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27th June 2019, 06:02 PM #16.
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27th June 2019, 09:27 PM #17
Bob, is that toughened glass? It is my understanding that the toughening process introduces stress into the glass. Could this effect the flatness?
Having said that, the glass I use is toughened, and don’t know that I’d want to try using non toughened glass, as it would probably not last long.
Lance
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27th June 2019, 09:48 PM #18.
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I remember the glass man cutting it on the spot with a score and snap method so it could not have been toughened.
Attempted cutting of toughened glass this way usually results in pile of glass shards.
Toughened glass has to be annealed (heated to ~500ºC and allowed to cool slowly) before it can be cut - its is then rehardened by reheating and rapidly cooled (quenched).
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28th June 2019, 10:46 AM #19Member
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Actually, $87- is quite cheap and certainly good enough for what you are doing. Hare & Forbes have some bigger surface plates but they're waaay more expensive. https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Surface_Plates
I'd get the Carba-tec one if I were you. Glass is very flat but sooo breakable in your workshop. If you use something that's not certified flat, you'll always be wondering if the light you see is because the tool isn't flat or the reference surface isn't flat (or both).
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28th June 2019, 11:38 AM #20Senior Member
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Are all stone slabs flat? How are they made flat? That means I can use my kitchen benchtop if I wanted to?
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28th June 2019, 12:05 PM #21.
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I believe they are pretty flat but have not seen any numbers.
How are they made flat?
That means I can use my kitchen benchtop if I wanted to?
Ideally you should have two flats - one to lap with and one to check on. Eventually when the one you use for lapping gets dips in it you get another.
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28th June 2019, 12:54 PM #22Senior Member
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28th June 2019, 01:39 PM #23SENIOR MEMBER
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I've got one of the Carbatec granite surfaces - imo, just get it. You'll never need to worry about 'is my surface flat' again. As long as you don't drop it, it's a lifetime tool. I do abuse mine a bit (metal workers cover your eyes) and use spray adhesive to stick on sandpaper for flattening and shaping really rough irons. Plane soles I do on sandpaper spray fixed to a melamine board that sits on my bench or table saw. It's flat enough for a sole.
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28th June 2019, 02:28 PM #24Member
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Surface plates are ground to a very precise level of flatness and they are very thick and dense so that they don't flex or warp. Kitchen bench tops are quite thin (usually only 19mm) and that means that when they are installed in your kitchen, they will flex and distort somewhat because the carcass of the kitchen cupboards will not be perfectly flat. You won't notice this normally but if you put a long straight edge on your bench, you would probably see daylight underneath it. If you don't, maybe its good enough for what you want. However, I assume that you started this thread because you want a surface that is flat to within a very tight tolerance. So, in the end, is $87- really too much to pay for that peace of mind. If it is, use the glass or kitchen bench top and hope for the best.
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28th June 2019, 03:03 PM #25Member
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In that case, I'd get a piece of MDF as thick as you can and have a piece of glass (also as thick as you can get) cut to match and all long and wide enough for your needs. Glue some raised edging around the MDF to stop the glass sliding around. That's probably as good as you'll get without spending hundreds of dollars. It might have been helpful if you'd said the carbatec granite surface was too small right at the start.
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28th June 2019, 03:56 PM #26Senior Member
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28th June 2019, 04:37 PM #27GOLD MEMBER
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I have a piece of half inch laminated glass out of a shop front that has served me for over thirty years. When dropped it does the concrete floor more damage than the glass.
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28th June 2019, 10:24 PM #28SENIOR MEMBER
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29th June 2019, 03:36 AM #29
I went around the house just now with my Lapmaster flatness gauge. I took several points on three different granite countertops, a glass table and a mirror, All showed variations in flatness of 0.0002" or more, some were as high as 0.0005". The flattest was one bathroom counter with only a couple of spots that were > 0.0002" out of flat. None were flat enough to produce an optimally flat plane bottom.
Innovations are those useful things that, by dint of chance, manage to survive the stupidity and destructive tendencies inherent in human nature.
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29th June 2019, 09:52 AM #30.
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