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Post by Tonyterner on Jun 20, 2007 9:05:32 GMT -5
In another thread I started someone advised that the blade that comes with the Workforce saw tends to chip and to cut beyond my mark to compensate. That is fine as long as you remember that while cutting. Someone else on that thread asked a great question that was never answered.
Can the blade on the Workforce be replaced with a lapiday blade?
I need to partially disassemble my new saw anyway, the unit was assembled poorly and the blade hits the main sheet metal frame of the unit, and might want to replace the blade with a better one. Thanks
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Post by deb193 on Jun 20, 2007 9:37:13 GMT -5
Tony -
I think you have it right and wrong at the same time. Rocky was having some chipping problem with obsidian slabs. Generally however, the WF native blade is great, and cuts smooth and fast with very little chipping. It is possible that on a lapidary rig, with only 1750 RPM and a thinner blade, the chipping would have been less, but I suspect obsidian slabs will always be a bit chippy. Rocky wanted near perfect edges so he could face polish the slab and use it on a knife handle. Most folks cut shapes that will then be tumbled or ground and tumbled or even cabbed, so small chips are not a problem.
Lapidary blades do not come in 7" size, so you would have to replace with a 6" blade (or make modifications and sacrifice the splash guard, to fit an 8"). The 6" blade will still cut slabs very well, but you can now only cut material about 5/8 inch thick.
Also, I have found that with the exception of very good lapidary blades like the MK 303, they do not perform well on the WF. The WF is designed for slightly thicker and stronger slintered blades. It has 3400 RPM and counts on the stronger blade with excellent diamond bond.
I have put 6" Blazer blades and 6" Gorilla blades on the WF and found them to cut slower than the slintered 7" blades, as well as to have more problems when trying to cut materials up to 1" thick. For one thing, they bent too easily. They were thinner and did spare material, but not much.
Replacing the original WF blade with a Husky, or even better, a MK 225 Hot Dog, is in my opinion the way to go.
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