Craftsman 2x42 Grinder

I make my knives on a craftsman 2x42 inch belt grinder. It started off as a belt and disc grinder, but I added a more powerful 1.5hp Baldor motor. The original motor now powers the disc sander alone. This is the older 3 wheel craftsman 2x42 grinder. The more recent one has two wheels. 

In this picture there is a graphite pad on the platen, which is now removed. The platen is a little bit flexible, I would like to replace it with something more substantial, and hopefully faced with a pyroceramic liner.