John Kasaian
20-Jul-2017, 17:57
FWIW
Weights for flattening prints can be anything---pizza stone, big thick books(Black's Law Dictionary has been a favorite for years,) steel plates, cast iron skillets, you name it. As long as it's flat and heavy (the heavier the better) and won't emboss the print I figure it's probably good to go.
Mr. Gittings mentioned using a granite cut out from a counter top, so I thought I'd explore that route.
On the local Craig's List I found a source for scraps of granite counter tops for free (!) so I came home with a large, smooth 28" x 19" rectangular piece in the trunk, which I thought I'd get cut in half to make a print "sandwich" in between mat boards and release paper. None of the local shops were interested in making the cut, hence this DIY post.
So I got my diamond tile saw out of the garage to try it out. I'd cut Travertine with it when I did some tile work years ago. Maybe it would work on granite?
The biggest issue was this is a large and heavy and thick piece---not a thin 4"x4" porcelain or Travertine tile.
I placed the saw on a wooden picnic table and built up a platform level with the saw's cutting table using scrap wood and whatever else was handy. With a Carpenter's square and a China marker I marked a straight line where I wanted my cut, raised the blade guard as high as it could go to clear the thick granite and routed the power cord where it wouldn't get wet from the saw.
I put on $3 face shield from Harbor Freight (my old face shield was toast) and...and...
it worked!
I now have two 14"x19" granite slabs to play with.
I get a big kick out of small victories.:cool:
Weights for flattening prints can be anything---pizza stone, big thick books(Black's Law Dictionary has been a favorite for years,) steel plates, cast iron skillets, you name it. As long as it's flat and heavy (the heavier the better) and won't emboss the print I figure it's probably good to go.
Mr. Gittings mentioned using a granite cut out from a counter top, so I thought I'd explore that route.
On the local Craig's List I found a source for scraps of granite counter tops for free (!) so I came home with a large, smooth 28" x 19" rectangular piece in the trunk, which I thought I'd get cut in half to make a print "sandwich" in between mat boards and release paper. None of the local shops were interested in making the cut, hence this DIY post.
So I got my diamond tile saw out of the garage to try it out. I'd cut Travertine with it when I did some tile work years ago. Maybe it would work on granite?
The biggest issue was this is a large and heavy and thick piece---not a thin 4"x4" porcelain or Travertine tile.
I placed the saw on a wooden picnic table and built up a platform level with the saw's cutting table using scrap wood and whatever else was handy. With a Carpenter's square and a China marker I marked a straight line where I wanted my cut, raised the blade guard as high as it could go to clear the thick granite and routed the power cord where it wouldn't get wet from the saw.
I put on $3 face shield from Harbor Freight (my old face shield was toast) and...and...
it worked!
I now have two 14"x19" granite slabs to play with.
I get a big kick out of small victories.:cool: