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Granite Plate

Dabbler said:
@L98Fiero
I have an account. but I won't be ordering from them ever again. I have contact with the Western Canadian Sales manager, and the simply don't want to do business with accounts less than 10K$ per year. I think they are supremely stupid for this decision.
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That’s odd, even this spring I could walk into any eastern Fastenal and purchase, with no account. The only stipulation was no retail, you had to be a registered business. They are NOT my preferred place to shop but sometimes on the road I have no choice

They quoted me on a bunch of grade 8 fasteners that my regular bolt place couldn’t come close to matching- so either they’re selling cheap junk OR willing to sell at a loss to gain new customers, I never found out

Brafasco lost my business when they started enforcing their minimum $10 sale rule. I’m with you, if you don’t want small business then say so, it must be an accounting or inventory hassle.
 
DPittman said:
I actually had made one but I prefer the height gauge stand.
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This is REALLY hard to understand..... How can a height gauge equal the ease of use and convenience of a standard?

I can only think of two possibities. Either you have the most creative novel way of using your height gauge, or you have the worst least practical way of using your center height standard.

My standard is cut exactly to center height. I keep it on the bench beside my lathe where it is always handy. I place it on the flat way in front of the tool I am adjusting. I bring the tool to the side of the standard and raise and lower the tool until my finger and then finger nail cannot detect a difference in height between the standard and the tool tip. This will always be within a few thou of center even if I rush the job.
 
Susquatch said:
This is REALLY hard to understand..... How can a height gauge equal the ease of use and convenience of a standard?

I can only think of two possibities. Either you have the most creative novel way of using your height gauge, or you have the worst least practical way of using your center height standard.

My standard is cut exactly to center height. I keep it on the bench beside my lathe where it is always handy. I place it on the flat way in front of the tool I am adjusting. I bring the tool to the side of the standard and raise and lower the tool until my finger and then finger nail cannot detect a difference in height between the standard and the tool tip. This will always be within a few thou of center even if I rush the job.
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Just amounts to preference only, I use it the same way and get the same results. I do sometimes flip back and forth from having the compound slide on and off and so sometimes depending on what tool setup I have going on, it is easier to set the tool height using the ways as the base vs using the cross slide as the base. I don't think it's necessarily better but I don't think it's worse either.
 
DPittman said:
Just amounts to preference only, I use it the same way and get the same results. I do sometimes flip back and forth from having the compound slide on and off and so sometimes depending on what tool setup I have going on, it is easier to set the tool height using the ways as the base vs using the cross slide as the base. I don't think it's necessarily better but I don't think it's worse either.
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That's one of the reasons why my standard is designed to sit on the ways, not the cross-slide. I don't want it to matter what tool setup I have. But besides that, it's not always easy to position a tool over the cross-slide.

Here is mine in use. I plan to mill a flat into it when I have nothing better to do. In the meantime it works fine as is.

20221119_122906.jpg
 
Susquatch said:
That's one of the reasons why my standard is designed to sit on the ways, not the cross-slide. I don't want it to matter what tool setup I have. But besides that, it's not always easy to position a tool over the cross-slide.

Here is mine in use. I plan to mill a flat into it when I have nothing better to do. In the meantime it works fine as is.

View attachment 28090
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my version has a disc on top, machined to two half circles. My lathe center is 2.935” above the cross slide. Half the disc is 2.936”, the other half 2.934”. Takes seconds to confirm if the bit touches one side but not the other.

6F4589C5-9854-4177-B982-57C185CF2566.webp
 
whydontu said:
my version has a disc on top, machined to two half circles. My lathe center is 2.935” above the cross slide. Half the disc is 2.936”, the other half 2.934”. Takes seconds to confirm if the bit touches one side but not the other.
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I like this concept. It beats questioning yourself about how well you feel the difference.

When I took the photo I posted above, I took some additional time to check my "feel". I don't seem to have much trouble feeling a thou one way or the other. Maybe that depends on the temperature and how I'm feeling that day though......

I like your concept though. It's almost like a go/no-go gauge.


Mine goes right beside my tool and I use my finger or finger nail to detect the difference in height. It's really surprising how sensitive that is. I can feel a thou pretty reliably.
 
Ever since I made my height gauge for my lathe it is in regular use. I always found the ruler method to be slower and less accurate.

I find it surprising that none of my mentors have ever used one. :eek:
 
So I dug out my old leaky tube of blue and see that it is also DYKEM brand. Another interesting fact is that it contains paraffin oil.

And brake fluid worked so so for removing it from the hands but carb cleaner worked much better! (I know, I know...)
20221119_165611.jpg
20221119_165550.jpg
 
I cannot imagine what the disrepancy here (over petroleum oil on surface plates) --- Perhaps paraffin oil has some kind of different characteristic than common petroleum oil. Gosh, I've been so careful over the years! But ammonia wipes would make sense now.
 
Dabbler said:
I cannot imagine what the disrepancy here (over petroleum oil on surface plates) --- Perhaps paraffin oil has some kind of different characteristic than common petroleum oil. Gosh, I've been so careful over the years! But ammonia wipes would make sense now.
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Oh ya I also forgot to mention the first ingredient says some like "petroleum" but it is not clear it's definitely petro-something.
 
What's the problem with oil and surface plates ? Other than the staining? Does it break down the surface over time or something ?
 
phaxtris said:
What's the problem with oil and surface plates ? Other than the staining? Does it break down the surface over time or something ?
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I have no experience with surface plates but I can't imagine the surface could be broken down by any oil. I'd guess the problem with oil is the possibility of it hanging on to grit or dirt?
 
DPittman said:
I have no experience with surface plates but I can't imagine the surface could be broken down by any oil. I'd guess the problem with oil is the possibility of it hanging on to grit or dirt?
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That's why I was wondering, granite is pretty tough, other than it stains quite easily, just curious as to what the reasoning is behind the no oil thing
 
What I was warned over 40 years ago was that oil on the surface plate will help "break it down". Tool makers are usually not long on explanations. When I was in their shops learning, I kept everything free of oil and perfectly clean of other debris. To not do what they said was to risk losing shop privileges.
 
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Mitutoyo recommends denatured alcohol (a petroleum product)

Don Baily Suburban Tool recommends a household cleaner (ammonia base) mostly as a cheaper version to Starrett's cleaner. I won't link his video its rather silly
I've seen some other references to ammonia wipes but also a warning that many may also have mild dose of muriatic acid which is a no-no.

Starrett cleaner. A quick look at their SDS... looks petroleum-ish to me
1668909475221.webp


www.michelli.com

Granite Surface Plate Maintenance Do's & Don'ts

Proper granite surface plate maintenance protects your equipment so you get the longest possible life out of your investment.
www.michelli.com www.michelli.com
2. Clean the surface plate often & keep it covered. Clean often, and do so with granite surface plate cleaner. The wrong cleaner could leave behind residue that attracts dust, or worse, cause the plate to wear. After cleaning, allow the plate to normalize to ensure accuracy. The appropriate amount of time ranges from 1-5 hours depending on its size.
4. Do not use a water-based cleaner or a volatile solvent to clean the granite surface plate. Both will chill the plate. Volatile solvents could lead to wear, while water-based cleaners will cause the surface plate to retain the water, leading to rust on fasteners and other metal components.

Found a few links about 'blue' removal, but more forum type chit-chat where anything goes: WD-40, MEK...
 
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