platen ideas

[L.K.Smithy]

i recently made a new platen for my HF 1x30 belt grinder. the old one had the holes off center so 1/8 inch or so of the belt was unsupported on one side. on the new one, i left the platen so it is 1/8th wider than the belt on each side. i think it will work well for flat grinding my blades but im not sure. any opinions? would i be better off making it the width of the belt? i just think it will be easier to keep the blade flat on the platen and belt.

Also, im cooking up an idea to make a curved platen for hollow grinding. good idea?

-Lou

 

[Bailey Knives]

the ricasso of the knife will catch on the part of the platen that is wider than the belt, making cutting in very difficult.

 

[lukus]

As long as you can adjust the tracking of the belt to slightly past the platen on both sides it will work. You have to have the sanding belt over the side if you're going to make any plunge grinds.

 

[Frank Niro]

If you mount a simple steel arc the belt will follow it if positioned correctly. Frank

 

[Menglish]

L.K. I've found the same problem with my HF grinder. I started making a new platen for it and got side tracked with some gun smithing projects, wood cutting etc! Glad to see someone else trying what I was thinking.

Mike

 

[gixxer]

I used a smooth ceramic tile from Home Depot for like 4 bucks. it was oversize so I trimmed it down with a carbide bit in my dremel. It is a hair oversize and use the tracking to get the belt right on the edge for plunges.

 

[Menglish]

How did you attach the tile to the machine?

Mike

 

[gixxer]

plain jane epoxy. I scuffed up the steel platen with a dremel and stone, and with the platen horizontal I poured on a bunch of epoxy to fill the hollows on the back of the tile, and put a bunch of weight on it. I had lines drawn on the steel to check if things were sliding while the epoxy was setting. Oh, forgot to mention this is on a 4x36. But, you can still do the same thing. trim the tile as wide as you want it, but make sure you have enough relief vertically so the blade rides 100% on the tile.

 

[Shing]

I use plain window glass cut to size and the edges rounded with a diamond stone. It last quite a long time, I replaced it with another one when it got too worn after a couple of years. I'm going to try one made out of harden D3 next time. D3 is very wear resistant so should work better.

 

[Jared Stenoien]

I think you'd be better off sticking with your glass shing, glass is harder than most any steel.

 

[Keith_H]

the mohs hardness (scratch resistance from 1-10) of silica glass is 6-7, hardened steel is 7-8.