Glass surface plate

[Camnefdt]

Is it the same $1000 shipping for the Lee Valley one:
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=32526&cat=1,43513,51657

-brino

At checkout they say they have to calculate shipping and get back to me cause its outside of usa

 

[fvdbergh]

Hey guys

I am needing some parts to be made as flat, parallel and square as possible.

Here in South Africa it is just not economical to purchase a surface plate, cast iron or granite.

They start at around R16000 zar for a small one which is around 1000 usd

I can get a piece of laminated glass free and was wondering if anybody has actually used or tested the accuracy of glass in general as a surface plate.

I have searched for it and found a couple people talking about it, but none having actually done it yet.

I don't need accuracy to the millionths but looking at getting within 0.01mm of flat, parallel and square

I bought a 300x300x70mm granite plate from Gem tool company in Pretoria (https://www.gemtool.co.za) about three years ago for only about R500. The inspection certificate claims it has a maximum deviation of 2.6 micron, which is probably good enough for the average hobbyist.

 

[Camnefdt]

I bought a 300x300x70mm granite plate from Gem tool company in Pretoria (https://www.gemtool.co.za) about three years ago for only about R500. The inspection certificate claims it has a maximum deviation of 2.6 micron, which is probably good enough for the average hobbyist.

Oh nice! Ill check them out and see!

 

[Round in circles]

They are available here but i have no idea why they are so expensive. Everything fun here is expensive haha.

Biggest piece i will need to work on is 200mm x 300mm and made from cast iron. Its a project that im busy planning out which the parts need to align together as flat and accurate as I can get but dont need to be extreme.

Will only start properly planning parts if I can figure out a reasonable way of getting a flat surface to work from

Can you get a weld reinforced 3/4 "2 thick steel plate ? Fly cut the face on a warmed up milling machine of reasonable accuracy . It wont matter if the reinforcing is not dead parallel to the fly cut face as it's just the single cut plane you're wanting to use. Perhaps set the fly cut part in a 4 " slab of mesh reinforced concrete & use an engineers spirit level to get it true all round if you need it nearly true flat in all planes

 

[Camnefdt]

Can you get a weld reinforced 3/4 "2 thick steel plate ? Fly cut the face on a warmed up milling machine of reasonable accuracy . It wont matter if the reinforcing is not dead parallel to the fly cut face as it's just the single cut plane you're wanting to use. Perhaps set the fly cut part in a 4 " slab of mesh reinforced concrete & use an engineers spirit level to get it true all round if you need it nearly true flat in all planes

Unfortunately all my projects have been placed on hold, going to be moving soon. Will have to see if i can get this done. But I'm also moving to a bigger city which will have more chance to find a second hand surface plate from somewhere.

To get a shop to mill off a plate will be just as expensive as buying. But will see what I dan do once ive moved and set up again!

 

[brino]

Unfortunately all my projects have been placed on hold, going to be moving soon.

Best of luck with the move. I hope everything goes smoothly and according to plan.

I'm also moving to a bigger city which will have more chance to find a second hand surface plate from somewhere.

I hope you find a bigger pool of both new and used equipment.....and a bigger shop to enjoy it in!
-brino

 

[Camnefdt]

Best of luck with the move. I hope everything goes smoothly and according to plan.


I hope you find a bigger pool of both new and used equipment.....and a bigger shop to enjoy it in!
-brino

Thanks!

Moving back with my parents to start studying again, will have full and sole use of a 2.5 car garage.

Will also be on the look out for auctions, hopefully get some good deals there! Would be over the moon if i could find a milling machine within budget haha

 

[Richard King 2]

Have you checked with Granite Grave Stone Markers, They are pretty close. I had a student make a surface plate from one. It was 36" x 36" and 4" thick. He made a stand with set it on 3 points. We used a precision level to test it looking for the flat part of the plate and we found a section that was with-in .0002"

 

[Camnefdt]

Have you checked with Granite Grave Stone Markers, They are pretty close. I had a student make a surface plate from one. It was 36" x 36" and 4" thick. He made a stand with set it on 3 points. We used a precision level to test it looking for the flat part of the plate and we found a section that was with-in .0002"

Will have a look around once the move is done