A Frink curved platen

Sando

Sando

Knife Maker
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Jul 4, 2002
Messages
1,148
OK Here's my curved platen.

platen1.jpg


Here's a closeup of how the graphite attaches.

platen2.jpg


As mentioned in the other thread, because of friction it's probably not appro for commercial use. However, if you want a shallow hollow grind and you're only running it for a few hours.....

Steve
 
You can get a big wheel that will do the same thing....I know a couple of guys who have 14" wheels, almost looks like a flat grind without close inspection............I have a 12" one that I rarely use any more.
 
Cool Steve, I made one very similar, with a 2.5' radius (five foot wheel). I thought some day I'd try my hand at some older bowies but have never gotten around to using it. Nice job!

Edit: Okay I saw the other thread and understand a little slowly this is in fact Rob's handiwork. I still like it. :)
 
That's exactly what I am looking for, Steve. What is the radius dimension of that piece? I'm looking for about 20 inches.
 
Yea, thats what Im talking about for my Burr King. I have a 14" wheel and love it but still want one for a shallower hollow.
 
Steve,....you are doing it all wrong. You need to line the platen with a mouse pad! (hee hee...I crack myself up!) ...like your non-rotary platen.. :D

Great pics!


In the top picture....I barely see the other custom platen...do you still use it?

Rob
 
Tom, all it takes is $$$$.

Peter, it's one of those gator things on the grinder. Lots of norax in the background tho.

Higgy, yup it's a 20" simulator.

Rob, Yes that's the other custom platen on you made in the background. And yes again I use it all the time. Still for knife sharpening. (FWIW, I tilt the platen back to 15 degrees, run the belt backwards, and hold the knife parallel with the ground. I can't sharpen any other way.)

Mouse pad!!! You're right why didn't I think of that? :eek: ;)

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Now that I have the curved platen theres a couple of changes I'd like to make. Mostly for the friction problem.

Here's the mod

platen3.jpg


The thing heats up, so some more holes might help dissipate the heat better. I'd also cut out along those green lines. That would reduce the surface area to just what I need. Then trim down the height to fit between the idler wheels.

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There is something I didn't anticipate using a large diameter 'wheel' (real or simluated). It's hard to make a straight grind line (for me anyway). You see on a flat platen if the tang is a little high or low it doesn't really effect the line. With my 8" wheel once the groove is set the blade tracks in there helping to keep things straight.

But! with a large diameter it doesn't track the groove so solidly - making it easy to tilt. However, if you do tilt up or down on the tang the grind line is shot.

Not a big problem with practice, but it is very different than flat or 8/10" hollow grinding.

Steve
 
Too Cool! You guys are sure inventive. I may have to add this to my stock of KMG accessories.
 
Steve, every time you show a picture of that grinder it makes me sick. How do you keep it that clean.

Where's all the ground up wool behind it. Where are the cigarette packs, where's the beer.....I think you keep it for show and make your knives on a Delta 1X30 somewhere in the back. :D

I do love the setup and the platen is great. It could make me give up flat grinding!
 
I'm intrigued by this whole thing. Dang it, all I need is another unfinished project! Hey Steve, you ever consider using a cold air gun cooler on that platen? I'm taking about the kind that you'd use on your milling machine. It will deliver a cold air blast up to 100 degrees below inlet air temp. Might work, but by the time you bought one, you'd have saved the cost to buy a 40" wheel.
 
Jeff,

hhehee, never even heard of a milling machine let alone the cool air deal. ;)

I didn't mean to imply it got hot! It just warms up. I think just reducing the contact area will be enough. Or screwing in a heat sink on the back.

Hmmmm..... now you got me thinking more. I can kill two birds here. I can put a thin strip of 2" by 4" rubber between the graphite and the platen. That does 2 things. One, will give more of the feel of a contact wheel. Two, it will reduce the contact area to just where the rubber is; reducing the friction.

What fun.

Steve
 
peter nap said:
Steve, every time you show a picture of that grinder it makes me sick. How do you keep it that clean.

Where's all the ground up wool behind it. Where are the cigarette packs, where's the beer.....I think you keep it for show and make your knives on a Delta 1X30 somewhere in the back. :D

I do love the setup and the platen is great. It could make me give up flat grinding!
Click to expand...


Peter,

I don't drink anymore, never did smoke, and pictures lie. The shop is a mess. :eek: :eek:

One thing I put in was the grizzly portable shop vac with their 5 micron filter bag. It's under the table and you can just see the vent opening in the first pic. Wow does that make a difference! I can hog stabilized wood all day without the mess and only a little smell. And before you ask that is a piece of balled up chicken wire in the opening to keep junk from falling in.

Steve
 
Just kidding Steve. I hardly ever drink, smoke too much and always have coke cans and coffee mugs cluttering it up.....Although....I did clean up this week. It had reached the dangerous point.

Glad you make good use of bailing wire. A little of that, some Duct tape and a SOG Power plier and you can build anything. :D
 
Sando said:
But! with a large diameter it doesn't track the groove so solidly - making it easy to tilt. However, if you do tilt up or down on the tang the grind line is shot.
Steve
Click to expand...
Whoa... Now there's something to keep in mind. Never having fired mine up yet that's something I would not have anticipated. Thanks for the headsup Steve!

And speaking of mouse pads. While I was waiting in the optometrist's (try spelling that!) office this afternoon I was reading an old copy of Tactical Knives (I brought my own). There was a short article about sharpening convex edges; basically gluing a piece of mousepad to a block and covering it with wet/dry paper. The motion is like stroping rather than the traditional "slicing" a whetstone. Just the ticket for home sharpening custom knives. Our customers who shy away from purchasing convex ground blades because they think they can't sharpen them need to know this.
 
That's an idea for an accessory you could make fairly easily Dave. Buy 1/4" closed cell neoprene and glue it on a nicely figured piece of wood and attach clamps to hold the sandpaper. For about two bucks you could realize another $25.00 profit on the knife.
 
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