Hi Landon,

All i can say on the matter is that i made the switch to glass almost two years ago and i haven't had to do anything to it since. Now I'm not a full time maker so take that for what is worth. But i got it for free at my local glass shop. Just told them what i wanted it for and the dimensions and they cut me a nice slice of tempered kiln window that they assured me would stand up to the heat. I know that hightemptools.com used to sell ceramic platens too.i never tried one and don't know if they still do but it's worth a look if your looking. I don't know if it's allowed to plug an Internet site like that in the forum or not. If it's not i apologize and will refrain in the future. Happy hunting.

Jesse Bartram

I haven't used a steel platen for over a decade.

Cover with a pyro-ceramic platen 'glass' cover.

They're not just glass, but heat treated ceramic, making them resistant to the heat generated by grinding.

These will not divot for many, many - possibly thousands - of hours of grinding.

Still need to be aware that you have a piece of glass there, as they will break and chip if abused too much.

However, they are the one easy thing you can do to improve your flat grinding and will give you the flattest possible surface.

They also seem to dissipate heat rather well.

http://www.hightempt...atenliners.html

Thank you Jesse and Karl, I am going to make the switch. Do you need a shelf on the bottom to help hold it and also what glue do you use to hold them in place. Landon

I've heard of epoxy and the like but i went super cheap and easy. Just drilled and pinned underneath the glass so it had a ledge to rest on then adhered it with a two sided carpet tape. With the belt pulled right around there i half suspect that the pin would hold it alone but i wouldn't dare do that. Also i had to re position it early on and had to battle with the tape to get it off so I'm not concerned about it coming of on its own.

Regardless of attachment method, weld a ledge on the bottom of the steel platen sticking out just enough to catch the ceramic platen.

I have the advantage of having a surface grinder, so I ground the steel platen surface nice and flat. You can use a surface plate and sandpaper, but do what you can to benefit yourself.

A good thing about this is that nothing is ever going to try to pull it off. The opposite is true - you will always be pushing against it. That's good.

I use super strong "Exterior Mounting Tape". The truth is, once you press the ceramic platen on, the only way you can pull it off is in itty, bitty pieces! (That said, if you MUST remove it, you can use a coping saw and cut the tape very slowly.

This is what I use:

I mounted mine with JB weld. I needed to remove one once. Just heat it with a hand torch until the epoxy loosens, then push sideways.

I agree, they are great. I chipped mine though, because I don't have a holder for the tooling arm, and I put it on the concrete floor a little too roughly one day.

oops.

I agree with everyone else. "Glass" is the way to go, and in my opinion, a shelf is a MUST. Years ago I didn't have one....the glass let go with the grinder running, and the glass got "sucked" in between the belt and the bottom wheel on the platen......and it literally exploded. Cindy was picking glass shards out of me for a week! That was AFTER the visit to the Doc for some stitches on my right shoulder. NOT FUN! <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

I used glass for awhile, but they do wear out and chip as Karl mentioned.

At a hammer in someone mentioned they used a hardened D2 platen. I made one and so far it is working great. It has outlasted the glass platens, Doesn't chip on the edges and shows no signs of needing to be reground. I made it from 3/8" stock.

Bob

It seems like there is a lot of great advice here. I use a glass platen, and I attached it with Locktite gel epoxy, as was suggested by Doug Delury at Bader. One lesson I learned is to barely clamp the glass when gluing. My first platen cracked within a couple of days because there was too much stress from the clamping when I glued it.

Landon,

I've had one in place for about ten years or so that I attached with AcraGlas with no problems.

One extra advantage to a pyroceram platen is that you can hold small pieces with a magnet without it being attracted to the platen.

Be sure to round over the edges of the glass.

Gary