Granite

[Ron Kellison]

Whilst dropping off an old clothes dryer at a local recycling shop yesterday I noticed a granite countertop shop next door that had three stacks of cutoffs lying outside. I asked the owner how much he wanted for a cutoff and he said that if I took one away (free!) it meant that was one less he had to dispose of! I found a 1.5 x 10 x 20 piece that had been polished on one side and brought it home. After checking it with a good straightedge (Veritas steel) I found one small area where I could slip a .001 feeler gauge under the straight edge. To my mind, this means that I can feel comfortable using it as a base for .5 micron sharpening paper.:D

I post this for 2 reasons:

1) Does anyone violently disagree that this is flat enough for any reasonable definition of sharpening?
2) If a granite shop in your area disposes of cutoff in the same way it might be a good source of flattening blocks.

I could easily have taken pieces that were 20" by 20" or more but decided this one was big enough (and heavy enough!) to try my theory.

Regards,

Ron

[Jim Koepke]

Ron,

Good score, I think you will be happy with your hunk of flatness.

Most likely if you put your location in your profile, within a week the countertop shop will not have any cutoff disposal problems.

Finally, you may want to go back and get a few more pieces. They can come in handy for plane sole lapping and such. It is convenient if you have the room to have separate pieces for the different grits.

They can also come in handy for some tools set ups and such.

Here is my main stone:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=134511

There is also a video of me on YouTube demonstrating the lapping of a Stanley #8 sole:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDtmWSkD_fU

jim

[David Keller NC]

It's most definitely flat enough for honing the bevel of a blade, though I'd hesitate to use it to lap the back of the blade unless it's easy to avoid the low spot. One thousandth might not seem like much , but it can give you fits if you "flatten" the back of the blade at that spot (which will put a slight convexity on the back of the blade), then move to a flat, finer grit honing stone.

Ditto for flattening the bottom of a plane - I wouldn't use it to lap the sole of a plane unless it was easy to avoid the low spot in the granite. Again, one-one thousandth of an inch might not seem like much, but it can wreak havoc if you wind up making the sole of your plane convex.

[Robby Tacheny]

I use marble and have lapped quite a few bottoms on it. I probably need to do it again this season after such a wet summer last year and all the snow this year. I think I'll have some rust after not being in the basement for 3 or 4 months.

Jim, where did you end up finding yours? Looks like it is from a monument maker. I enjoy the video. Keep them coming!

BTW, is sandpaper flat to a thousandth?

-R

[Sandy Stanford]

Whilst dropping off an old clothes dryer at a local recycling shop yesterday I noticed a granite countertop shop next door that had three stacks of cutoffs lying outside. I asked the owner how much he wanted for a cutoff and he said that if I took one away (free!) it meant that was one less he had to dispose of! I found a 1.5 x 10 x 20 piece that had been polished on one side and brought it home. After checking it with a good straightedge (Veritas steel) I found one small area where I could slip a .001 feeler gauge under the straight edge. To my mind, this means that I can feel comfortable using it as a base for .5 micron sharpening paper.:D

I post this for 2 reasons:

1) Does anyone violently disagree that this is flat enough for any reasonable definition of sharpening?
2) If a granite shop in your area disposes of cutoff in the same way it might be a good source of flattening blocks.

I could easily have taken pieces that were 20" by 20" or more but decided this one was big enough (and heavy enough!) to try my theory.

Regards,

Ron

Jeez, you must do beautiful, precise work.

Wood plane soles moved a thousandth overnight from a passing, rainy cold front yet somehow Messrs. Goddard and Townsend managed. Image from Metropolitan Museum of Art's John Townsend exhibit:

And if their sharpening media were flat to within a thousandth or half a thousandth then I'm the Dalai Lama.

[george wilson]

If you guys want a REAL flat piece of granite,Grizzly sells granite machinist's surface plates very cheap. I haven't looked for some time,but the shipping used to cost more than their plates,IIRC. They are about .0001" flat. I have a 12" X 18" one,not from Grizzly.

