Lightweight diamond plate for when I'm out of my shop.

[Jessica de Boer]

I took a 6mm thick aluminium plate and my friend who owns a metal shop machined it so it has the same ever so slightly convex shape as my other plates. I stuck on an Atoma 1200 replacement sheet, covered the bottom with black marine grade caulk and sanded it flat, this gives me a perfect non-slip surface. It's the perfect sharpening plate for out and about.

https://i.imgur.com/uYH06dd.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/I8knBEh.jpg

[Derek Cohen]

Great idea, Jessica. I like that.

I've done sort-of-similar, with diamond mesh on perspex. The diamond plate on 10mm perspex should also work.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Frederick Skelly]

Good idea. Thanks for the tip!
Fred

[Jessica de Boer]

I like the perspex idea. That makes it even lighter and it should stay flat.

[Luke Dupont]

Just saw this post. This is really nice! I wish someone sold diamond plates like this: thick but light weight. Portability is of large concern to me because I live in an apartment and need to bring everything with me to an external location where I can work. Sharpening stones are one of the heavier things I have to carry...

[Pat Barry]

Cool, but why exactly do you want the plate to be slightly convex? That seems a bit different. Thete's like huge discussions on how to keep your surface flat.

[Luke Dupont]

Cool, but why exactly do you want the plate to be slightly convex? That seems a bit different. Thete's like huge discussions on how to keep your surface flat.

A very, very slight amount of convexity produces an easy to maintain flatness on large tools, apparently. It can give an ever so slight hollow on the backs of tools so you can get them dead flat with very little effort. Or, so hear! Not yet tried it myself.

[Jessica de Boer]

Cool, but why exactly do you want the plate to be slightly convex? That seems a bit different. Thete's like huge discussions on how to keep your surface flat.

Ever tried to flatten a long chisel on a flat diamond stone or the sole of a plane on a flat surface with sandpaper? You can't do it, it will always be slightly convex no matter how hard you try. Making the plate slightly convex eliminates this.


Just saw this post. This is really nice! I wish someone sold diamond plates like this: thick but light weight. Portability is of large concern to me because I live in an apartment and need to bring everything with me to an external location where I can work. Sharpening stones are one of the heavier things I have to carry...

All you need is a 6mm thick aluminium plate. It's also soft enough that you can create the convex surface yourself with sandpaper.

[chris carter]

Ever tried to flatten a long chisel on a flat diamond stone or the sole of a plane on a flat surface with sandpaper? You can't do it, it will always be slightly convex no matter how hard you try. Making the plate slightly convex eliminates this.



I have personally not experienced this convex result. I tried again after reading the previous thread on this topic. If I pay attention to what I'm doing, the result is dead flat. Either that, or the amount of convexity produced is too small to measure - which would beg the question: if it's too small to measure, is it affecting my work?

Or... perhaps there is something I'm not understanding....

[Tom Trees]

Try that on a no.8!, well... don't actually :rolleyes:
If you rest your plane on a surface plate, at what points does it pivot?
Things get a lot more noticeable when you don't have a cambered iron, since using a very near straight iron, so I can set the cap iron close to have effect
It will always bias the cut on my side of the work...
meaning I have to take more cuts the farther side of the work to have a flat surface, very different than when having say a 1mm camber or even less, I have never really measured it
You might think you have very little camber on your iron, if you haven't learned to use the cap iron for full effect.
Tom