I need a flat platen for a grinder.

[TheEdge01]

Hey guys, my new 2x42 belt grinder should be arriving next week, but it doesn’t come with a flat platen. I have done a little research, and glass seems to be the go-to material. At work, we use a ton of UHMW plastic and it seems to be highly wear resistant. Would this be a good substitute for glass? If so, how thick should it be?

 

[AVigil]

No, get the glass.
You can make a flat platen with steel from Home Depot and glue the glass to it.

 

[TheEdge01]

No, get the glass.
You can make a flat platen with steel from Home Depot and glue the glass to it.

Oh ok! Overall, how thick should it be? What type of glass should I use?

 

[A.McPherson]

Fireplace window glass.

 

[Hubert S.]

I use Pyroceram glass from ebay. I'd link to it, but last time I linked to ebay the link was removed from my post by a mod. Look for seller lousiana_treasures. They cut custom sizes. What kind of grinder did you get?

 

[TheEdge01]

I use Pyroceram glass from ebay. I'd link to it, but last time I linked to ebay the link was removed from my post by a mod. Look for seller lousiana_treasures. They cut custom sizes. What kind of grinder did you get?

My wife ordered me a Palmgren with 1/3 hp.

 

[Justin W]

They come with a platen that works ok, not great but workable. I did most of the modifications, the best being removing the side guard, removing the top and bottom wheel guards, and cutting off part of the work table. All easy with an angle grinder and a cut wheel. Be sure to use coarse grit ceramic belts.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I use Pyroceram glass from ebay. I'd link to it, but last time I linked to ebay the link was removed from my post by a mod. Look for seller lousiana_treasures. They cut custom sizes. What kind of grinder did you get?

If it is just a link to a source of materials ( especially in answer to a "where can I get..."question ), you will get no issues from me.
If it is a link to someone's knife sales page, that is a different story.

 

[Randydb]

I use Pyroceram glass from ebay. I'd link to it, but last time I linked to ebay the link was removed from my post by a mod. Look for seller lousiana_treasures. They cut custom sizes. What kind of grinder did you get?

+1 This is what I did too...bought it cut to size on ebay.

 

[Hubert S.]

If it is just a link to a source of materials ( especially in answer to a "where can I get..."question ), you will get no issues from me.
If it is a link to someone's knife sales page, that is a different story.

Ah, it all makes sense now, thank you. Last time, somebody had asked to identify a straight razor and I posted a link to the same model on ebay.

Ok, here is the link to the glass on ebay.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

What is best in a case like that is to copy the image and post it with the pertinent identification data.

Example ( copied from ebay):
Wade and Butcher with steer horn handle:

 

[Drew Riley]

You can use the UHMW to line a tool rest or the bottom of a jig, but as others have said, you'll want the pyroceramic glass for lining your platen. There's plenty of threads and youtube vids for how to attach one. I recommend a small lip/ledge at the bottom so that if your adhesive were to fail for any reason, the glass won't fall between the belt and your idler wheel (that's a bad day). It can be as simple as a couple of pins or screws at the bottom of your platen's backer.

 

[TheEdge01]

You can use the UHMW to line a tool rest or the bottom of a jig, but as others have said, you'll want the pyroceramic glass for lining your platen. There's plenty of threads and youtube vids for how to attach one. I recommend a small lip/ledge at the bottom so that if your adhesive were to fail for any reason, the glass won't fall between the belt and your idler wheel (that's a bad day). It can be as simple as a couple of pins or screws at the bottom of your platen's backer.

Thank you, I’ll definitely do that.

 

[Jesse Lange]

I have the same grinder (just ordered my first 2x72 and went with a Brodbeck).

There are a handful of things that I would recommend doing to make the 2x42 more useable. First, I removed much of the housing to make it easier to swap out belts and to allow for lower grit ceramic belts to fit. I just used a cutoff wheel on my angel grinder to cut everything off. To mitigate stability issues, I attached a piece of U-channel to the side of the remaining housing (same side as the motor). I used JB Weld and a couple of small bolts.

The work rest that comes with the grinder for the belt side is no good, so I took some thin plate, ground out a small notch for the belt. and welded it to a piece of angle iron to make a new work rest.

I bought a ceramic glass platen from USA Knifemaker, and used JB weld to attach it to a piece of mild steel which I had drilled and tapped to attach to the existing platen. I also added a small ledge bellow the glass. 2 small screws will work.

If your model has the disk sander and work rest, I would recommend putting the disk's work rest at 90 degrees, and drilling a hole through the mounting mechanism to add a pin to keep it at 90, otherwise it slips and changes angle very easily.