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Post by Rockoonz on Jul 10, 2024 21:56:58 GMT -5
My 10" saw with the direct connected gear drive feed runs 1" every 5 minutes, so 12"/hr. Not the best, but it works till it doesn't, current feed motor gets pretty hot right now, so when it gets changed I will add a motor mount and belt/pulleys to slow it down a touch, probably 1" in 6 min or so. The 14 and 18 FranToms are set up the same, but with different blade speeds so different feed speeds. I think the 18 takes a little over 8 minutes to travel 1", so the 14 is more like between 7 and 7.5 minutes.
TBH when the 3 are running plus whatever else I'm doing between starting new cuts, the saw may sit for 30 minutes after it shuts off before I even get to it, so why not go slow. Some people have a reason to feel like they need something closer to high speed production, and if the slabs are for cabs that will grind any saw marks anyway, leave it on the fast side. Blade and bearing maintennance will be a little more frequent, but you cut more slabs.
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demihuman
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since May 2024
Posts: 131
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Post by demihuman on Jul 11, 2024 0:10:23 GMT -5
Oh wow, that's pretty slow! But honestly that seems fine. I am not that interested in getting into cab'ing. I do want smooth slabs though. I am hoping I can trade some slabs for cabs some day. One of my other hobbies is 3d printing and it has a pretty slow reward cycle. A big print can take 40+ hours.
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Post by Rockoonz on Jul 11, 2024 8:16:30 GMT -5
demihuman patience rewards in the polished rock game. Our trip north and spending some time with Matt the FranTom guy talking about polishing specimens has me inspired to get out in the lapidary machine parts yard and build something to do the medium to large polished pieces with once we're home. If you decide that you want to go faster with some materials, if you put the 2.5" pulley on the arbor you still have the stepped sheave no the feed shaft and can use 2nd or 3rd gear there. If you are new to "big" saws, and specifically HP and FranTom saws, be mindful of the vice. The sliding part of the vice can catch on the track when tightening instead of gripping the rock tightly, there are some posts about this in the slabs and saws area. Wood pieces or devices like my jaw jacks to keep the jaws parallel really help with that.
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Post by Rockoonz on Jul 11, 2024 8:26:20 GMT -5
Here's an old vice thread, note in the video the jaw jack on the back side of the vice, I like these because I can fine tune them to size with one hand while juggling the rest of the clamping operation with the other. I also have some pieces of wire to hols them from falling out if I need both hands for the rock. forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/103752/hammertime-frantom-clamping-option |
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ThomasT
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2022
Posts: 616
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Post by ThomasT on Jul 11, 2024 8:38:05 GMT -5
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demihuman
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since May 2024
Posts: 131
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Post by demihuman on Jul 11, 2024 10:01:36 GMT -5
Oh good info. Thanks Thomas for that video. I am sure that is going to save me some tears! I promise not to use a cheater bar. I know they make the handle small for a reason  . It does seem like they could design the the way the back rib is placed a little different... I hope it's not cracked already, but if it is I will get it welded. Roockonz what do you use for your jaw faces? It looks like you have rubber in the video. I think mine has some well worn pieces of oak in there now. I have some left over oak flooring I could use, but I am wondering if something a little softer might actually grip a little better? ***It's not cracked*** it's also pretty beefy looking. |
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ThomasT
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2022
Posts: 616
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Post by ThomasT on Jul 11, 2024 10:09:47 GMT -5
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ThomasT
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2022
Posts: 616
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Post by ThomasT on Jul 11, 2024 16:11:44 GMT -5
A more viscous oil probably doesn't matter so much on a small saw... But anything that may help reduce the blade pressures when deep into big hard rocks I'm for.
I would rather spend money on rock than on saw repair parts.
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demihuman
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since May 2024
Posts: 131
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Post by demihuman on Jul 11, 2024 22:28:02 GMT -5
Did a little work on the saw tonight. The arbor is 5/8” the jaw plates look like they are Doug Fir. I found a date on the blade that says 1948! I think the motor is from 1970 though, so maybe the motor was updated or the blade is older than the saw?  The little arbor plates look a little beat up. I am tempted to lightly wet sand them with some 1000 grit sand paper laid on our granite countertops. (I think the counters might actually be basalt   How does this arbor collar work? I loosened the screws and gave it a gentle tap with a rubber mallet, but it didn’t budge. Part of me wants to replace every flathead screw with a Phillips. Maybe a younger person would want star drive? lol.  |
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Post by Rockoonz on Jul 12, 2024 10:34:57 GMT -5
demihuman, I use red oak for soft jaws with the grain horizontal, the jaws in the video came with the saw, I think Birch plywood. I install them long so I cam use the saw to trim them flush. As far as the Arbor goes, the sleeve on the end only comes off when you remove the shaft from the arbor housing to change bearings.
