Pyroceram platen question

Eric T. Maier

Eric T. Maier

Joined
Apr 29, 2000
Messages
573
Hi,

I'm getting a Craftsman 2" x 42" with a 6" disk belt grinder and have heard about adding a pyroceram platen. I've also read that you need to round the leading and trailing edges. My question is how do you do this? With the pyroceram being so hard what do you use to round them?

Thanks,

Eric
 
Originally posted by Mer
Hi,

I'm getting a Craftsman 2" x 42" with a 6" disk belt grinder and have heard about adding a pyroceram platen. I've also read that you need to round the leading and trailing edges. My question is how do you do this? With the pyroceram being so hard what do you use to round them?

Thanks,

Eric
Click to expand...

Eric...all I did was use a 60 grit belt and roll the edges on my contact wheel, then to a 220 grit belt...the pyroceram is hard..but it will grind..the pyroceram takes the heat...just go slow..the edge will glow red where your grinding..this is normal..take your time, go slow and it will grind just like metal...hope this helps
 
Dont get one if you are squimish about getting zapped by static electricity:eek: The belt rubbing on the glass produces a nice charge. Does on my grinder anyway.
 
Mark Williams....

I had a little 1X30 inch sander that I used to work wooden handles,,and I was ALWAYS getting Zapped..

My wife heard me yelling at the damn thing one time, and went up to her office and got this type of grounder clip that people who work on computers need to ground themselves to the computer so as to not hurt the drives with shocks.

I have lost mine, but it just went over the hand and had a cord like a phone cord.

I have made a back-up wire clip thingy to connect to one of my fingers and to the grinder.

I was reading your situation, and was interested in how you got rid of the shocks?
 
DaQo'tah

I havent gotten rid of the problem. I've worked with electricity most of my life. I just dont think about it. I can grind a blade and have one finger touching the metal of my grinder lightly and have a spark popping so hard you can see it. I might get a bulb fixture and tie one end to my grinder and the other to my hand and see if I can get the bulb to light up. Might as well make use of the free electricity:D
 
oh,,okay...

I too had a fun time showing some guys the huge size of the jumping spark....also, one time I did some sanding in the dark,,and saw that sparks were going other places too...

and,,,in the summer I was sanding in just my socks, and as I was working I stuck my leg out for a moment, my foot hit the work bench metal leg, and a spark snapped my big toe,,,,this was a big spark, one of them that could have cooked cookies with, and made me jump good...
 
Do you guys stand on a rubber floor mat while you grind? I do, and I have a pyroceram platen on my grinder and although I see a few little sparks, I never get zapped myself. Do you think that has something to do with it? Interesting thing about mine (Bader BIII) is that I only see the sparks in the form of little sparks between the side of the platen and the pyroceram only.

In the printing industry, its routine to ground the presses to the building ground, or sink a copper rod into the ground a couple feet and ground the press right there where it sits. I wonder if you guys ran a ground from your grinder to your phone cable ground, or maybe just pound a rod into the ground if that would work for you?
 
I rounded the edges the same way Rene did and it worked just fine. I have two big copper rods sunk into the ground, one on each end of my shop, and I've never had a problem with static electricity.
 
If you want to see a real cool light show. Put a ceramic belt on the grinder turned inside out. I did that to wear the leading and trailing edges of the pyroceram. Quite neat to see glass make yellow sparks and light. I guess it wouldnt hurt to ground it.
 
I have my Bader BIII wired up to the 220 outlet. You should see the blue spark that builds up on mine. Sometimes, I get shocked so bad, it makes me jump near out of my socks! Of course, there is the obligatory cussing too.

Maybe I will try the rubber floor mat thing. Also might try the grounding thing. :)
 
So do you guys leave that large work rest on the 2X42 Craftsman grinder? or take it off and work on the contact wheel and platen only?
 
I haven't tried these platens yet, but was thinking about getting one, so I have read a few threads about their good and bad points. I remember the static charge issue being discussed and one guy said he sprayed the back of his belts with some of that "static guard" laundry spray and no longer had the problem. Just wondering if you guys had tried this and if it works. Planning ahead for when I get mine.

Mark
 
Not sure what I've changed, btu don't have the static problem anymore. Only thing I can think of is i now wear old pair of sandals, but I'd think that'd insulate me more(solid rubber bottoms, where other fotowear had various soles) not help dissipate it.

Either way, it's not relaly that much of a problem, least not for me. Helps make sure you do'nt fall asleep at the grinder. ;)
 
Well, it is a problem for me. I like to rest my finger along the side of the platen, and this really makes it interesting(not to mention, downright stimulating). I really have to figure out how to stop this on my machine.
 
I think there's a general misunderstanding concerning the pyroceram shocking...

It's not that the glass builds up static (though, it does), it's that since you are grinding against glass (instead of metal) you are not discharging the electricity and you build up a charge which eventually will discharge itself...zap!

By the way, those wrist straps won't protect you against a discharge. They're made to protect the equipment you're working on! (ie. you get the charge, instead of your circuit board, etc.)

The best way to discharge the extra juice while you're grinding is to clamp a wire to the steel you're grinding, and the other end goes to a large piece of metal that hopefully finds its way back to mother earth. Just get a little alligator clip and a wire and clamp it to the tang and use a plastic paper clip to keep the wire out of your way (clipped to your side).


The worst thing you can do, would be to run a clamp from you to the grinder. BZZZZ....yikes! :eek:
 
The worst thing you can do, would be to run a clamp from you to the grinder. BZZZZ....yikes

No....the worst thing you could do is start sputtering sparks after eating some of IG's relish. That would fit in the category of BAD!:D :D
 
Believe it or not, a couple of small spurts from one of those aersol cans of anti static stuff for close works super good to stop the static sparking on grinding belts. Its effective,handy, easy to use, and not expensive. Just spray it on the underside of the belt as it is moving. Try it you will like what it does. Frank
 
I still only play around because my shop isn't done yet and the basement where my Coote is at is a death trap. But I still play with my Coote all the time (really, ask my wife :D) and I have never been shocked, knock on stabilized wood. :D As a matter of fact, last night I was standing in water (Seriously, the basement flooded and it still has water standing in spots)grinding some buffalo horn for quite a while and still never got shocked. :eek:
Anyway, I love my pyroceramic liner. I heard great things here so I bought one before I even fired up the grinder for the first time. If the platen on the Craftsman is as cheesy as the platen that was on my old dremel 1"x30", you will definitely love a pyroceramic liner!
 
Mark, I have read here before about the static electricity shock problem you describe if using a pyroceram platen. I have never experienced that yet. I wonder; is your grinder frame and motor connected to earth ground?? Mine is a DC setup and I do not have mine earth grounded. I also have a carpeted floor (yeah yeah, I know) and that may help isolate me but I tend to guess the shocks are coming from contacting a earth grounded frame or motor enclosure (which should BY ALL MEANS remain grounded if AC supplied, regardless). Electronic technicians are often encouraged to wear a bracelet attached to earth ground with a 10 megaohm resistor between the bracelet and ground in order to protect static sensitive components from damage cause by handling. That is seldom actually practiced in the real world and although it would cure your problem would not be practical for any of us.

RL
 
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