Favorite flat platen?

T

Tin.Man

Joined
Sep 5, 2010
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876
I’ve used a few different ones. Just like to hear others favorites. Also I almost grind entirely with contact wheels so I’m not the best advocate.

I’ve used the kmg, tw90, and an eerf flat platen.

Building another 2x72 and would like some thoughts from other makers.
 
A flat platen is just a flat surface the belt runs across. Most folks use a pyroceramic glass plate on the platen to make it last almost forever. Unhardened platens will slowly dish out. Hardened ones last a bit longer, but eventually will dish. I have a hardened D-2 flat platen by Nathan - it is a good platen, but I am sure it would eventually need replacing. It can be reversed so it gets double life.
 
glass for sure tho im so hard on them that i even dish them (over maybe 2 years and not badly) key is that im after dead flat grindsd and if i move out of "the used" spot i get uneven marks. i really need to get a wheel just for profiling blades. that woudl save the plattens some but i hae to keep my wheels perfect for razor grinding. i shoudl have about 3 grinders and 2 tool arm trees full of tooling (a guy can dream right)
 
Hey Stacy I appreciate it I have a pretty good idea what a flat platen is ;)

I’m more asking for if anyone has any glaring preferences to flat platen attachment makers.

Bader, kmg, northridge, tw, oregon, pfunderfab, eerf etc

Leaning towards the bader style flat platen for simplicity and how long they have been around.
 
OK, I got you.

If starting with a flat platen, you might want to consider one of the rotating/tilting types. Oregon is one example. The platen can be rotated from vertical to around a 45° angle. This is nice to have, but not a requirement.

The TW-90 style flat platen can be raised and lowered. I can't remember if it tilts, too.

One thing to consider is that Nathan's radius and hardened platens are drilled to fit the KMG style bolt hole spacing.
 
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