The very best granite is pink granite. It has more quartz in it for resisting wear. I doubt any of us would ever wear out a black one,though,short of applying abrasive powder to it.

[Jim Koepke]

Jim, where did you end up finding yours? Looks like it is from a monument maker. I enjoy the video. Keep them coming!

Yep, it came from a local monument maker.

The biggest hassle is having to change the abrasive. It seems to take more time to clean off the old abrasive than it takes to wear it out.

jim

[Dale Sautter]

If you guys want a REAL flat piece of granite,Grizzly sells granite machinist's surface plates very cheap. I haven't looked for some time,but the shipping used to cost more than their plates,IIRC. They are about .0001" flat. I have a 12" X 18" one,not from Grizzly.

The very best granite is pink granite. It has more quartz in it for resisting wear. I doubt any of us would ever wear out a black one,though,short of applying abrasive powder to it.

From somewhere else on the web I heard that Enco was offering their granite surface plates with free shipping. As of last Sunday the offer was still legit and mine is shipping as we speak, supposed to be here via UPS on this Friday. This is the one I got for $24.95 using promotion code PFSMAR:

Enco - http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=640-0120&PMPXNO=949402&PARTPG=INLMK3


Length (Inch): 12
Width (Inch): 18
Thickness: 3
Grade: B
Material: Granite
Unilateral Tolerance: .0002


They have others available too: http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INLMK3?PMK0NO=1112460

The thing is that your order has to be at least $25 to qualify for free shipping, so I ordered some of their "surface plate cleaner" for ~$3-$4. Can't wait till it arrives. .0002 ought to be fine for final scary honing using a Veritas honing jig because it's less than 3" from the end of the blade/chisel to the jig-wheel making it just a slice of the .0002.

[george wilson]

Check out the flatness of your new surface plate as carefully as possible. Never trust Chinese calibration documents. I think they just print them out and supply them with every plate/chuck/whatever. I should have mentioned this before. The granite will most likely be flat enough for any woodworker's needs. .0001" is really for metal working,and high precision metal work at that. You can really only get .0001" accuracy on VERY smooth or,more often,precision ground parts.

[Rob Lee]

Hi -

I'll echo Dale's comments.... I ordered two of the 18"x"12"x3" plates (to get over $25). I can't beleive they can ship 'em for that price, let alone sell them for $24.95.

Mine arrive last week - shipped by truck, as the total weight was more than 160 pounds....

Heck of a deal ...!

Cheers -

Rob
(who really has no connection to Enco, as if that needed saying...)



From somewhere else on the web I heard that Enco was offering their granite surface plates with free shipping. As of last Sunday the offer was still legit and mine is shipping as we speak, supposed to be here via UPS on this Friday. This is the one I got for $24.95 using promotion code PFSMAR:

Enco - http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=640-0120&PMPXNO=949402&PARTPG=INLMK3


They have others available too: http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INLMK3?PMK0NO=1112460

The thing is that your order has to be at least $25 to qualify for free shipping, so I ordered some of their "surface plate cleaner" for ~$3-$4. Can't wait till it arrives. .0002 ought to be fine for final scary honing using a Veritas honing jig because it's less than 3" from the end of the blade/chisel to the jig-wheel making it just a slice of the .0002.

[Chuck Tringo]

That enco surface plate looks like an incredible deal, hopefully its still there in a few months...if I shipped an 80 pound slab of granite and my wife had to take delivery I would definitely hear it...or have box full of granite chips when I got home.

[Rob Lee]

That enco surface plate looks like an incredible deal, hopefully its still there in a few months...if I shipped an 80 pound slab of granite and my wife had to take delivery I would definitely hear it...or have box full of granite chips when I got home.

Chuck -

If she enjoys cooking - buy 2 - and tell her one's for the kitchen, and working with pastry....and take the other for your shop!

Rob
(trying not to sterotype....)

[Chuck Tringo]

Chuck -

If she enjoys cooking - buy 2 - and tell her one's for the kitchen, and working with pastry....and take the other for your shop!

Rob
(trying not to sterotype....)