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demihuman
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since May 2024
Posts: 131
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Post by demihuman on Jul 12, 2024 19:14:54 GMT -5
So there is a bit of play in the brass brackets that hold the clamp to the carriage. There are these little set screws, but it looks like the threads don’t quite go far enough for the set screws to actually make contact on the rod. Is it possible the set crews were a modification? Maybe the thread cutter they used was too tapered???   |
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demihuman
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since May 2024
Posts: 131
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Post by demihuman on Jul 13, 2024 18:16:35 GMT -5
No turning back now!  |
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demihuman
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since May 2024
Posts: 131
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Post by demihuman on Jul 14, 2024 17:57:51 GMT -5
Wow! I spent a good portion of the weekend pulling apart the feed system and cleaning it up as best I could. I mostly just used soap and water and lots of elbow grease, but I did use some Easy Off on the threaded drive rod. There was some actual rust but mostly just red goopy gloop. I also used a wire cup on an angle grinder to get the rock dust off the clamp. The dirt in between the cleat things the clamp sits in was turning back into agates. The wire cup took all the paint off too so I put a little red paint on that part. The actual carriage is made of aluminum or magnesium. The paint came off that just with a scrub brush. I guess I could paint that part too, but since I am not worried about it rusting I figured I would just leave it. After cleaning I dried everything off and gave it a light coat of mineral oil. My next step is to scrub out the tank. Then I think I will put all the feed parts back in. I am not sure if I am going to pull apart the arbor or not. I probably will unless I can get a blade in there really straight. I need to order some lock washers and maybe a few extra nuts and bolts. I took lots of reference pictures so hopefully assemble will be fairly straight forward. I am trying to pretend to be organized before the busted knuckles and swearing sets in   |
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Post by Peruano on Jul 14, 2024 18:24:36 GMT -5
While it feels good to clean and remove rust its not all that important if you do the most of it. Once you have oil splashing around you wont notice any residue. You have a great saw. One secret to avoiding saw marks is to never stop the saw until the cut is complete. Blades can wobble as they slow or speed up. My instinct is that your flange washers may be small relative to an 18" blade. There is a rule the flange washer should be a certain %of the blade diameter. Check this!
I originally tested my restored saw with water and small stones. This allowed me to test everything without investing in big commitments of oil.
Fire it up and cut easy and common stuff until you are comfortable with performance.
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Post by Rockoonz on Jul 15, 2024 17:13:50 GMT -5
While it feels good to clean and remove rust its not all that important if you do the most of it. Once you have oil splashing around you wont notice any residue. You have a great saw. One secret to avoiding saw marks is to never stop the saw until the cut is complete. Blades can wobble as they slow or speed up. My instinct is that your flange washers may be small relative to an 18" blade. There is a rule the flange washer should be a certain %of the blade diameter. Check this! I originally tested my restored saw with water and small stones. This allowed me to test everything without investing in big commitments of oil. Fire it up and cut easy and common stuff until you are comfortable with performance. Increasing blade flange size can be playing with fire, it can cause the flange to extend above the base of the vice, if cutting long cuts the rock can do some pretty catastrophic things if it contacts the flange. In an assembled saw it should be 1/8 inch or more below the vice base. |
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Post by Rockoonz on Jul 15, 2024 17:44:00 GMT -5
That's pretty ambitious, only thing left is moving or adding to the switch box to install an auto shut off. Personally, if it doesn't need bearings I would leave the arbor. Re-aligning a FranTom arbor is not especially fun.
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demihuman
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since May 2024
Posts: 131
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Post by demihuman on Jul 15, 2024 18:54:49 GMT -5
Re-aligning a FranTom arbor is not especially fun. I was looking at that, I don't see an easy means to adjust the arbor other than kind of pushing it one way or another and retightening all the bolts, and there are a LOT of bolts. I sent an email to the guys at Cigar Box Rocks, I think I am going to get one of their import blades to start out with. Maybe they will offer some suggestions. I enjoy wrenching on and things have done quite a bit of automotive work so I feel pretty confident with this project. I figure the saw is around 75 years old so a little bit of a tear down seems appropriate. Arbor plates are 3-3/4" Some folks on this forum were saying the arbor plates need to be 1/4 the size of the blade and other were saying 1/6. I think the important thing is that they be as close to the vice as they can be with out going over. Definitely don't want to hit the arbor with the rock. An auto shut off seems cool, but pretty low on the priority list. Putting on a new cord and adding a ground wire is a must though. |
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NRG
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,688
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Post by NRG on Jul 18, 2024 20:19:30 GMT -5
demihuman, I use red oak for soft jaws with the grain horizontal, the jaws in the video came with the saw, I think Birch plywood. I install them long so I cam use the saw to trim them flush. As far as the Arbor goes, the sleeve on the end only comes off when you remove the shaft from the arbor housing to change bearings. And as an additional data point. I used cheap garbage plywood from the hardware store. It lasts a thousand cuts or more. More really because while i have not used it lately there is plenty of life left. |
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Post by Rockoonz on Jul 18, 2024 22:49:14 GMT -5
NRG my FranTom 18 still has the plywood jaws I got it with, flipped around, in fact that's the other trick, cut them long enough that you can use both ends. My friend who taught me to glue them to boards and clamp the boards in the saw doesn't even put soft jaws in his saws.
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johnthor1963
starting to spend too much on rocks
Cattle dogs rock
Member since June 2023
Posts: 236
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Post by johnthor1963 on Jul 19, 2024 15:51:22 GMT -5
Great looking saw. I really like this read about your project getting a lot of useful information along the way. I’m thinking a restoration project may be in my future if I can find a saw for the project. How many hours do you think you have invested in it so far? Keep up good work and thanks for sharing I’m fired up for the first cut. Thx
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. It does seem like they could design the the way the back rib is placed a little different... I hope it's not cracked already, but if it is I will get it welded. 
