Granite Surface Plate

Thanks for the input, All. I am going with the drawer idea. Not enough valuable floor space. I ordered full extention slides rated at 200 lbs. Starret web site says that SP weighs 210 lbs. I will post pictures when its done.
Larry
 
I would just add that you should make sure that there is enough weight attached to that drawer so that it doesn't topple. Mine is in a cart that has more or less all of my tooling, so it is very stable, but 200lbs sticking out 18 inches is a lot of force; just be safe. You may want to consider some collapsable legs on the front to support it in use as well.
 
Like a number of hobbyists I'm jammed up for space. I built a sturdy frame out 2/4's and 3/4" plywood sized to hold the granite at my desired height. Then I made a protective box of 1/2" ply that fits closely on top. This servers as an excellent surface to spread my plans, notes & calculator, close but not collecting the nasty by products of machining. The area underneath is used for raw material storage.
Roger M.
 
I made room for my 36x48x8 surface plate, its a grade b but I was able to level it to within .0005 per foot. Considering my floor is only 3" thick, it will probably move with the seasons. Having a level surface is nice, flat is even better. I did make my stand to fit the plate, it was 400 for the plate and a day to build the stand. Tim

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I was in Woodcraft this weekend and they had a sale on their wood river surface plate for 27 dollars. I picked it up on a whim.

It is 9x12x2 and shows an accuracy of 0.001 mm/m or 0.0001". the inspection report inside the box states The ACCURACY (yes, all caps) to be 2.4 um, 00 Level.

I am thinking it will be sufficient for my little Sherline and unimats.

Funny thing, the sales guy was pushing me to get the larger one for 80 bucks so I could adhere 2 pieces of sandpaper to it. He was surprised I wanted to use it as a reference surface for more accurate measurement.

I figure for 27 bucks, it is hard to go wrong.
 
Complete Novice here. Acquired cheap a 14" X32" cast iron surface plate from estate of a machinist. Weighs about 90 lbs. Casting underside has very heavy ribs and "feet". Plate surface sits 2.5" above bench top. Very neat looking machined pattern of fine arching lines out from a point that's not in the center of the plate. No numbers or other markings.

Should I make the time and space to level and firmly support this on my cement shop floor or will this sort of heavy iron plate be stable/flat (not level, obviously) with temp change, etc sitting on wood bench?

Maybe this Iron piece is more decorative than functional and I should simply watch for good deal on a granite surface rather than invest scarce time, energy and floor space in a solid stand. Any Input much appreciated.
 
Your questions depend on what you want to do with it, that will help you determine how you set it up. Tim
 
LJP said:
My bench, in the middle of the floor has a 3" thick solid maple top. I was thinking of making a heavy duty "drawer" for the granite plate. It will be protected and out of the way until it is needed.
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Larry, what about a "sliding top" covering the plate?
In this way the plate will have an almost static location in the middle of the bench, where to be set by gravity, it will be protected and you don't even have to remove the junk from the top to use it.
Add a padlock to the top and you'll be sure nobody will use it as an anvil, too!
 
Marco, the sliding bench top idea is a good idea. I think what it really comes down to is which is more important. I have been using a bench for 40 years, only recently bought a surface plate. My solution will be to make a heavy duty drawer for the plate.
Thanks, Larry
 
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