that is quite thick.

I have been meaning to make a nice knife with bolsters and fancy scales using no pins or bolts - just VHB tape. After allowing a few days to a week to cure, it sholud likely be as strong as one with pins. It will survive 200°F continuous and 300°F for a short time.
 
Drew Riley said:
Just make sure that when you apply the JB weld, you DO NOT CLAMP the glass. A little bit of painters tape shouldn't hurt anything if you're worried about it sliding out of place while it cures, but I've seen a few makers "over clamp" the glass, and that can potentially do a couple of things: Squeeze out your JB weld and reduce its holding strength; induce stress into the glass which will cause it to crack prematurely.
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Too late ..... already glued up and cured:
upload_2021-1-30_12-12-45.png
just pressed by hand hard enough to expel most of the air (could not get it all, as you can see). cured over night, just mounted it:
upload_2021-1-30_12-13-38.png

Now maybe I can get back to doing some grinding!!!!

(I'm going to need to remind myself to be CAREFUL when putting my work rest in place .... dont want that bumping into the front/side of the glass :-(
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
When you want to bond something forever, use the 3M VHB tape strips. The most handy size for us is an 8 pack of 2X6X.10" strips for $7:
3M VHB F9473PC ADHESIVE TRANSFER DOUBLE STICK TAPE ( 8 ) 2" X 6" STRIPS FR SHIP 50021200561462 | eBay

They put the granite façade on buildings with that stuff. It comes in a variety of thickness, from just a few thousandths (great for some knife scale tasks) to a foam core that is quite thick.

I have been meaning to make a nice knife with bolsters and fancy scales using no pins or bolts - just VHB tape. After allowing a few days to a week to cure, it sholud likely be as strong as one with pins. It will survive 200°F continuous and 300°F for a short time.
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Stacy - when you do that I, for one, would be interested to see the resulting knife!!!!

aside - I have an RV, and have for a couple of years been thinking of putting a solar panel charging system in place on the roof. These panels are something like 3.5' by 5.5', and weigh something like 40 pounds. There are quite a few people out there who have mounted their panels to their roof using that 3M Very High Bond tape underneath the brackets, and no screws or bolts or anything. These things run down the highway with something like a 70-75 mph wind trying to lift them off the roof ... along with accompanying vibrations from rough roads - and nobody has said anything about the things coming loose. I dont know if I have the courage to try that without additional screws .... but I think the experience of others is a testament to just how good the adhesion is!!!!!! ( reminder - the the positioning of things right the FIRST time :-) )
 
I made a platen for a glass liner with integral bottom shelf similar to Cushing's from aluminum today. Instead of using JB weld, the glass is mounted to the aluminum with outdoor carpet tape. While I was machining the platen on the mini mill, I remembered this thread and it almost felt like I was cheating after reading all about Cushing's struggles milling hist platen from steel. The whole project was really quick, and the mill even tapped the 1/4-20 threads for the mounting bolts for me. The aluminum seems plenty sturdy to me, I ground a nakiri on the new platen and it went really well.

UHlbcBs.jpg
 
Hubert S. said:
I made a platen for a glass liner with integral bottom shelf similar to Cushing's from aluminum today. Instead of using JB weld, the glass is mounted to the aluminum with outdoor carpet tape. While I was machining the platen on the mini mill, I remembered this thread and it almost felt like I was cheating after reading all about Cushing's struggles milling hist platen from steel. The whole project was really quick, and the mill even tapped the 1/4-20 threads for the mounting bolts for me. The aluminum seems plenty sturdy to me, I ground a nakiri on the new platen and it went really well.

UHlbcBs.jpg
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Looks good! Yeah, no reason not to use aluminum for this purpose .. I just don’t tend to keep aluminum in my shop because of potential fire hazard (though remote I admit). Aluminum must have gone must faster! You could probably even make the thing out of delrin, now that I think about it!
 
Maybe the only advantage of steel is that it is easier/safer to heat with a blowtorch to remove old glass?
 
Cushing H. said:
the only advantage of steel is that it is easier
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for most folks.;):D
. . . Especially those who have forges and who have various pieces of steel lying around... and welding steel is easier than aluminum for most folks:rolleyes:.
 
Cushing H. said:
Looks good! Yeah, no reason not to use aluminum for this purpose .. I just don’t tend to keep aluminum in my shop because of potential fire hazard (though remote I admit). Aluminum must have gone must faster! You could probably even make the thing out of delrin, now that I think about it!
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I keep a bunch of aluminum around and really like working with it. I seldom grind aluminum, though, and if I do, I clean up right after. I am not sure how much of an actual fire hazard this really is, but it can't hurt to be careful.

Delrin is probably strong enough, but it might be difficult to glue to. If I remember right, it can be glued with CA glue but not epoxy. Aluminum is probably cheaper anyway.

I have to modify the L-brackets on the new combo platen I recently ordered from Ameribrade. Changing between the glass and felt platen is a pain in the neck. The platen came with hex head bolts which were most inconvenient and guaranteed to end up in the water bucket. I changed those to Allen head, but having to undo them completely is still a pain. I think I am going to just slot the angle brackets so I can slide the platen in and out without having to remove the bolts.
 
Hubert S. said:
I keep a bunch of aluminum around and really like working with it. I seldom grind aluminum, though, and if I do, I clean up right after. I am not sure how much of an actual fire hazard this really is, but it can't hurt to be careful.

Delrin is probably strong enough, but it might be difficult to glue to. If I remember right, it can be glued with CA glue but not epoxy. Aluminum is probably cheaper anyway.

I have to modify the L-brackets on the new combo platen I recently ordered from Ameribrade. Changing between the glass and felt platen is a pain in the neck. The platen came with hex head bolts which were most inconvenient and guaranteed to end up in the water bucket. I changed those to Allen head, but having to undo them completely is still a pain. I think I am going to just slot the angle brackets so I can slide the platen in and out without having to remove the bolts.
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For what it’s worth, my answer to changing platen s was just to buy a whole new arm. :-)

you are probably right about problems with gluing to delrin....
 
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