Plates continued. (This inspection is
performed with the plate out of the machine.)
Sharp plates may cut you, be careful!
Inspect the plate before each use. Inspect the
edge of the holes, they should form sharp
corners. The plate should be clean.
Check for discolored plates, do not use a
plate with a deep blue coloring between the
holes. Check for cracks, especially between
the holes. If cracks are present, do not use
the plate. Check for grooves, broken holes,
and any other defect. Do not use defective
orifice plates. The plate must be 3/4" thick
or thicker.
We recommend that a fresh plate surface
should be used every 8 hours of operation.
Operations that run empty or with hard to
grind materials may have to change plate
surfaces more often.
Grinder Plates should be sharpened with a
vertical type surface grinder, typically called
a "Blanchard Type". With this type of
surface grinder the plate should be placed
directly over the center of the table. We do
not recommend sharpening the plates when
they are placed out on the table, not directly
over the center of the table.
If you have a Pieco or Van Norman surface
grinder we recommend using our grinding
wheels to sharpen the plate. These
specialized grinding wheels produce the
correct surface finish to provide clean, cool,
cutting. Plates that are not sharpened
correctly will not grind even the softest of
meats. The plates must be flooded with
coolant when they are ground. The
horsepower rating of your surface grinder
will determine feed rate. The plate should be
sharpened enough to restore the edge of the
hole, and remove any discoloration from
running empty (see Maintenance
Instructions, Grinder Plates). Nicks and
gouges should be ground out.
The plates should be ground perfectly flat, or
slightly concave, .002 per side max.
We offer a factory modified Van Norman
surface grinder to our customers. This
machine sharpens the plates quickly and
properly.
Improperly sharpend plates is the most
common grinder problem.
SHARP
CORNER
19
.000
.002
