Carbide platen...?

[JTknives]

I researched this a little while ago when I yanked my hardened D2 platton off and it's not to badly priced but the glass is much cheeper. I will contact my old friend who works with it exclusly with a wire edm and see what it actually costs. He would be able to cut it to.

 

[BluntCut MetalWorks]

IMO ~$300 2"x8" @ 1/4" thick 71rc Rex121 is cheaper and probably has about same wear resistance at 71rc WC. For cold&warm works, 15V could also be a good candidate.

 

[Drew Riley]

I was looking at one of the videos on the Moen platen, and it appears that the carbide platen is made by G.W. Schultz Tool. It also appeared to have a part number, though I didn't see anything like it in their online catalog. Not sure if it's something they offer for sale through the company, or if it's numbered as part of a custom run just for the Moen Platens. Might give them a call and see what one would run ya, though I imagine it'll be at least $250 to $300. Start adding in things like round overs, and it'll probably climb from there.

 

[Drew Riley]

Here's a screen shot off the video.

 

[LARRYZ10]

Hey Larry!
It's not about the cold, it's about the lack of humidity. As the humidity drops, the grinder starts developing electrostatic energy that needs to find a way to ground. If you don't happen to be touching a steel area of the grinder while you're grinding, tiny little arcs burn a hole in your support finger. I've had them get so bad that they don't stop bleeding for days.

I've tried hardened steel platens and have managed to wear grooves in them pretty quickly. I don't have a surface grinder, otherwise that would be a pretty acceptable option, as I could just resurface them and get back to work.

Matt, I had no idea that the static electricity could be such a problem . I would use glass platens too if that happened to me even once. Have you tried grounding your grinder to an outlet screw? It might help. Best regards, Larry

 

[scott.livesey]

Hey Larry!
It's not about the cold, it's about the lack of humidity. As the humidity drops, the grinder starts developing electrostatic energy that needs to find a way to ground. If you don't happen to be touching a steel area of the grinder while you're grinding, tiny little arcs burn a hole in your support finger. I've had them get so bad that they don't stop bleeding for days.

you should look for ESD wrist bands and grounding straps that electronic repair folks use. the idea there is to prevent arcs into the electronics being repaired. something like this http://www.soscleanroom.com/product...ap-standard/?gclid=CPSiyKq11tQCFZGCswodd4IPRA

 

[DavidHoback]

I may have found a supplier for these Carbide platens, size 1/8"x2"x8. Could do to 1/4" as well, but seems a waste to me. I'm looking to attach this to 1/2" 7075 T6 plate. Might could even get away with 1/6", or 3/32" thickness. Maybe we can all set something up, if this pans out.

 

[john april]

static- i found that if i am touching the machine, even with just a fingertip, the static never builds up in you because it can constantly drain back to ground. a wrist strap would probably be cumbersome, a wire from the machine body with a bare stripped end slipped between your underwear and waist will keep you grounded.

 

[Matthew Gregory]

Cumbersome and dangerous... I move around a lot when I'm grinding, and the idea of a shotload of wheels spinning around at 55mph with a lanyard attached to my wrist sounds less than appealing...

Agreed on making contact with the machine - eliminates the shock completely. BUT, when I'm working on a long piece, sometimes I can't keep contact with the machine, and then the ticking begins...

Using a work rest would all but eliminate this, I'll bet. Too bad I can do that.

 

[Tin.Man]

David- how much for the 1/8"?

 

[kuraki]

Static, what's that? Wisconsin only has two seasons. Winter and swamp. No static during swamp

 

[DavidHoback]

David- how much for the 1/8"?

I'm waiting for this contact to let me know. Probably won't be until Monday or Tuesday. I'll let you know. We'll see. I'm not sure how much I want to "invest" in a platen. I can grab a piece of CPM M4 really cheep, & have it treated to maximum hardness. Or, like bluntcut said, go with REX121, which would pretty much be the same hardness as the Tungsten. I know it's just the novelty of it. Tungsten Carbide has that "cool" factor. I'm just not sure how much I'm willing to spend for "coolness". Most likely not as much as others.

 

[tim37a]

I've already made one. I bought 2 of Nathan's water chillers and glued them end to end because I wanted a 12" platten. I bought 6" x 1" x 1/8" carbide strips (4 ea.) and glued them to the chillers with JB Weld. I got the carbide from CARBIDE PROCESSORS, INC., in Tacoma, WA. (253)476-1338 or 1-800-346-8274. My memory isn't quite what it used to be but I think I paid about $35 - 40 per strip. I should have it plumbed and tried out in the next week or so. Will let you all know how it works.
Tim

 

[Lieblad]

you should look for ESD wrist bands and grounding straps that electronic repair folks use. the idea there is to prevent arcs into the electronics being repaired. something like this http://www.soscleanroom.com/product...ap-standard/?gclid=CPSiyKq11tQCFZGCswodd4IPRA

Use antistatic mat & the shoe grounding dohickeys. Far safer than wriststrap & lanyard.

 

[Tin.Man]

Only problem is the grains on the ceramic belts we use are harder than even rex 121. I made a platen out of s110v and had grooves within a day or two of hobby level grinding.

 

[BluntCut MetalWorks]

Platen subject to high heat so S110V isn't ideal because it is a cold work steel. In contrast, Rex121 is a HSS with (low Cr%, high Mo% and Co% and W%)

Only problem is the grains on the ceramic belts we use are harder than even rex 121. I made a platen out of s110v and had grooves within a day or two of hobby level grinding.

 

[Natlek]

I'm waiting for this contact to let me know. Probably won't be until Monday or Tuesday. I'll let you know. We'll see. I'm not sure how much I want to "invest" in a platen. I can grab a piece of CPM M4 really cheep, & have it treated to maximum hardness. Or, like bluntcut said, go with REX121, which would pretty much be the same hardness as the Tungsten. I know it's just the novelty of it. Tungsten Carbide has that "cool" factor. I'm just not sure how much I'm willing to spend for "coolness". Most likely not as much as others.

I don't think so ..........Tungsten carbide is far away with hardness from Rex 121 ....Rockwell C 89+ .......on Mohs hardness scale is 8.5 to 9.5 (diamond being 10.0)

 

[BluntCut MetalWorks]

True when compare solid WC to rex121 however in plate form, WC grain embedded in Cobalt matrix. So WC plate often with hardness 72rc and lower. btw - pure cobalt matrix its hardness somewhere around 42-45rc.

I don't think so ..........Tungsten carbide is far away with hardness from Rex 121 ....Rockwell C 89+ .......on Mohs hardness scale is 8.5 to 9.5 (diamond being 10.0)

 

[Frank Niro]

Well now you are wanting to make an improvement on one of the very few things I presented on the Knife Forums way back in 2000 or so. I too have wondered about a change on the glass to something that might be better, but in fact have always come back to the glass because of the ease of installation and cost.I haven't given much to the Blade Forums except a lot of interest and perhaps confusion but I am actually proud I wrote this up. I haven't tried the ceramic tile yet even though a friend cut some for me and says they work well. Many times I've had some glass replaced in a door or car window I've got the same co. to cut me a half dozen pieces or so. The prices have been very good when I did it this way.
Frank

 

[Natlek]

BluntCut MetalWorks , 93% Tungsten Wc + 7% cobalt = 1850 HV = 80HRC which is 10 HRc over REX .You can try to cut tungsten carbide with REX There was plate with 99% tungsten carbide , my friend