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

Drew Riley

Drew Riley

Joined
Oct 17, 2007
Messages
4,250
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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