Workshop tip: Marble or granite tile is a low-cost lapping plate
Floor tiles are inexpensive and give you a long, flat surface.
If you love hand tools like I do, you’ll need several long, dead-flat surfaces for flattening blades, chisels, and the soles of your planes. Floor tiles are an affordable, effective solution, offering a longer surface than heavy granite slabs sold as lapping plates. Look for stores that sell tile by the piece, and go for the 12-in. by 24-in. size. But beware, not all tile is flat. Marble or granite tiles are very good for this purpose, while ceramic or porcelain tiles are not. For the abrasives, I use 6-in. by 48-in. sanding belts—cut in half to create 2-ft.-long strips—and I attach them with 3M Super 77 spray adhesive. I like the belts better than sandpaper rolls, which are often less than 3 in. wide.
—MICHAEL RICCO, Kalamazoo, Mich.
Illustrations by Dan Thornton
From Fine Woodworking issue #287
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Comments
When I needed a pastry slap (marble), then a stone for baking (granite), I went to one wholesaler and workshop after another. If they are making a counter top with an opening for the sink, the"waste" piece was near perfect for my purpose. Both places where i got them were in industrial areas. Both just sent me outside after telling me which pallets had their rejects, broken pieces, and off-cuts; told me to just chose one, check with them, and they were free. That was Seattle area. I'm in Alaska now, the stores that sell to the public (and sometimes install), charge - usually pretty cheap (nothing like you'd get charged if you were making a countertop or a floor.
I didn't need "dead flat", but I'd take a straight edge if I did.
A a repurposed granite counter top makes for a good assembly table top. Nice and flat, plenty heavy, and glue or paint can be easily removed with a single edge razor blade.
Warren
Plymouth, MN
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