Machined #100 plate (no grind)
 

FYI...I was a little leary about grinding my stock plate, into a #100 plate. Really felt as though I would not have that much control over the amount of material I was removing.

SO...I machined my stock plate into a #100 plate. Used a 3/4" carbide endmill (stock plate was hard, but not as hard as I expected...thinking high speed steel would cut it, with a spray mist). Turned out, imo, perfect...no need to polish anything, just broke the edges with a stone.

Procedure: Used a Bridgeport mill, 3/4" carbide endmill, clamped the plate in the vice, machined the overall length of the stock plate to 1.375" (this would be measured from the back of the plate - to - the front of the plate where the governor arm comes in contact), and then slowly milled the flat from the top mount down (like a zero plate), until I was just about to reach the 1.375" length. Made a very nice radius into the flat.

I know...a picture is worth a thousand words, but just wanted to give an overview of how I did it. (Ad removed site violation)

Run that plate for a while then take it out and look at the nasty wear on the plate from the governor lever, that might change your mind on polishing. I've ground a few plates that some one else tried to grind and didn't polish and the wear was UGLY! I could only imagine what kind of wear they did to their lever, besides with some wet dry sand paper and a dremel and some good metal polish you can have that thing look like a mirror in 30 to 45 minutes and things slide better with less resistance right. Just imagine crank journals if they weren't polished.

less resistance = more FREE power

JMHO

PS how do ya like NOT spending $200 to $300 bucks for a plate you can custom grind yourself [coffee]

Wow Northslope...just wanted to share my work with anyone who might be interested in an alternative to grinding. I Appreciate your concern about surface finish...although, a 4-flute carbide endmill, running at a high speed, leaves a very good surface finish. Is it comprable to a polished finish...no, but it's sure not a roughing cut.

I will take your advice and spend some time hand polishing the area, just to confirm I have a mirror finish. But in all reality...the surface finish I have after it was machined...is a lot better then the surface finish of the stock plate before I started.

And yes...it ALWAYS feels good, to save myself some money. In fact...I have to thank the members here, for enlightening me with this option. Thanks to all!

I need one of those!!!! Would probably save a lot of time :D

i can grind one and polish one in about 5 minutes any more. the fiber deburring wheel polish it right up in less than a minute.