Plunge cut vs. platen width

R

rckendall

Joined
Oct 26, 2006
Messages
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Let me say first that I am new to this and in the past have had many bad experiences with belt sanders, so I am still warming up to the fact that they are a good and useful tool. I shaped my first blade completely with files and while it was off being heat treated, I worked on the second blade. This time I used the belt sander some, and found that it did a better job/faster than with the files.

But, the platen on my sander is wider than the belt by 1/4" or so, and therefore I cannot get a good plunge line with it.

I first thought I'd just narrow the whole platen some, but I know different belts track differently, so I would think the wider platen has some value. Then, I thought about just narrowing a small area of the platen where I could do the plunge line grinds.

Are there any other alternatives that I should consider? How do the KMG and other machines handle this situation?

Thanks for the help,
Richard
 
I had the same problem with plunge cuts.......well actually, I still have problems but not as many....lol. When I got my KMG, Istarted doing what I had heard folks like Harvey Dean and Audra Draper say to do. Just run the belt over the edge of the platen a bit. I run it over a biton one side and and grind and then flip the balde, roll the belt over the other side and hit that one. A bot more work, but it does the trick. The best tip that I got from Harvey Dean's video was to use the yellow Klingspor belts with the super lightweight backing for ginding at 120 and 220. I finally bought some a couple of weks ago and they fold right over and work like a charm.
 
Hi Richard, If you do a search on ceramic platen liners, I think you'll see that they are pretty popular. Anyway, that may be a way to try a good 2" wide (or slightly less) platen surface without altering your grinder. Even if you lucked out and your grinder came with a perfect platen, eventually you would have to resurface/replace it and set it up just the way you wanted it.
Best of luck, Craig
 
Richard,
Thats the answer alright. even the platen on my bader is slightly oversize. Nice to hear how you are progressing on your second blade.
Thanks,
Del
 
You can bond plate glass to your platen with cyanoacrylate adhesive. You can have your glass man radius the edges slightly, if you like.
 
On my machine the platten is adjustable forward and rearward so I just made an add on platten in hardened steel and bolted it in place. I made the piece about 1/4" narrower than my belts and that took care of the need to move the belt back an forth. I also set up a work table about 2" wider on each side than my platten so I am able to clamp a stop on the blade and now I hardely have to pay attention to where the plunge line is in relation to the belt. Just a few little things that make life easier for those new to knife making:D
 
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