fisherman510
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2008
Posts: 113
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Post by fisherman510 on Apr 19, 2009 20:02:22 GMT -5
My 16" covington quick cutting last weekend. The pulley was turning on the shaft. I talked to Steve at Covington and he felt that I just needed to dress the blade. I bought a couple of dressing blocks, which came in the end of the week. My question is, how do you dress the blade, short of clamping the block in the vise, without getting oil all over the world? I hand held the block and made several short cuts, afterwhich, the blade cut fine, but oil went in all directions.
Bob
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Post by catmandewe on Apr 19, 2009 20:29:06 GMT -5
I use a fire brick and clamp it in the vise and take a slice or two off to dress mine. Cutting Obsidian periodically seems to cut down on the frequency of dressing, also. Gunked up oil will also make the blade need dressing more frequently.
Fire place fire bricks are the best ones to use for dressing. The main ingredient in fire bricks is Silicone Carbide and Aluminum Oxide, so they are just kind of like big ole dressing blocks, a good rule of thumb is the harder and heavier they are the more SC they have. The softer fire bricks use silicon dioxide, which is not as good an abrasive but is better thermally for high temperature applications such as kilns and such, where you need to cut down on heat loss.
Tony
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spicer m
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2008
Posts: 337
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Post by spicer m on Apr 19, 2009 21:26:20 GMT -5
Bob If the pulley was turning on the shaft, sounds like maybe the set screw came loose??? Mike
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fisherman510
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2008
Posts: 113
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Post by fisherman510 on Apr 20, 2009 6:23:03 GMT -5
thanks for the input. The set screw seems plenty tight. I have since then ground a flat on the shaft, so that may help. i hadn't thought about the oil being gunked up. Really don't look forward to a clean up job, but it may be time. Sounds like a nice messy way to spend the evening.
Bob
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Post by johnjsgems on Apr 20, 2009 8:20:07 GMT -5
Clamp the fire brick or dressing stick just like a rock and let it cut like normal cutting through a thin slice. You can save the slices for dressing trim saw blades.
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rockdewd
has rocks in the head
Member since October 2007
Posts: 605
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Post by rockdewd on Apr 20, 2009 11:15:54 GMT -5
I cut a chunk of obsidian about every 3 or 4 rocks. I also have some old silicon carbide wheels that I take some slices out of when needed. I listen to the sound the blade makes while cutting. If it's a higher pitch than normal I cut some obsidian or SiC wheel.
I also take an old file and tap the cutting edge of the blade all the way around.
I use Kingsley brand name import blades. They last about 6 months with daily cutting then they start to dish.
Rick
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