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Glass Platen for Jet 2x42 Belt Sander (and Mobile Stand)
- Thread starter darkzero
- Start date
- Joined
- May 3, 2017
- Messages
- 1,997
Thanks for the answer, Will. I have completed my glass platen, and it turned out very well. I need to post pictures, but I've been swamped for the last couple of weeks, so it'll be at least the weekend before I'm able to do that.Dammit, now I forgot what I came here looking for.
I so wish I was still at the lake!
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I also made another modification to the Jet. On my machine, the bracket that holds the table for the belt sander is pretty cheesy. (Ninety degrees seems to be loosely defined approximation at best.) So I decided to make a beefier and more accurate bracket. That turned out great as well, but again, bear with me for pictures. Busy, busy, busy!
Regards
Oh, and P.S.: The tent and rubber rafts and other stuff looks like it could have a party in a motor home that size. So I'm guessing you brought your mill and lathe with you, right? What'd you make while you were there?
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2012
- Messages
- 7,854
Sounds nice Terry!
Sadly I have not been able to touch my lathe & mill for some weeks now. They're actually inaccessible right now, shifted things around in the garage to make room to work on my truck. I'm almost done working on the truck, the rest I can do on the driveway, just haven't had the time to put the garage back to "normal" yet.
Sadly I have not been able to touch my lathe & mill for some weeks now. They're actually inaccessible right now, shifted things around in the garage to make room to work on my truck. I'm almost done working on the truck, the rest I can do on the driveway, just haven't had the time to put the garage back to "normal" yet.
- Joined
- May 3, 2017
- Messages
- 1,997
Okay, finally I have had a modicum of sanity introduced to my schedule, so I was able to download some pictures of my build. Not a whole lot to describe in terms of the process - like others here, I basically followed Will's lead. There were three differences in my build which were generally necessitated by material that I had available.
The first difference was I made the base out of a piece of 1" CRS. I started by flattening the bottom, then milling the recess for the vertical platen. Because I was using 1" stock, the shoulder of the recess is significantly thicker than it would have been otherwise. I milled the recess deep enough to accommodate the platen and the pyroceram.
The second change was that I made the platen out of 3/8" stock instead of 1/2". After milling to dimension, I then drilled the through holes in the base, and drilled and tapped the holes in the platen. I used 1/4-20 socket head screws - the largest I could use with 3/8" stock.
Attaching the platen to the base allowed me to measure how much excess could be taken off of the base behind the platen. I left a sufficient amount of stock to support the platen; the excess was removed to reduce weight and bulk.
The final change was that I attached the pyroceram with JB Weld. I did this for two reasons. First, in the event of breakage, it appears to me that it would be a relatively easy matter to machine off the shrapnel from the platen and mount another piece of glass (I bought two), or in a worse case scenario, just make another one. And second, I don't have any 2-sided carpet tape, so there you go.
The result was very satisfying. The platen is taller and stronger than the original, and exactly perpendicular to the table. Here are some pictures:
This photo shows how much stock I was able to remove from the topside of the base while maintaining rigidity for the platen. That shoulder behind the platen is essentially the thickness of the original 1" stock. Also, you'll notice some discoloration on the bottom of the base. That's because I removed as little stock as possible to ensure flatness. What's left is cosmetic only:
It's perpendicular:
Here it is mounted on the machine, and next to its original little brother:
I also decided to fabricate a beefier bracket to hold the table onto the machine. It was a bit of a challenge to figure out how to mill the curved slot - mostly done by trial and error since I had no reference point to determine the radius. I made the bracket in two pieces of 1/4" stock and tack welded them together because I think I will need to incorporate another modification: the table can be adjusted on one dimension (front-to-back) to engage the platen at exactly 90*. But it cannot sit flat in the second dimension (left-to-right). That is clearly a design flaw in the casting. I have an idea of how to modify the bracket to make that dimension variable, but that will involve either taking the bracket apart (hence, the tack weld) or rebuilding it. We'll see. I'm all ears for suggestions, by the way.
Here are a couple of pictures:
I'll post pictures of the modified table bracket when it's finished. Again, I'm all ears for suggestions.
Thanks, Will, for planting the seed for this improvement in what seems to me to be an otherwise nice piece of equipment. It was an interesting project.
Regards,
The first difference was I made the base out of a piece of 1" CRS. I started by flattening the bottom, then milling the recess for the vertical platen. Because I was using 1" stock, the shoulder of the recess is significantly thicker than it would have been otherwise. I milled the recess deep enough to accommodate the platen and the pyroceram.
The second change was that I made the platen out of 3/8" stock instead of 1/2". After milling to dimension, I then drilled the through holes in the base, and drilled and tapped the holes in the platen. I used 1/4-20 socket head screws - the largest I could use with 3/8" stock.
Attaching the platen to the base allowed me to measure how much excess could be taken off of the base behind the platen. I left a sufficient amount of stock to support the platen; the excess was removed to reduce weight and bulk.
The final change was that I attached the pyroceram with JB Weld. I did this for two reasons. First, in the event of breakage, it appears to me that it would be a relatively easy matter to machine off the shrapnel from the platen and mount another piece of glass (I bought two), or in a worse case scenario, just make another one. And second, I don't have any 2-sided carpet tape, so there you go.
The result was very satisfying. The platen is taller and stronger than the original, and exactly perpendicular to the table. Here are some pictures:
This photo shows how much stock I was able to remove from the topside of the base while maintaining rigidity for the platen. That shoulder behind the platen is essentially the thickness of the original 1" stock. Also, you'll notice some discoloration on the bottom of the base. That's because I removed as little stock as possible to ensure flatness. What's left is cosmetic only:
It's perpendicular:
Here it is mounted on the machine, and next to its original little brother:
I also decided to fabricate a beefier bracket to hold the table onto the machine. It was a bit of a challenge to figure out how to mill the curved slot - mostly done by trial and error since I had no reference point to determine the radius. I made the bracket in two pieces of 1/4" stock and tack welded them together because I think I will need to incorporate another modification: the table can be adjusted on one dimension (front-to-back) to engage the platen at exactly 90*. But it cannot sit flat in the second dimension (left-to-right). That is clearly a design flaw in the casting. I have an idea of how to modify the bracket to make that dimension variable, but that will involve either taking the bracket apart (hence, the tack weld) or rebuilding it. We'll see. I'm all ears for suggestions, by the way.
Here are a couple of pictures:
I'll post pictures of the modified table bracket when it's finished. Again, I'm all ears for suggestions.
Thanks, Will, for planting the seed for this improvement in what seems to me to be an otherwise nice piece of equipment. It was an interesting project.
Regards,
