Adding more equipment to my 'shop'

Congratulations!!! You've come a long way, baby!

No such thing as enough tools,
Just need more shop

Thank you!! Surprisingly, hubby gave up some of his garage! I have my own work bench in there now

lol...it sure feels that way - thank you!!

Thanks! 

Once when my wife was railing allegations that I have too much stuff, I responded with "One can never have too much stuff - just not enough room". Her response was "Then I should buy her a bigger house"... okay, so she won that one. No she didn't get a bigger house but I did surrender the field and admitted that I do have too much stuff! While she seemed a little disappointed she wasn't going to get a bigger house, to this day she still cherishes that win.

Congrats! I've not tried dressing sticks, but from the info I've been able to gather online they don't do much. Check out how to "sharpen" the blade by lightly striking the edge with a flat file. There are some videos on Youtube.  If your blade still has some of the band left around the outer edge and it's not bent it still has life and you don't need a new one.

I don't like promoting his pages because of his actions here but Currently Rockhounding has some of the best videos I've seen on this on YT.  It's a bit of a deep dive if you want to understand how and why it works.  If you just want to see how to do it check out John Rowlands Highland Park videos also available on YT.  Have fun with the saw!

Looks good.   I use a dressing stick most of the time and I think as long as you use it often it will keep the diamonds exposed but you have to do it a lot.   I also use the file when I am cleaning the saws.  

I notice the elbow and valve in the front and assume this is the sump drain.   Two things.  One, is there a single large sump for the oil/water or divided sumps?   Two.  I have a newer Covington 10" that has 3/8 inch diameter drains (one from each sump).  I started with valves but quickly realized if you are using oil and the sludge builds up, a valve will quickly plug up when draining.  I ultimately took my valve off and just unscrew the plug and let it drain.  Also I use a screwdriver to help get the sludge out of the drain.  With the elbow, you won't be able to do that for the entire drain although you could probably use something flexible.   If you are using water and cleaning/draining it each time, this might not be an issue.  

I have dressing sticks, but I only use them, or obsidian, when removing glaze that can get on a diamond blade when cutting jade/serpentine and a couple others that can gum up the blades. Problem with abrasives is they are also making the kerf narrower, which is really what you're fixing when you swage the edge with file or hammer. You can't "expose new diamond" in a sintered matrix that is already full of diamond, the concept made sense with the old continuous rim blades with diamonds crimped into slots in the perimeter, where an abused blade could get hot and "roll" over the diamonds. Making the edge flat and a little wider is what you're doing.
Swaging works good, but for other reasons.

This particular blade looks notched vs. sintered? Looks just like my 14", but nothing like the little 5" blade I have in my hi-tech - that one is sintered for sure. I didn't consider that it would narrow the kerf. This blade is thicker than the 5", but thinner than the 14". Thanks, Rockoonz, I'll have to take that into consideration.