Platen slightly larger than the belt?

Bfusmc03117 · Oct 30, 2013

So I was working with my grinder today and started to realize a reason some of my grinds were not so even. They were narrow towards the ricasso and get wider down towards the tip of the knife . I was shooting for a wide bevel. Well I noticed that my platen has about 1/4 inch sticking out past the belt and realizing that the metal close to the ricasso wasn't getting hit because that area was hitting the metal on the platen while the belt was contacting the middle of the blade creating an uneven grind.
The grinder I have is a simple craftsman 2x42. Now my question is should I trim down the platen to make it slightly smaller or the exact size of the belt? Or I was thinking taking a piece of ceramic and JB welding it to the platen to Create a flat surface the same size as the belt. But not sure how that will effect the way the belts fit on the grinder.

Was wondering if anyone else encountered this problem and if it's a good idea to trim it down the platen or if the belts will still fit by adding a piece of ceramic tile or something.

Thanks again guys !

Frank Niro · Oct 30, 2013

I can tell ,you this much; yes you can attach a 2"wide piece of ceramic and the belt will track on this. Frank

Bfusmc03117 · Oct 30, 2013

Frank Niro said:
I can tell ,you this much; yes you can attach a 2"wide piece of ceramic and the belt will track on this. Frank

Awesome thank you ! I'll go ahead and give it a shot.

quint · Oct 30, 2013

I did that when I had one of those guys and it helped immensely. Just make sure you get one that is not beveled on one of the sides or make sure its beveled on both. To keep things even.

TLR · Oct 30, 2013

From experience go ahead and cut it down before you put the ceramic on. Otherwise any kind of file guide will hit the metal that's wider then the glass and won't allow you to get in as close as you want.

69_knives · Oct 30, 2013

I don't know what the tracking is like on that machine but my platen is slightly wider than my belts and I simply adjust the tracking to one side or the other when grinding.

chavez556 · Oct 31, 2013

It's almost required to get decent results. Check out my video I did showing the 2x42 mods.

http://youtu.be/Lg6QHc314LI

nifeluvr · Oct 31, 2013

I trimmed my platen

Mike Gesualdo · Oct 31, 2013

I was having major issues flat grinding using the stock Bader platen (basically a piece of angle iron with irregular radii). Was having to do major hand filing to clean everything up, especially in the plunge area. Attaching a piece of ceramic glass instantly improved my grinds off the belt. I imagine the effect would be similar on your 2x42. As others have said above, be sure the radius on both sides is consistent.

Bfusmc03117 · Oct 31, 2013

chavez556 said:
It's almost required to get decent results. Check out my video I did showing the 2x42 mods.

http://youtu.be/Lg6QHc314LI

Thanks for that video it is perfect for what I'm trying to do. Where did you get the glass platen from? I was going to use floor tile but I have a feeling a glass one would work better IMO.
Thanks for all the help guys

chavez556 · Oct 31, 2013

Bfusmc03117 said:
Thanks for that video it is perfect for what I'm trying to do. Where did you get the glass platen from? I was going to use floor tile but I have a feeling a glass one would work better IMO.
Thanks for all the help guys

USAknifemaker