Surface Plate 2020 Complete Guide

Posted by freemexy on March 16th, 2021

Surface Plate 2020 Complete Guide



A Surface Plate is a solid flat plate used to mimic a perfect 2D plane as accurately as possible to facilitate other measurements being made on top that plane. Many of the most common measurements is done with a Height Gauge.To get more news about Cast iron surface plate, you can visit cntrueplate official website.

A Surface Plate with height gauge is an extremely handy thing for any CNC’er or machinist to have on hand, so I recommend getting the set relatively early on.Surface plates are usually made of granite, and they come in a variety of sizes and grades. There are cast iron, steel, and glass surface plates available, but most prefer to stick with granite.

Granite came into wide use during the Second World War. Before that time, most surface plates were metal. Granite was conceived as a means of saving the metal for more critical applications. The idea to use granite came about by the happy coincidence of Wallace Herman owning both a monument and a metal shop in Dayton, Ohio.

You can find both black and pink granite used to make surface plates, with black granite being more popular. Pink granite has more quartz, and is therefore more wear-resistant than black granite. However, it isn’t as strong and so it is normally desirable for a pink granite surface plate to be thicker.

Before granite became prevalent, Cast Iron was the most common material for surface plates. It is still popular for certain applications because it is easier to work it to a particular degree of precision than granite. In fact, a cast iron surface plate may be used as a tool to help lap (resurface) a granite surface plate.Try to purchase an “A” grade surface plate in the largest size that you can afford and that fits comfortably in your shop.

The ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) has published ASME B89.3.7 — 2013 which is the current standard for granite surface plates.