|
Post by braders on Jul 31, 2014 7:19:54 GMT -5
I have a quick question . Im curious to what you folks pay or if you slab what you charge for cuts ?? I know its by hardness so say a price for soft n hard . The quote I got seems a bit steep ...so thought id double check . Thanks !
|
|
Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
|
Post by Sabre52 on Jul 31, 2014 8:09:41 GMT -5
Slabbing usually costs 25-50 cents per square inch if you hire it done. It's fairly expensive per square inch even if you own your own saw, especially if it's an 18 inch or larger, when you take into account the price and lifetime of blades. Even more expensive if you cut hard materials and blade breakers like pet wood. Odd but when I ran a twenty inch saw, I really didn't get a long life from blades. My ten inch seems to be much cheaper to use due to much longer blade life and cheaper initial blade cost.......Mel
|
|
Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,709
|
Post by Fossilman on Jul 31, 2014 8:20:56 GMT -5
I usually charge a person one slab off each rock I cut for them....
|
|
|
Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jul 31, 2014 8:55:02 GMT -5
One slab per rock may be ok for cutting small stuff in a 10" saw but I just finished a 4x5x7 rock in my 14" saw that yielded 18 slabs. Each cut took about 30 minutes so there's about 9 hours in saw time plus cleaning all the slabs in oil dry then scrubbing in soapy water. I would not touch that for less the .25 cents a square inch so that would be about $90 for those 18 slabs.
Chuck
|
|
|
Post by braders on Jul 31, 2014 9:08:55 GMT -5
Thanks guys seems the price is not to far off ...about 5 bucks a cut
|
|
|
Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jul 31, 2014 9:38:51 GMT -5
Thanks guys seems the price is not to far off ...about 5 bucks a cut You have to be a bit more picky about what your cutting when paying to have rocks cut. The rocks I just cut are a good example. only about 25 percent of the slab area could get a cab so if I was paying per square inch that would be a whole lot of waste. When our rock club was cutting rocks for members in their 14" saw it was $1 per cut (.50 per cut in the 10" saw). If they were not so back logged with requests I would have never bought my own saws, lol Chuck
|
|
|
Post by braders on Jul 31, 2014 9:46:13 GMT -5
Some of what I got is smaller I want cut to send off to someone for cabs and then I got the problem of a few others that ummm ....well ya take a fork lift to put up on a saw if it was big enough to cut that is ha ha !! Gonna use a demo saw I think to get it a weee bit smaller !! I dont wanna beat on it and risk fractures .
|
|
|
Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jul 31, 2014 10:06:52 GMT -5
some rocks break pretty good if you put a diamond wheel on an angle grinder and score a groove all the way around then hit it with chisel and sledge.
Chuck
|
|
|
Post by braders on Jul 31, 2014 10:23:40 GMT -5
Have done that as well chuck works good to !! This is about 20 inch thick this demo saw will cut 8inch deep so if I score it all the way around I should be styling Now if I can cut straight enough to get some pieces for cabs
|
|
Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
|
Post by Sabre52 on Jul 31, 2014 14:06:51 GMT -5
I tend to be pretty rough rich so can take more chances but I find that often, if I study a hunk of rough, I can find fractures along which the rough will break with a relatively soft tap of the hammer. Think of it this way. Slabs with fractures are a pain and have lots of waste so it's better to cut the broken off solid part of the rough. Also fractured rough is often the cause of a ding or other damage to your blade. I once had a hunk of pet wood come apart and trash a brand freaking new 350$ twenty inch blade on the first cut. That almost made me cry. *L* Again, better to cut the solid stuff. This has the added advantage of not having to have a big saw to put big honking hunks of rough through. Blades for my 20" HP used to be about 350 bucks and lasted less long than my ten inch blades that cost one third as much or less. The ten inchers also cut longer between sharpenings and have a thin kerf so they don't remove a slabs worth of good stuff every other cut like my 20" saw did. I'd suggest anyone who cuts slabs for sale or for their own use on a big saw like I used to do, keep a log. I guarantee it'll be depressing when you calculate the real cost of blade time cutting large rough. It's darn expensive even when you get good blade life and totally demoralizing when you ruin or dish a big blade cutting a really tough booger like petrified palm root ( one of the worse things in my experience)....Mel
|
|
|
Post by braders on Jul 31, 2014 15:57:34 GMT -5
I got small pieces of palm root never tried to cut it ...would love to find a big chunk or see a pic of one cut !! Most the palm here cuts pretty easy till ya get into alot of added minerals . Now theses spring cones ha ha they no fun at all even little pieces and I just use a 7in tile saw !! Thanks for the info as I see a bigger one in my future . Im gonna give this demo saw a try ill let ya know n see how it went Cheers
|
|
Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,709
|
Post by Fossilman on Jul 31, 2014 16:43:29 GMT -5
One slab per rock may be ok for cutting small stuff in a 10" saw but I just finished a 4x5x7 rock in my 14" saw that yielded 18 slabs. Each cut took about 30 minutes so there's about 9 hours in saw time plus cleaning all the slabs in oil dry then scrubbing in soapy water. I would not touch that for less the .25 cents a square inch so that would be about $90 for those 18 slabs. Chuck I won't cut anything bigger than fist size for people that I will cut for,just the smaller stuff...I usually just cut for myself anyhow..I'm not going to sweat it....LOL
|
|
|
Post by catmandewe on Jul 31, 2014 17:04:43 GMT -5
I charge 50 cents per square inch or half of the slabs depending on who I am cutting for.
Tony
|
|
|
Post by Rockoonz on Jul 31, 2014 20:18:49 GMT -5
My experience with slab saws is the reverse of Mel, I am still using the first 18 inch blade I ever purchased, been in my hydraulic ROC saw for 6 or 7 years and judging from the amount of wear it may outlive me. It's a 303S, other blades may be totally different. My 24 is just about ready for a new blade and I have a cheap crimped edge blade for it, we'll see how long it lasts.
|
|