jgflutes
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2014
Posts: 4
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Post by jgflutes on Jan 22, 2014 19:42:22 GMT -5
I purchased a 10 inch diamond blade off ebay about three weeks ago and finally got around to trying it out last week. It is a covington gold series and I managed to get about 2 hours sawing agate and it is history. I tried to dress it down with an old brick and no luck. I used RV antifreeze as the coolant and my guess is that is part of my problem. I do know, that Diamond is attracted to oil and water will not wet a diamond. RV antifreeze is made up of water and propylene glycol. I have an automatic feed system and the material was not feed to fast. The covington blade is a notched rim & I am not happy with the blade. I am going to go with a sintered continuous rim blade. I am going to use light mineral oil in the future. Can anyone tell me if they have had experience with Smart Cut diamond blades by UKAM Industrial tools. Can you recommend a good blade for agates.
Thanks Jim G jgflutes@aol.com
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Post by phil on Jan 22, 2014 21:12:56 GMT -5
We've used Covington's gold series blade and they typically last us many months and many cuts..... Maybe we can help you get more life out of that blade. Can you pot a pic?
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Post by johnjsgems on Jan 22, 2014 23:21:34 GMT -5
I typically hear nothing good about the Gold blades. I hear mixed reviews on UKAM products.
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Post by Rockoonz on Jan 22, 2014 23:28:41 GMT -5
If you will be mainly cutting hard stuff like agates and jasper best to get a MK or Barranca 303C, a 301 will do the job too but more expensive. And definitely use oil for 10 inch and larger saws.
Lee #2
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jgflutes
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2014
Posts: 4
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Post by jgflutes on Jan 23, 2014 16:42:27 GMT -5
Thanks for the info guy's. I went ahead and purchased a premium heavy duty 10 inch metal bond (sintered) Continuous rim blade from UKAM, I hope it was not a mistake, it was about $89. I am not concerned about loosing any material due to cutting with a heaver blade, but had rather have a blade that will hold up. I will be using light mineral oil as a lubricant I have learned my lesson on RV antifreeze. It is probably ok for softer material. I will be cutting a lot of Paint Rock agate. I have probably 5 or 6 hundred pounds of paint rock agate I have gathered over the years. I have been inactive in the lapidary area for the last 20 years with the exception of collecting. I have several tons of agate & flint I have collected over the USA that I am going to start working with. I have a great grandson that is real interested in rock collecting & cutting so I am trying to get something going again trying to keep him interested.
Jim G
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Post by Rockoonz on Jan 24, 2014 1:17:58 GMT -5
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jan 24, 2014 6:36:57 GMT -5
I have ordered from that ebay seller many times with no issues at all. I have gotten the 303C blades and a bunch of other supplies from them as well. Chuck
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Post by johnjsgems on Jan 24, 2014 10:47:32 GMT -5
Good old Ron. He must check my prices. He is always $1-$2 less than me.
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Post by 1dave on Jan 24, 2014 15:44:39 GMT -5
Good old Ron. He must check my prices. He is always $1-$2 less than me. But you usually get what you pay for.
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jgflutes
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2014
Posts: 4
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Post by jgflutes on Jan 27, 2014 0:49:16 GMT -5
I have ordered from that ebay seller many times with no issues at all. I have gotten the 303C blades and a bunch of other supplies from them as well. Chuck I did not have an issue with the dealer Jodi Boyd. he was very prompt and I contacted him about my problem and he confirmed my thoughts on the problem. He said that RV antifreeze is not a good lubricant to use and I should use oil. I am switching to light mineral oil and I will use a piece of old silicon carbide grinding wheel to recondition the blade. I do think the continous rim sintered blade will be more effective on agate. I will probably use the blade I recondition on softer materials. Jim G
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Post by broseph82 on Sept 23, 2014 10:10:03 GMT -5
I also bought a Covington gold series 6inch trim blade. Seemed like no matter how much of my fire brick I put into the blade it took forever to try and dress it. Then, I used it to trim some stuff for a few days (still was a struggle and was making the stone glow even with coolant) and the damn thing kicked back my piece and now have a damaged blade.
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Post by Peruano on Sept 23, 2014 13:27:32 GMT -5
I did a bit of research on the UKAM blades at one time, and if I recall correctly they allowed that all of their blades could be used with water, something that I would consider to be a nono for sizes above 10" and probably for 10's only for light duty. MK blades are expensive but serve well. I have a MK 225 which is listed as a porcelein blade, that has cut agates and petrified wood till the sun went down for over 1.5 years, and its still going strong. The 10" version is a bit scarce on the web, but it occasionally sells for the 40 to 60 dollar range, a bargain.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Sept 23, 2014 14:31:12 GMT -5
The Gold blades suck unless you are cutting soft stuff or just trimming slabs. I'm running a 10" MK 301 notched rim now and I cut mostly hard stuff like agate, jasper and pet wood. Best blade I've ever used bar none. I deem it much better than the 303C which for me , seems to dull much more rapidly and really struggle in a hard agate unless brand new. Won't buy anything but the 301 from now on as the slight difference in price seems to really be worth it. I always cut with oil, though I will admit I clean my saw so seldom it looks more like brown soup *L*......Mel
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azgnoinc
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2014
Posts: 484
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Post by azgnoinc on Sept 24, 2014 7:50:05 GMT -5
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