QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,548
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Post by QuailRiver on Dec 24, 2022 15:51:34 GMT -5
Vance, what area of the country are you in?
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vance71975
has rocks in the head
Member since September 2022
Posts: 707
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Post by vance71975 on Dec 24, 2022 15:53:41 GMT -5
Vance, what area of the country are you in? I am in Ohio in the United states |
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,548
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Post by QuailRiver on Dec 24, 2022 16:06:48 GMT -5
I have a homemade 10" saw that was part of a collection I bought last spring. It needs some design tweaking. And it will need a new motor (1/4 or 1/3hp enclosed general purpose continuous duty 1725rpms or similar) and will need a new belt. If you want it I will give it to you if you pay the shipping. If interested I'll take some photos early next week after it warms up a little around here. It is a trim saw not a slab saw. It does not have a rock vice and carriage.
Edit: Just went out and looked at the saw and I was mistaken about it being a 10" saw. It is an 8" saw.
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vance71975
has rocks in the head
Member since September 2022
Posts: 707
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Post by vance71975 on Dec 24, 2022 16:43:23 GMT -5
I have a homemade 10" saw that was part of a collection I bought last spring. It needs some design tweaking. And it will need a new motor (1/4 or 1/3hp enclosed general purpose continuous duty 1725rpms or similar) and will need a new belt. If you want it I will give it to you if you pay the shipping. If interested I'll take some photos early next week after it warms up a little around here. It is a trim saw not a slab saw. It does not have a rock vice and carriage. Edit: Just went out and looked at the saw and I was mistaken about it being a 10" saw. It is an 8" saw. Thank you for the generous offer, I truly appricate it, but design tweaking and motor installation etc is way outside my skill set. I am not at all mechanically inclined in the slightest, great in the kitchen, not so great in a mechanical shop lol. Like I could swap out a blade or something simple like that, but what this would need is beyond my skills for sure. |
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Post by Starguy on Dec 24, 2022 21:40:11 GMT -5
Thanks guys, I think im just gonna skip the tile saw. Doesnt seem like it would do what i want it to do. Don’t get me wrong. Tile saws can be pretty well made, (and good for rocks), but then they cost several hundred bucks. I feel like the very cheap tile saws are kind of disposable. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Dec 25, 2022 0:05:50 GMT -5
Thanks guys, I think im just gonna skip the tile saw. Doesnt seem like it would do what i want it to do. Don’t get me wrong. Tile saws can be pretty well made, (and good for rocks), but then they cost several hundred bucks. I feel like the very cheap tile saws are kind of disposable. Vance, I do agree with the advice that the "best" thing to do is save up until you can get a lapidary saw. However, I have had my $70 wet tile saw for a year and a half. I use mine mostly for cutting out and shaping preforms from slabs I've already cut. When I first got it, I did use it for cutting rocks in half. Is it the "best"...nope. However, I'm all about getting all I can out of what I can afford. There will come a time when I step up my equipment, but in the meantime, I'll redneck what I have to get the job done. I think you'd get a lot of joy out of having an inexpensive wet tile saw. Will you be able to do everything you want to with it? Nope! But you will get to do a LOT of cutting and trimming up rocks to save time on the rough step for tumbling. I agree you should keep your eye out for a used one on Craigslist or Facebook if you do FB. You can usually find one half price of a new one...and like Henry said (I think it was Henry), usually it's only been used for one job... |
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hypodactylus
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2021
Posts: 288
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Post by hypodactylus on Dec 25, 2022 0:32:20 GMT -5
It really is a give and take; dedicated lapidary slab saws are incredibly expensive. Even lapidary trim saws cost as much as larger, more powerful tile saws.
I have never tried a tabletop tile saw like the ones you mentioned, so I can't really give you advice on those. However, I do not regret buying the 8" tile saw that I linked above. It allows me to cut, trim, slab, and grind almost anything I want. It seems quite powerful and cuts through smaller rocks with ease. I am primarily a tumbler, but I also collect slabs.
I suppose the only things I can't really do are slabs over 3 inches (in one dimension) and rocks over 5-6 inches. However, a dedicated lapidary saw would need a 12" blade or larger to do the same thing (and those are expensive!).
It is, however, very loud. I also don't have a dedicated space for it, so I have to set it up and take it down every time I use it.
My recommendation would be to save up for an 8 to 10 inch full size tile saw. However, if that is not in the cards, I think you might find the smaller tile saws useful for trimming, grinding, and generally speeding up the tumbling process at a relatively low price.
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vance71975
has rocks in the head
Member since September 2022
Posts: 707
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Post by vance71975 on Dec 25, 2022 1:33:14 GMT -5
It really is a give and take; dedicated lapidary slab saws are incredibly expensive. Even lapidary trim saws cost as much as larger, more powerful tile saws. I have never tried a tabletop tile saw like the ones you mentioned, so I can't really give you advice on those. However, I do not regret buying the 8" tile saw that I linked above. It allows me to cut, trim, slab, and grind almost anything I want. It seems quite powerful and cuts through smaller rocks with ease. I am primarily a tumbler, but I also collect slabs. I suppose the only things I can't really do are slabs over 3 inches (in one dimension) and rocks over 5-6 inches. However, a dedicated lapidary saw would need a 12" blade or larger to do the same thing (and those are expensive!). It is, however, very loud. I also don't have a dedicated space for it, so I have to set it up and take it down every time I use it. My recommendation would be to save up for an 8 to 10 inch full size tile saw. However, if that is not in the cards, I think you might find the smaller tile saws useful for trimming, grinding, and generally speeding up the tumbling process at a relatively low price. Oh ya for sure, I honestly thought with a 7 in blade I would at least be able to cut 3 to 4 in rocks, Maybe ill get a tile saw some day to use as a trim saw for slabs. But It really wont do what I want it to do, so thank you all for saving me 100 bucks for real. |
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Post by Jugglerguy on Dec 25, 2022 8:17:13 GMT -5
Jugglerguy thoughts? Tips? Suggestions? That goes for everyone else as well. I don’t really know. I have a 10 inch slab saw and the largest rock I can cut is 3.5 inches. But with a tile saw, you can probably roll the rock and cut more. There are different types of tile saws too. Some are like a table saw, but some are more like a radial arm saw. |
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RocKingRuralMo
having dreams about rocks
Member since July 2022
Posts: 63
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Post by RocKingRuralMo on Dec 28, 2022 17:04:04 GMT -5
I hope you won't give up on the tile saw just yet. I started "slabbing" with a 7 inch tile saw that I bought on facebook marketplace for $50. It taught me a lot of discipline in my rock handling and at a price I could live with.
It's true that I couldn't cut big stuff, but it did let me explore working with bigger pieces. I can do a 4 inch rock on my 7 inch saw with some wiggling and manipulation, but I'll admit it's not pretty. I have to go back and grind a lot of saw marks out when I cab. I used it to slice up quartz, petrified wood, porcelain jasper, and other inexpensive stones. I wouldn't want to use it to cut up a nice expensive stone, but as a bona fide amateur, I don't have any really expensive stone anyway.
Last Summer I found a 16 inch slab in need of a rebuild on craigslist, and it has opened lots of fantastic slabbing doors. But I still reach for the $50 tile saw when I want to rough-shape cabs out of harder materials like my petrified wood (I use the side of the blade like a flat lap) or when I need to trim rough edges off of a slab.
The tile saw isn't a trim or slab saw. But it was indispensable to me as I was getting started. It let me do more than I could have done without it, and it's still really useful for niche projects even though I have other tools. If money is tight, keep an eye out for a "deal of the century" used one. They're definitely a step up from no rock saw!
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