Caring for surface plate

Hi All,

I have just received my granite surface plate grade 0 (apparently).

Now it's just the plate and wondered if anyone had tips on how to moun it on bench and what to clean it with? I bought this from ebay new an it looks nice quality and is apparently accurate to within .005mm whic I dare say is a lot more accurate than me ;)

I have it ontop of my wooden bench at present and wondered if it shoul be sat on little riser blocks or just fine the way it is for my use (marking out checking flat etc)

Many Thanks,

Colin Heat

-- colinheat

----------------------------------------------------------------------- colinheath's Profile:

formatting link
this thread:
formatting link

Reply to
colinheath
Loading thread data ...

Reply to
Andrew Mawson

Andrew cares for his by putting them on Ebay

Sorry Andrew, - couldn't resist

-- Regards,

John Stevenson Nottingham, England.

Visit the new Model Engineering adverts page at:-

formatting link

Reply to
John Stevenson

(apparently).

Nope - you're wrong for once John ! One surface plate I gave away to a fellow SM&EE member and the other is carefully preserved in Shell Ensis 'S' and packed in its felt lined box ready for the move, if only the solicitors would pull their collective fingers out. Very frustrating having a half packed workshop !!!!

AWEM

Reply to
Andrew Mawson

Got to nip down to Gravesend on Saturday with the Donald, I could pop in and check the half that's not packed if you want

-- Regards,

John Stevenson Nottingham, England.

Visit the new Model Engineering adverts page at:-

formatting link

Reply to
John Stevenson

Doesn't it have feet already installed? It should have (maybe 3, depending on its size). The surface plates are inspected with the feet installed, otherwise it would be quite useless. At least, the _must_ be an instruction where it has to be supported!

Nick

Reply to
Nick Müller

Hi All,

Thanks for the help. I am still not sure if i should have on feet o not? It's a cheap plate and may need these added. Cheers Coli

-- colinheat

----------------------------------------------------------------------- colinheath's Profile:

formatting link
this thread:
formatting link

Reply to
colinheath

Hello Colin,

My granite surface plate didn't come with feet or instructions to put it on any - I think... When I get chance I'll dig out the calibration certificate which came with it and check.

I did make a cover for it though...

It doesn't seem to need much cleaning except for when blue is used on it, then a rag dampened with turps does the trick.

HTH...

Cheers,

Jez.

jezATjezHYPHENnikkiDOTnet

Reply to
Jez

When I was an apprentice at a metrology company who made granite products, the tables and plates were always mounted on 5 screw jacks. 3 jacks were used to level it up with a precision level and then the other 2 screwed up after levelling to prevent the table from tipping if anything was placed on an unsupported corner.

The granite tables were always cleaned using Swarfega hand cleaner, rub it on dry using a rag, then wash off with water and leave to dry. Before any granite product was sent out it always had Swarfega rubbed in to it this gave it a slight shine, hid any scratches and generaly made it look its best.

Regards Paul

Reply to
Paul Swindell

Hi Chaps,

Thanks for the info. I have made a temporary cover from the box it cam in and will build a decent one soon with felt lining. I guess for th things i will be doing the accuracy will be fine whatever. Th calibration certificate was in chinese with mine so i could only glea a little info. Cheers Coli

-- colinheat

----------------------------------------------------------------------- colinheath's Profile:

formatting link
this thread:
formatting link

Reply to
colinheath

Be careful; evaporative cooling can make enough of a temperature gradient twixt top and bottom to bend it (a bit)

The posh people use some fancy cleaning stuff.

formatting link
I just clean when I've finished, so the plate has loads of time (often weeks!) to stabilise its temperature before the next use.

BugBear

Reply to
bugbear

That's an interesting site you've referenced.

Makes me feel that my little 200mm x200mm cast iron plate shouldn't get to hear about his granite cousins, or he may decide to sulk.

Reply to
Malcolm Stewart

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.