electricmonk
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2011
Posts: 281
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Post by electricmonk on Sept 24, 2011 21:16:54 GMT -5
I just put a 10" BK 303 continuous rim blade on my Covington 10".
I noticed that the blade wobbles a bit when at times but self corrects. I thought I remembered reading somewhere that rim tension corrects that tendency but want to make sure that I haven't done something wrong.
It is cutting like butter through some gold sheen obsidian that I have, can barely hear it cut compared to the crimped edge 10" gold series that it came with.
I did make sure to thoroughly clean the arbor and washers making sure there was no debris compressed between the blade and the flanges.
Anyhow, just being extra careful. I really want this to be the solid performer it appears to be on first cut.
Cheers!
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Post by Rockoonz on Sept 25, 2011 11:16:03 GMT -5
I check blade run out withoud a dial gauge by clamping a piece of rod or dowell in the vice and turning the blade by hand till it is closest to the vice, then move the vice and rod till it just touches the blade stock just inboard of the sintered edge. I then turn the blade by hand till I see the widest gap and measure it, comparing it to the blade thickness. Ideally it will be less than 1/2 of the blade thickness on a 10 inch or larger blade, but I don't worry about it up to the full thickness of the blade. I usually check them new before use in case somehow QC missed it at the manufacturing site, I have never had to complain about a Barranca or MK blade. Check your Blade RPM, a 10 inch 303 should run 2000 RPM(+/- 200). The original crimped edge blade was probably running only 1300-1500RPM if the Covington Website is up to date in their info library. If both belt pullys are the same diameter you're fine. If it's not I would speed it up to at least 1725 RPM.
Lee
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electricmonk
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2011
Posts: 281
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Post by electricmonk on Sept 25, 2011 13:44:30 GMT -5
Thanks Lee, hadn't considered RPM as a factor but I bet that has a lot to do with it. Going to check my pulley diameter and my handy dandy calculator. Headed out to the PDX rock show in Hillsboro in a few minutes, thanks for posting about it. We just got back Fri night from our rockhounding trip to Prineville. Quite an interesting experience. Cheers!
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Post by johnjsgems on Sept 25, 2011 14:36:07 GMT -5
What blade thickness is it? I would not use anything thinner than .040" with a power feed. Be careful not to over tighten the blade nut. Just tight enough to prevent slipping is enough. Too tight can cause a wobble.
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electricmonk
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2011
Posts: 281
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Post by electricmonk on Sept 25, 2011 18:38:21 GMT -5
What blade thickness is it? I would not use anything thinner than .040" with a power feed. Be careful not to over tighten the blade nut. Just tight enough to prevent slipping is enough. Too tight can cause a wobble. Might have over tightened it then, I did put a bit of elbow into it. Strangely the power feed seems to prevent that bit of wobble a lot better than me just feeding it slowly by hand. Will have to give it a bit of a trial. Its a .035" so perhaps it is a bit thin for my saw, will have to experiment. Thanks for the input!
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electricmonk
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2011
Posts: 281
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Post by electricmonk on Sept 25, 2011 18:40:39 GMT -5
Lee, do you think 2300 RPM is too fast for that blade? It came with 1.5" pulleys on both, was going to step up to a 1.75 on the motor side but Ace only had a 2". Calculator shows that it will run at 2300 RPM. Going to wait before I do anything drastic, can't afford to frag my new blade
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Post by johnjsgems on Sept 25, 2011 20:24:29 GMT -5
The 303C comes in .032", .040" and .050". If your blade is .035" you must be measuring the rim rather than core. The 303 blades work better at faster speeds 2300 would be fine.
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Post by Roller on Sept 26, 2011 0:12:35 GMT -5
yeah John if u remember me saying I had this same problem exactly !!! the blade is too thin and woobbly and probably in my opinion needs to be spinning 3k or more !!! mine is 1725 and was all over the place .. I had the .032 blade .. The blade is Amazing though and cuts like butter and for the cheap price i paid its my new trimming blade !!!! maybe get a bigger or smaller pulley setup to make it faster ... that might work .. btw i bought a thicker blade and problem was fixed !
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Post by Rockoonz on Sept 26, 2011 3:03:25 GMT -5
Like John said, 2300 is fine. If i have a 1 3/4 pulley I'll let you know, but 2" will be ok.
I missed you at the show, but I was really busy in the silent auction so for all I know you may have walked up and said hi and I don't remember. Crazy day.
