|
|
Post by albionfireandice on Sept 26, 2016 15:34:38 GMT -5
Hi guys,
I'm in need of a saw, primarily for Quartz geodes, but it'll get used for some other things too.
The issue is - I'm in the UK. We have very few lapidary tool makers, and those that do exist are insanely expensive.
I can get a 230V electric tile cutter for under 50 quid, and I'm really leaning towards that at the minute - short of building my own I can't think of another real option.
I guess what I'm asking is - if you had to use a tile saw for this sort of thing - what would you look for?
|
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Sept 26, 2016 15:42:04 GMT -5
How big are your geodes? Can you post a picture of them?
And welcome to the forum!
|
|
|
|
Post by albionfireandice on Sept 26, 2016 16:39:56 GMT -5
Thanks! I sell two sizes, one is smallish - say 8CM long by 4-5CM by 2-3CM deep. Crystals tend to be thicker and larger in these. The larger ones have much smaller crystals, and a much larger air gap. They're anything from 10-25CM by 10-20CM by 10-15CM. Pretty big, weighing anything from 1-2KG. Photo of a reasonably large one - i.imgur.com/2U8JceO.jpgObviously, they're too big to cut with a single pass of a tile saw, but I was thinking if I just... turned the geode on the blade, maybe. I'm perfectly happy breaking them with a hammer, personally - but a fair few of my customers have asked for broken/cut ones as they don't have a space to do it, and I'd like to offer cutting if its something I can do reasonably cheap. |
|
|
|
Post by tims on Sept 29, 2016 0:22:55 GMT -5
About any tile saw would probably work OK with a good blade. I put a 10" Dewalt DW4764 porcelain blade on a generic 7" tile saw a buddy gave me, and it walks right through jasper and agate. The blade was suggested by a user here (thanks rockjunquie) and i got the idea from others on this board who'd had success slabbing with tile saws, so if you browse this topic you'll probably find much more info. I use a weak mix of water-soluble oil from jsgems but you'd probably be fine with plain water. Rolling your rock as you cut sounds completely plausible ... i guess you'd want to make sure your saw platform is sturdy enough for the heavy lunkers and that the splash-guard etc. didn't interfere with what you're trying to cut.
|
|
|
|
Post by albionfireandice on Sept 29, 2016 17:29:00 GMT -5
Thats great to know, especially the recommendation on a specific blade. I am curious though, a 10 inch blade fits a 7 inch saw?
Unfortunately that specific blade isn't available in the UK, but I can work from the datasheet.
|
|
|
|
Post by tims on Sept 29, 2016 22:28:38 GMT -5
Thats great to know, especially the recommendation on a specific blade. I am curious though, a 10 inch blade fits a 7 inch saw? Unfortunately that specific blade isn't available in the UK, but I can work from the datasheet. I had to modify the saw some; cut a wider gap where the blade passes through the table, raised the height of the saw and moved the guard for clearance, and fashioned a new splash shroud and water pan. All fairly easy to do if you have tools and some free time. I didn't get many pictures of the process but this is the end result: It cuts quickly and makes decent cuts although I'm sure they're much rougher than a real lapidary saw. The 10" blade gave me almost twice as much cutting depth, from about 1.5" to just under 3". |
|
unclesoska
freely admits to licking rocks
All those jade boulders tossed in search of gold!
Member since February 2011
Posts: 934
|
Post by unclesoska on Sept 29, 2016 23:51:28 GMT -5
Nice job on the tile saw conversion. That should give more than a couple folks some BIG ideas. Thanks for sharing!
|
|
|
|
Post by albionfireandice on Sept 30, 2016 7:47:30 GMT -5
That has certainly peaked my interest - table 'tile' saws are certainly the easiest things I can find. I can buy a new one for around 100USD easily.
|
|
|
|
Post by greig on Sept 30, 2016 12:15:13 GMT -5
My tile wet-saw has not yet met a rock that it cannot cut. The only issue is rocks that are too big to fit under the arm holding the blade. A good blade is key and even the good ones eventually wear out, but that takes a long time. If you want to save some coin, look locally for a used one. Many folks buy a good machine for a single job (eg a bathroom reno) and never use it again.
|
|
