I rounded the edges of my platen liner. Results are better than expected!

Drew Riley

Drew Riley

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Oct 17, 2007
Messages
4,235
So, I've been wanting to round the edges of my pyroceram platen liner for some time now, but never really had a way to do it evenly or cleanly enough to my liking. I bought a couple of cove/round over bits for ceramic and stone work, but they don't really make them smaller than 1/4", and the grit is pretty coarse anyway, so I more/less scrapped that idea and put it on the shelf, until recently, while looking on AliExpress for some diamond wheels for my bench grinder. I saw where one seller offered to custom make wheels per customer specs, so I drew something up and fired off an RFQ. The first manufacturer said they could NOT make my wheel, but a second shop saw my RFQ and sent me an email.
They WERE able to accommodate my design, so I figured let's give it a shot! It took about a month for them to get it scheduled, and 2 days later (tonight) it was at my door.

Here's some pics of the wheel:

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2hKSerN]

You can see that I had it made to fit my slitting saw arbor.
Here's a view down the edge of the platen after grinding the radius:
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2hKSesV]

Here's an example of a "pre-radius" platen plunge line on a scrap of wood:
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2hKSeqq]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2hKSen9]
If you look closely, a J-flex belt almost back cuts into the shoulder of the plunge if I hang it over the 90 degree corner and push into the belt.

Here is an example AFTER the edges are rounded:
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2hKSeqf]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2hKVXqA]

You can see a much more gentle sweep to the plunge, and no potential stress risers to worry about for heat treat.

I'm still playing with the setup a bit, but overall, this worked much better than I expected.

BTW, I'm only using the smaller radius for now about 1/8", but I also have the option of a wider 3/16" radius. I also had them plate the outer edge and the upper and lower flats of the wheel. I figured if I'm paying for a custom grinding wheel, I might as wheel be able to use it for other tasks, like sharpening tooling and whatnot. Also, a wheel has two sides, so why not use both?! ;)[/url][/url][/url][/url][/url][/url]
 
Very nice.

I just rounded my glass platen with 220 grit belt then move on to cork belts (they are for using on glass) to radius my edge
 
Joseph H. said:
That looks nice!! I always wondered how some get this effect.
Now i know...:thumbsup:
Click to expand...
No , you don t ................ That effect can be done with sharp edge platen to , easy ........... :) Small radius on platen is preferable of course :thumbsup:
 
Before mounting the pyroceramic platen, I just sand all sides of the platen on a 220 belt followed by a 400 belt. Whole process takes less than one minute.
 
I know I could do the same with a slack belt, but my engineer/machinist brain craves the precision that the wheel can provide, and while I could likely rig something up to do it by hand, this was a pretty straight forward option, all things considered.
 
I used the flat platen and held the edge against the belt as I rotated the glass plate.
 
Natlek said:
What kind of belts you use for that ? Silicium carbide ?
Click to expand...
I've rounded the top edges of my platens with ceramic belts before, though I think the SC belts (or paper on a disc) does work a little better.

That said, this diamond wheel cuts like hot butter. ;)
 
Drew Riley said:
I've rounded the top edges of my platens with ceramic belts before, though I think the SC belts (or paper on a disc) does work a little better.

That said, this diamond wheel cuts like hot butter. ;)
Click to expand...
I know that . I have friend who work with glass and I have opportunity to watch how he round edge on big thick glass for home table ..but I think it is dangerous to do this on that machine , our glass is small so I do it by hand ....
 
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