Lee
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electricmonk
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2011
Posts: 281
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Post by electricmonk on Sept 26, 2011 10:58:41 GMT -5
yeah John if u remember me saying I had this same problem exactly !!! the blade is too thin and woobbly and probably in my opinion needs to be spinning 3k or more !!! mine is 1725 and was all over the place .. I had the .032 blade .. The blade is Amazing though and cuts like butter and for the cheap price i paid its my new trimming blade !!!! maybe get a bigger or smaller pulley setup to make it faster ... that might work .. btw i bought a thicker blade and problem was fixed ! I bumped up to 2300 RPM with a 2" pulley, its a bit better but still not as solid as I had hoped. Might just keep it as a blade to trim down really expensive stock and bump up to the .040 kerf. Glad to hear that I am not the only person who has had this issue, makes me worry about my equipment less. Where did you source your blade if I might ask? I paid about $56 for mine at Richardson Rock Ranch. I don't live near there so would have to pay shipping on top of that so perhaps there is another seller with similar pricing? Thanks!
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electricmonk
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2011
Posts: 281
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Post by electricmonk on Sept 26, 2011 11:00:45 GMT -5
Like John said, 2300 is fine. If i have a 1 3/4 pulley I'll let you know, but 2" will be ok. I missed you at the show, but I was really busy in the silent auction so for all I know you may have walked up and said hi and I don't remember. Crazy day. Lee You know I never saw the silent auction booth so I must have missed you there. We ended up with a bunch of rough and ran out of cash. The kids were getting antsy so we took off. Anyhow, really appreciate you posting the show in the trips section, I wouldn't have known about it otherwise. Cheers!
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Post by Rockoonz on Sept 26, 2011 13:02:53 GMT -5
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Post by Roller on Sept 27, 2011 0:39:57 GMT -5
monk that will be one of the best trimming blades ull ever have and maybe the only one ull ever need ever !!!!!!!! get a thicker blade ... i made the same mistake as for thinking its good for slabbing !!! but i didnt buy a thicker bd ... i went for raytech because i knew it worked good for me in the past and was cheaper . so if u buy the thicker bd please do tell as i think these blades are the best around but not if they are that thin for slabbing ... also if u tell me its aall good thicker ill probably get one as well cus they cut like butter ....
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electricmonk
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2011
Posts: 281
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Post by electricmonk on Oct 1, 2011 0:29:13 GMT -5
monk that will be one of the best trimming blades ull ever have and maybe the only one ull ever need ever !!!!!!!! get a thicker blade ... i made the same mistake as for thinking its good for slabbing !!! but i didnt buy a thicker bd ... i went for raytech because i knew it worked good for me in the past and was cheaper . so if u buy the thicker bd please do tell as i think these blades are the best around but not if they are that thin for slabbing ... also if u tell me its aall good thicker ill probably get one as well cus they cut like butter .... Agree with you there, its a fantastic trimming blade for sure. I will be ordering the .040 when I pick up a 14" blade for the saw Lee is rebuilding for me. Will be putting it on the Covington as soon as it arrives. Shouldn't be more than a month from now, hopefully less ;D
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jspencer
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2011
Posts: 929
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Post by jspencer on Oct 2, 2011 0:50:30 GMT -5
I have a .032 BK 303 that I have been using a lot on my 10" saw that according to label is set to 2450 rpm. I was at 1750 and it didn`t cut worth a dang. So I moved up to next step on pulleys. I have a double step pulley on mine. It is smooth as can be in cuts and is well worth the price. I may also get a slightly thicker blade but am loving this one and have cut a lot of large rocks with it. Mostly agates and flints. These were cut today. The blades are somewhat wobbly until full speed is developed and the blade has a good "bite" in the rock. Attachments:
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electricmonk
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2011
Posts: 281
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Post by electricmonk on Oct 2, 2011 1:09:24 GMT -5
I have a .032 BK 303 that I have been using a lot on my 10" saw that according to label is set to 2450 rpm. I was at 1750 and it didn`t cut worth a dang. So I moved up to next step on pulleys. I have a double step pulley on mine. It is smooth as can be in cuts and is well worth the price. I may also get a slightly thicker blade but am loving this one and have cut a lot of large rocks with it. Mostly agates and flints. These were cut today. The blades are somewhat wobbly until full speed is developed and the blade has a good "bite" in the rock. Appreciate the voice of experience After moving up to 2300 RPM and loosening the nut a bit (it was overtight) it seems to be cutting just fine. The blade does have a bit of a wobble until it gets settled into a cut as you stated. I worry about it tracking out of line too much and dishing though. I really wanted to be able to use the power feed on my Covington and I don't think I trust it with that just yet. Going to save the blade for slabbing and trimming nicer material and invest in a .040 kerf for general slabbing. It is an amazing little blade though!
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Post by Roller on Oct 2, 2011 10:31:44 GMT -5
let me know how the thicker one works out ! I wouldnt trust it slabbing either ..
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