soft platen

TJ Smith

Well-Known Member
What do you use for a soft platen surface on your grinder. I have been using mouse pads but can't find ones with the right material anymore.
Thanks
TJ Smith
 
I use heavy felt that I buy from Graingers , its high density and about 1/2 inch thick. I have a platen that is used for that only.
 
Cork tape.
Besides building rods, the cork tape comes in handy on the platen too. I get 1"x1/8"x25' rolls from a fishing/rod building supply. The tape is peel-off sticky back and two pieces side by each fit perfectly on the platen. Make seperate platens out of aluminum angle. After a while the cork will dish in with heavy use.....don't peel off the cork, at this stage the dish gives a really nice shallow convex grind, if that's something you need to do. I also use the cork on some of my hand sanding bars.

Rudy
 
Some ideas from someone who has never-ever used a soft backing:
Some of the parts houses (NAPA, Oreillys, Autozone- whatever you have in your area) sometimes have pads on the parts counter- with a slick plastic top over a dense foam pad. Maybe you could get them to donate their old ones instead of throwing them away? Seems they were kind of similar to the old mouse-pads.
Some high-dollar carpet pad is a fairly dense foam rubber- and how about the liner that goes down before laminate flooring?
My wife has a fancy little pad on the floor in front of the kitchen sink- like throw-rug, but it's 9/16" foam rubber with a skin on top- complete with rooster pictures!
Fred's felt suggestion is probably the best, but thought I'd throw out a few ideas, anyway.

I'm wondering- for what work do you guys find the soft backing most useful? Is it kind of in between using a flat platten and a slack belt?

Edit- Rudy posted while I was writing- and answered part of my question (thx).
 
Last edited:
Bill,
I use the cork platen only if I'm going for a high mirror polish with belts from 1200 to 4500. The Trizacs work very well by themselves but the cork seems to squeeze some magic out of them.
The cork totally eliminates belt bump and gives me feedback as far as pressure against the platen. The discovery of how well it works for a shallow convex was a bonus after trying to finish flats on a blade without checking the cork first. Now I do it on purpose if I need a convex ground blade.

Rudy
 
heavy felt

Of all the things I've tried over the years, felt has given me the best results. Check into Grainger, MSC, or McMaster-Carr. All have heavy duty felt, in a variety of densities. Personally I like the "hard" for my purposes.
 
I have some hard felt kicking around somewhere.

I'll have to dig it out and give that a whirl, although I've kind of mastered the cork over the last few years. Every trick helps.


Rudy
 
Contact glue , holds well, when you want to replace it you can peal it off with a single edge razor. I will post a pix of mine in the AM.
 
0210151024.jpg0210151025.jpgHere is a pix of my soft platen and of the felt from Grainger's , comes 12x12 3/8 @ 11.99 , Grainger # 2FJV7
 
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