deedolce
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2006
Posts: 1,828
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Post by deedolce on Jan 18, 2008 14:12:58 GMT -5
I've been tempted by john's sale of the Gryphon, but am also looking at the Taurus III. I'm interested in preforming my cabs, to do less work on the Genie. I have the rough and tough Workforce, as my alternative.
Are they useful? Any strong opinions and nays or yays about using these in your lapidary shop? Those that have had them, what do you think? One over the other?
I'm all ears~!
~Dee
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Post by deb193redux on Jan 18, 2008 14:32:36 GMT -5
I had the Inland band saw, and looked at these others at the time. I went with Inland because of cost, and found it to be a bad choice.
I have continued to investigate these machines. Personally, I would go with the C-40.
The Tarus and the C-40 differ in the small plastic parts (rollers and guides) that have to be replaced at different frequencies. These parts and the cost of new blades differ, but not a major deciding point. The C-40 also has an optional more aggressive blade, which is nice in my opinion.
I would go with the C-40 because I think it will be faster and able to handle 1/4" slabs better. The inland, and I suspect the Tarus, really showed its origin as a glass cutter and did not work well or cut at a good speed when used on agate over 3/16.
Both are aimed at offering turn-on-a-dime ability. This will conserve material and mean less grinding of the blank to obtain the exact outline needed. They also offer inside curves, but these are only good if you can later grind/sand inside curves. However, band saws are slower than trimsaws and way way slower than the WF. You may save time grinding, but not save time overall.
If you will have fairly simple preform shapes (oval, rectangle, teardrop), cleaning up the blank on the side of the saw blade may be the best bet. No new equipment, no new inventory of parts, no changing machines .. etc. If you do need intricate outlines (e.g., crosses, hearts, random shapes...) having the bandsaw is a nice shop addition. At some point I do plan to get a C-40, but not until I have re-acquired good trim and small slab capabilities.
In my opinion, based on cost and speed, a bandsaw is not the best way to save time on the usual types of cabs. Getting an aggressive grinding wheel is the way to go. When I put an inexpensive Jadecarver 50g wheel on my little RockRascal Combo unit, I went from trim-saw blanks with about 1/8" or more of excess around the outline to the exact outline to a rough dome in a matter of minutes.
If you can use a saw, or like a full complement of tools, think about the C-40. If you mainly want to streamline things, get an aggressive wheel.
$.02, hope this helps.
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deedolce
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2006
Posts: 1,828
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Post by deedolce on Jan 18, 2008 18:56:54 GMT -5
Awesome, Daniel, I was hoping you'd have input! Very helpful. And I think you made up my mind. Man, I've been going all around about this! I DON'T do anything but basic ovals, circles and such. I AM impatient, so your comment about the speed was a big $.02 right there! John (not Jim!) also has a Diamond brazed wheel on sale through March that I'll go for instead. I need to replace my 80 grit wheel, and that probably was part of me thinking I needed a saw that did curves! My WF has been rougher since I put on a Hotdog blade, and my cousin nicked the old blade a bit, but it was easier on rock. I may try putting that back on, and then I won't worry of breaking up rock just trying to trim it!
Thanks again,
Dee
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free4rms
freely admits to licking rocks
My little pet walrus
Member since January 2007
Posts: 839
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Post by free4rms on Jan 19, 2008 8:53:33 GMT -5
I also own a C-40, with the more aggressive fuser's blade. It works exactly as Daniel says and I agree with him 100% on everything he said except for one thing. When it comes to pre-forming, I suggest you do as much preforming on a trim saw instead of a coarse wheel. Or use a combination of both. I have a 30 grit Diamond Pacific hard diamond wheel, and I use it to some degree on all cabs and freeforms I make. It is extremely aggressive and will eat agate like soft butter. However, at $500 per wheel I try to use it as little as possible to make it last. So, trimming on a 6 inch trim blade saves a lot of money and is at least as fast or faster than grinding on a coarse wheel. I use the thickest green blazer 6 inch blade to trim the preforms. Because of it's thickness, it does not bend quite as much when you use it to trim and it is quite fast. I even bevel all of my preforms with the blade by holding the preform against the saw blade at an angle and turning it against the edge of the blade. This significantly cuts down on the time required to grind the edge of the preform when doming the stone. By carefully trimming off all the excess on the preform by holding the stone against the trim blade at all angles, you can significantly cut down on the time required on the diamond wheels. Now,if you can find a good deal on the 30 grit hex wheel from Diamond Pacific, or a comparable wheel, they are fantastic for quickly removing the excess after trimming on a saw. They can be a little tricky to use and you have to watch out for chipping on the outer edge of the flat back side of a cab, but once you figure it out, you will be amazed at how much time it will save you.
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Post by johnjsgems on Jan 19, 2008 10:47:53 GMT -5
Dee, not to confuse you even more but Gryphon also makes a ring saw almost identicle to the Taurus (of course they say it is much better). It costs less and works well although the blade is much thicker than the C-40 so it cuts slower. It wil cut more intricate shapes since it cuts in any direction. It sounds like you don't need either one for what you want to do. (yet!)
Vance, if you are paying $500 for that wheel PM me next time you need one. You could get a sintered wheel for that or that one for less.
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