Ceramic tile platen ?

J

Justin Presson

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Dec 4, 2013
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I'm wanting to add something to the platen on my little 1x42 and wanted to see if a ceramic tile cut down is good enough or is it it that much better to order one from usa knifemakers? I would prefer to just buy a piece of tile since it is available easy and cheaper. Thoughts experience?
Justin
 
Just get the glass from USAKnifemaker and be done with it. I tried using a tile and it hasn't impressed me at all. I took the time to build a complete new platen out of 3x3 angle and think I would have been happier with it without the tile. Also with using a tile, you will have to take the time to dress it properly or it won't be perfectly flat.

Chris
 
I just got a Craftsman 2x42 and the first thing I did was go to Home Depot and buy one of the plain white 3"x6" white ceramic bathroom tiles and made a 2"x6" platen out from it. This tile as far as I can tell is as perfectly flat as you can get it. Most tiles aren't and are textured but if you get the $.22 glossy white tile from Home Depot they're pretty dang near flat. Now the side edges are slightly rounded so you want to cut the platen out of the center of the tile so both sides are the same and you don't have one rounded edge and one square edge. So far it has worked perfectly fine. My concern is how long the tile will actually last but it works great for me. I'm not doing a lot of heavy duty knife grinding but for me it works great.

-Aaron
 
The pyroceram glass that the knife suppliers sell is just fireplace glass. Call a glass shop and I'm sure they will have scraps that you can make a platen liner out of. Cuts just like regular glass.
 
I've done the white tile mod on my 2x42 also. Can't speak of reliability since I've only just recently done it.
Make sure when you go in to stop by the tool department for a square and magic marker to mark up the tile.
Straight, clean lines will help the highschool kid running the saw to get the cuts right.
Also make sure you bolt something below the tile to form a ledge in case it cracks.
I'm sure the glass platen is better but the tile was dirt cheap and local so I gave it a shot.
 
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