[Boatanchors] Crystal Grinding

[Wilson Lamb]

I ground many FT-243 surplus xtals into the 80 and 40 novice bands when I was a kid.
Dad had a small balance weight, maybe 5-10gm, that was used for test.
One just laid the xtal on the xmtr chassis, sat the weight on it, and read the freq. from a RX.  No need for a holder.
One could, of course, use another xtal as a reference point.
I bought xtals for a dime and sold them for 50 cents...but it took some time and a little skill.
Dad brought home two grades of carborundum dust, fine and finer...
Your blanks are much larger, so I can imagine getting up to 25-20gm weights.  A few trials will tell.
I doubt you have balance weights, so solder up a stack of coins, maybe quarters.

Add one at a time, until you get good performance.
Grind the bottom flat before the first try.
I've thrown away quite a few loose plates from old large xtals.
They would be good as the bottom surface.

Wilson
W4BOH