Rob

It's so crazy it just might work....except I think my mom already got her some kind of pastry stone thingie for xmas, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't weigh 80 lbs...

[Dale Sautter]

Gotta say... it just came in and looks pretty good! The certificate says "has been inspected and certified by Auto Collimator", whatever that means, with Accuracy: .0001. I used my SE48 48 Inch Straight Edge Aluminum Rule (http://greatnecksaw.com/product_info.php?pName=se48-48-inch-straight-edge-aluminum-rule&cName=mayes-layout-levels-rules-guides-yardsticks&osCsid=afe99862062458f036e3e83df6c0d747) to check for light under the rule, but saw none. Granted it's not a Starrett rule, but I think the surface plate ought to work great for me... and for anyone else. Kudos to Enco.

[Zach England]

I didn't look at the shipping weight. Are they really 80 LBS? That is going to be a PITA. I should order another one for my turntable to sit on.

[Alex Silva]

Got mine.. yes it's 79lbs. 2 corners were damaged in transit but main surface is ok.

Alex

[dan sherman]

That enco surface plate looks like an incredible deal, hopefully its still there in a few months...if I shipped an 80 pound slab of granite and my wife had to take delivery I would definitely hear it...or have box full of granite chips when I got home.

Enco has been selling them at that price for a few years now, the only thing that has changed recently, is that the free shipping offer dropped to $25, it used to be $50.

[Paul Ryan]

Mine arrived yesterday. No chips or damage to it. It is heavy though. I really wish it was 1/2 as thick. That would reduce the weight. This sucker is to heavy to to move around much. I have to find someplace to set it and leave it. I checked it with my LV straight edge. I could not get a .001 gauge under any spot. That is flat enough for me.

[Zach England]

I got mine, too. It is a perfect fit for two full-size abrasive sheets. I can't believe how cheap these are.

[Alan Peck]

Just started down the hand tool path and got one of these as well. Just about busted a gut moving it around...
Was thinking of making something for it to sit on so I could at least get my fingers under to move when needed. Has anyone else done that or do you just find a permanent spot?

Alan.

[Tri Hoang]

I got a 12x18 piece from Enco last week. Still can't believe the cost + free shipping. Mine stays put. I have a smaller one (9x12x2") that can move around. The large piece is nice for lapping plane soles.

[Tony Shea]

I just ordered one myself along with a dead blow mallet to get the price up above $25. Unfortunately I couldn't find a set of Starret dividers or else I would have gotten them instead of the mallet. Their website is kind of tough to navigate. Problem with my order is the granite plate is on backorder. I would have gone larger for $44 but I just can't imagine having to move something around that weighs more than 80lbs. I think the next one larger would be heavier than me. Hopefully they get the granite plate in soon enough but I'm in no real rush.

To those of you that have received theirs, are the dimensions of 18"x"12"x3" real accurate? The reason I ask is that I would like to build a sharpening station cart in the meantime before it arrives and would like to reccess this plate in the top of the cart so it sits just proud but tight.

What a heck of a deal. Old Mr. UPS man is not going to be pleased though. BTW, thanks for the promo code for the free shipping. Somebody's got to be loosing money somewhere on this deal.

[Rob Lee]

Hi Tony -

Dimensions on mine are all plus 1/16" to 1/8" on each dimension - undoutedly to account for the relieved edges....

Cheers -

Rob

[Louis Bois]

Hi -

I'll echo Dale's comments.... I ordered two of the 18"x"12"x3" plates (to get over $25). I can't beleive they can ship 'em for that price, let alone sell them for $24.95.

Mine arrive last week - shipped by truck, as the total weight was more than 160 pounds....

Heck of a deal ...!

Cheers -

Rob
(who really has no connection to Enco, as if that needed saying...)

Rob, did they ship yours to Canada for free?!? If so, that's INCREDIBLE!!!

[Rob Lee]

Rob, did they ship yours to Canada for free?!? If so, that's INCREDIBLE!!!

Hi Louis -

No - I had 'em shipped to our Ogdensburg warehouse...but the free truck shipping was still incredible....!

Cheers -

Rob