# surface "plate"



## uncle harry (Feb 28, 2014)

About a month ago I bought a Enco 18 inch vernier height gauge and a 8 inch micrometer through Craigslist Milw.  Of course i did this in spite of not having a surface plate.  Since my usual work isn't gauge making, I thought that for my needs my vintage cast iron table saw surface would fill the needs.  But then, a nearby (15 miles) cabinet and counter making company listed granite top scraps and other sundries for sale.  I bought a 14" x 19" x 1" black granite sales sample for $ 42.   Both of my shops are not being heated in this Vortex weather debacle  so it's too cold to check it out with my .005-0-.005 indicator, but it looks flat when glancing down the length.  Should work for me if & when Spring ever arrives.


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## jmhoying (Feb 28, 2014)

uncle harry said:


> About a month ago I bought a Enco 18 inch vernier height gauge and a 8 inch micrometer through Craigslist Milw.  Of course i did this in spite of not having a surface plate.  Since my usual work isn't gauge making, I thought that for my needs my vintage cast iron table saw surface would fill the needs.  But then, a nearby (15 miles) cabinet and counter making company listed granite top scraps and other sundries for sale.  I bought a 14" x 19" x 1" black granite sales sample for $ 42.   Both of my shops are not being heated in this Vortex weather debacle  so it's too cold to check it out with my .005-0-.005 indicator, but it looks flat when glancing down the length.  Should work for me if & when Spring ever arrives.



I have had the same thoughts about using a "non certified" surface plate.  For the type of basic work that I do, a generally flat plat would be fine.  To me, the only time a perfectly flat plate would be handy would be if you are planning on adhering sandpaper to it for lapping a part.

Jack


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## RandyM (Feb 28, 2014)

Harry, I moved this thread to a more appropriate forum. Hope you don't mind?


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## Cactus Farmer (Feb 28, 2014)

I have a gray "head stone" that is blank. It serves me well and the extra thickness might be an advantage in stability. I might use it later as it's intended purpose. I will let some one else place it in its special spot. I'm sure I'll be busy gathering tools in a new place.


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## Bill C. (Feb 28, 2014)

uncle harry said:


> About a month ago I bought a Enco 18 inch vernier height gauge and a 8 inch micrometer through Craigslist Milw.  Of course i did this in spite of not having a surface plate.  Since my usual work isn't gauge making, I thought that for my needs my vintage cast iron table saw surface would fill the needs.  But then, a nearby (15 miles) cabinet and counter making company listed granite top scraps and other sundries for sale.  I bought a 14" x 19" x 1" black granite sales sample for $ 42.   Both of my shops are not being heated in this Vortex weather debacle  so it's too cold to check it out with my .005-0-.005 indicator, but it looks flat when glancing down the length.  Should work for me if & when Spring ever arrives.



I thought about using stone as well. Just depends on what your shop standards are or will be. One thousandth difference would be fine compared to a tenth of a thousandth or less.  Find a straight edge that you trust to be true and some .001  shim stock or feeler gauges and gentle press down on the straight edge and try to push the feeler under the length of the stone. Repeat this from corner to corner in all directions so see how well they polished the stone.  When I worked for a government contractor they had to certify the flatness of their stones by using lasers. The Best to you.


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## uncle harry (Feb 28, 2014)

RandyM said:


> Harry, I moved this thread to a more appropriate forum. Hope you don't mind?




Certainly not !  I'm just becoming familiar with the workings of this forum and I enjoy hours of "arm-chair" machining during these cold days. Thanks for the help.


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## xalky (Feb 28, 2014)

uncle harry said:


> About a month ago I bought a Enco 18 inch vernier height gauge and a 8 inch micrometer through Craigslist Milw.  Of course i did this in spite of not having a surface plate.  Since my usual work isn't gauge making, I thought that for my needs my vintage cast iron table saw surface would fill the needs.  But then, a nearby (15 miles) cabinet and counter making company listed granite top scraps and other sundries for sale.  I bought a 14" x 19" x 1" black granite sales sample for $ 42.   Both of my shops are not being heated in this Vortex weather debacle  so it's too cold to check it out with my .005-0-.005 indicator, but it looks flat when glancing down the length.  Should work for me if & when Spring ever arrives.


 I have a piece of granite counter top that I keep thats 20"x25", just for this purpose. It's good enough for what I do. The best I can do is check it with a parrallel and shine a flash light behind it and look for the light shining under it. It's flatter than my parralels! The parrallels are supposedly accurate to .0005". Good enough for me. 

I got mine for free, It was a sink cutout from the countertop.


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## SEK_22Hornet (Feb 28, 2014)

+1 on the sink cut-out - I got mine free when I talked to a local counter top shop. He said he was glad to get rid of some scrap! He let me pick the piece I wanted from a pile. I figure it is better than what I had (nothing) and I sure couldn't complain about the price.

Edit - Mine is Granite also.


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## francist (Feb 28, 2014)

Good scoop. I'll be interested to hear how it checks out for flatness when you do get around to it.  

I have a 20" diameter cast iron platen that was used for pressing LP's (back in the days of vinyl) that I hope to use for a surface plate. Unfortunately it got some surface rust during a move so I'm waiting for a bit warmer weather to de-rust it and see if it's salvageable.

-frank


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## uncle harry (Feb 28, 2014)

xalky said:


> I have a piece of granite counter top that I keep thats 20"x25", just for this purpose. It's good enough for what I do. The best I can do is check it with a parrallel and shine a flash light behind it and look for the light shining under it. It's flatter than my parralels! The parrallels are supposedly accurate to .0005". Good enough for me.
> 
> I got mine for free, It was a sink cutout from the countertop.




Nice price !  I like to use formica covered sink cutouts as tool hanger panels that can be attached to the wall with less mounting damage. Easy to move groups of tools from place to place instead of having many "pegs" in the wall.


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## Cobra (Feb 28, 2014)

In Canada Busy Bee sells granite plates for a very reasonable price. I think got 18x12 for less than $15 several years ago.


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## Walltoddj (Feb 28, 2014)

*Re: surface plate*

Years ago I bought one from Enco a 18x24x3 Granite surface plate the shipping was the problem at 180lbs it came by freight truck at $50.

Todd


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