How do you attach ceramic to the platen of my sander?

G

gixxer

Joined
Sep 21, 2006
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I had read in a previous thread about attaching a piece of ceramic to the platen of a 4x36 grinder for ricasso clearance when grinding. How would I go about doing that? Grinding on a 6" disc gets kinda old, and I am only on my second knife.
 
I just used some 2 part epoxy. I think you can use anything as long as it'll hold the 2 materials.
just my .02
 
Some prefer using a more forgiving means of attachment, such as a glue. I first tried that but was not happy with it. I now use epoxy and the best I have found is, I believe, Brownells Glass Bedding Compound. The problem with the Pyrocerim is that it will chip along the edges after usage on the platen and also it may crack upon the the platen surface - but a good bonding agent such as epoxy will keep it in place upon the platen and not allow the cracks to become voids and will remain nominally flat. Another short coming is removing the old pyrocerim when you want to replace it. I heat the platen in the oven at a high temperature to defeat the epoxy bond - about 500 to 550 F. should do that - and then the platen must be cleaned of epoxy residue. I use my belt grinder to do that. Pyrocerim is great but you will find that its sharp edges about the perimeter will chip from usage and will periodically need to be replaced. Welcome to the expensive and time consuming world of knife making - and I DO NOT mean that as a discouragement.

rlinger
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i've heard people talking about rounding the edges of the plate on your grinder before installing it to get rid of that problem
 
Thanks for that potential tip but I wonder because the chiping I have encountered occurs on the belt side of pyrocerim. That does not mean your tip is not correct but rather that I think it might be that the riccosso face might help to cause chiping there. ....... and I am a rather forceful grinder at times, which may cause me more problems than I should have to encounter.

rlinger
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I used Devcon 2-part Titanium putty on my last platen. Hard as a friggin rock (like IG's head)!
 
I welded a "lip" to the bottom of my platen - so that the pyroceram has
some support in event of glue giving up. Someone told a horror story of
pyroceram coming loose, being dragged down by belt and right into the
lower roller. A pretty sight it sure wuznt.
 
I can dig acraglas. I need to place another order to Midwayusa anyhow to get a checkering kit and some other odds and ends. A couple questions. First, what do I need to ground? Myself, or the piece I am working on? Some folks have given conflicting answers in other posts about what they do to get rid of the charge. As far as I know I do not have a grounding rod anywhere close. If it came down to it I could sink a 8' copper rod into the ground in the back yard and run a ground cable into the garage. I maintain 3/16x100' plastic coated spools of the stuff @ work. But what would you ground, the grinder, or the piece you are working on? And where would I locate a piece of this material? I found one place online, didnt price anything yet. And how thick of a piece would you use? Thanks for the help.
 
I also welded a lip to the bottom of my platen to rest the pyroceram on and used JB-Weld as the adhesive. No problems to date & it has been a nice improvement to the grinder.

-Ben M.
 
I have a 1/4" plate of precision ground hardened 01 on my platen. It is fastened with four recessed machine screws tapped into the original platten. When it wears out I will use it as a template for the next piece. the piece of 01 cost's around 8$ and will not come off unless I want it to. I did put a small convex bevel on the top edge and did knock down the edges a little so the belt can fold over it and not get split.

I can also take it off and re-surface it on my granite slab if it gets a wear spot.
 
me thinks not. quite a number of folx use $2 Lowes ceramic tiles, cut
them into 2" strips and glue those onto platens. When they wear off (mostly
from thermal stress), one can be broken off and replaced.

Pyroceram is a whole different beast that can take unlimited thermal abuse.
It still wears off, from mechanical abuse (abrasion)
 
I have a ceramic platen installed on a KMG...I used RVT sealant from the auto parts store...I got the black type....it will give a little and absorbe some of the vibration from the motor...had it for almost 1 yr. with no problem.
 
I used thin double sided carpet tape; cleaned the neoceram with acetone. heated both a little. stuck them together and haven't had any problem in 2 years.
I do grind gentle though.
Take Care
TJ
 
I used JB Weld.... holding for well over a year. Use the original stuff as it takes a much higher heat than the quick weld.

If I had it with my last wife maybe it could have held that together too......
 
So from a durability standpoint, plain carbon steel plate would work, but not last as long as the pyroceram, but a piece of aluminum sheet would not last @ all? Then again too, a piece of floor tile would work too. Very cheap and available.
 
My hardened 01 plate has been on for six months and there are no wear marks or grooves yet. I may try pyroceram someday also. I just had some extra 01 from a previous project and decided to see how well it held up, so far so good.
 
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