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Post by joshuamcduffie on Feb 18, 2020 20:07:16 GMT -5
I'm slabbing a little piece of crazy lace agate, and it seems like it's taking ages. How long should a piece this size take to cut through? It's on a 10" saw, and the piece is 2" long x 2" tall at the highest point. I've been going for probably 20 minutes to make that progress.  20 minutes might be about right t cut tough rocks like Agate on that trim saw. Just let the blade do the work. Do you mean 20 to cut that far, or to cut through entirely? |
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pizzano
Cave Dweller 
Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,390
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Post by pizzano on Feb 18, 2020 20:40:07 GMT -5
20 mins. so far...….(as represented in your photo) depicting 1 cut that is only about a 1/4 of the length of the 2" x 2" piece of Crazy Lace...…? That seems very odd......sounds like you need a different blade or are running the saw at an incorrect rpm and not providing enough rinse over the stone and blade. I've cut lot's of Lace and other MOH's 7-8 hardness stones on my 7" Tile Saw up to 4" in thickness and over 4" long, never takes longer than 3 or 4 minutes, letting the blade do the work and my hands providing the direction and motion thru the blade...….. I'm using these types of blades...…...not expensive or top of the line continuous diamond rim blades.  |
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Post by Starguy on Feb 18, 2020 20:46:10 GMT -5
The closeup of the oval cab has some low or "flat" spots. That fits with what Ali said about dropping back to the 180. Holding a cab in hand and looking away while you rub your thumb lightly over the surface will often help you find flat spots that aren't obvious to the eye.
I thought I was the only one who went by feel as much or more than sight. @vitzitzilecapatl makes a great point. |
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mrhomescientist
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2019
Posts: 51
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Post by mrhomescientist on Feb 18, 2020 21:44:52 GMT -5
Yep, 20 minutes or so just to get that far. I've been able to cut other stuff I have in a reasonable time, but these agates are pretty brutal. It doesn't seem like the saw is doing much work to be honest. I don't know why - it's a new machine, so the blade hasn't been used too much. I've only slabbed out 5 or 6 pieces of rough with it.
My "trial run" into lapidary was with a cheap-o Home Depot tile saw that used that same TilePro blade. Seemed to work good, but the blade is very wide so you lose a good deal of material. I assumed the blade that came with the slab saw would be superior since it's all actually meant for lapidary work. I can't change the rpm on this saw; it's just on or off. I'd be surprised if this one needed a new blade already. It's barely had any work on it.
Hm, maybe I need to take that lapidary class after all lol.
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pizzano
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,390
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Post by pizzano on Feb 19, 2020 2:53:20 GMT -5
Yep, 20 minutes or so just to get that far. I've been able to cut other stuff I have in a reasonable time, but these agates are pretty brutal. It doesn't seem like the saw is doing much work to be honest. I don't know why - it's a new machine, so the blade hasn't been used too much. I've only slabbed out 5 or 6 pieces of rough with it. My "trial run" into lapidary was with a cheap-o Home Depot tile saw that used that same TilePro blade. Seemed to work good, but the blade is very wide so you lose a good deal of material. I assumed the blade that came with the slab saw would be superior since it's all actually meant for lapidary work. I can't change the rpm on this saw; it's just on or off. I'd be surprised if this one needed a new blade already. It's barely had any work on it. Hm, maybe I need to take that lapidary class after all lol. Well, without physically being there to determine the current blade condition, my only thoughts could be the blade is not made for that type of stone cutting.........Considering you also mentioned the other HD tile saw using "the same" TilePro blade worked well on "other stuff"........maybe the blade that came with the new saw is more for "glass" obsidian type material, since it was advertised as a "lapidary" tool.........wouldn't surprise me. Try cleaning up that blade with a dressing stone and or cutting a few small pieces of glass.........which should bring out any diamond coating left on the blade. Then try cutting the Lace again. If it still takes effort or a prolonged time span to get through the material, most likely you'll need to consider a different blade. That's why I use three different types of blades.........all of which handle very hard material. One for rough cutting larger hard material that I'm just blasting through to reduce the excess martix and general shaping. One for less rough cutting to refine the shape and or to limit the amount of loss. And one for refined shaping with little to no major loss on nicer material I intend to finish and polish. Not all rock/tile/ceramic cutting saw's run at the same speed. And not all saw blades cut efficiently at the same speed.......that said, it's been my experince with various 7" tile saw applications, if they are running (the motors) around 5500 rpm's at about 560 watts without a load, and using the blades the manufacture of the saw recommends, although some material will take a little longer to get through due to hardness, it shouldn't take 20mins to only manage a 1/2" slice through Crazy Lace material.........................Just my experience with 7" saws and middle of the road quality, compatible tile saw blades.......using only tap water as the coolant. |
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mrhomescientist
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2019
Posts: 51
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Post by mrhomescientist on Feb 19, 2020 11:09:50 GMT -5
Maybe it will help if I get a picture of everything I've worked so far. It's not much.
Are there any blades you'd recommend for those three tasks you mentioned?
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Post by rmf on Feb 19, 2020 11:20:34 GMT -5
Resin diamond wheels need to be broken in. I just replaced a well worn 600 grit and the fastest way to break one in is to go get a cheap knife from a goodwill type store for $0.50 and hold it perpendicular to the wheel(gently). this take s off the tall peaks of resin which cause deep scratches. Then I took some large cabs of very solid material I had a conglomerate from SD and 4 other large cabs of rainforest jasper. these were all 40 to 60 mm. The wheel really scratched them up I used high pressure. then I used light pressure bearly touching the wheel to get the "new wheel" scratches out. this wheel is now ready to go. this to a lot less time than the 3000 grit which took over 100 large stones to get working right.
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pizzano
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,390
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Post by pizzano on Feb 19, 2020 14:08:01 GMT -5
Maybe it will help if I get a picture of everything I've worked so far. It's not much. Are there any blades you'd recommend for those three tasks you mentioned? If your new saw runs at the speed I mentioned previously (it may be different due to it being a 10")........the (7") blades I posted pictures of come in 10" as well and should work for those applications. MK, Grainger and Norton make more expensive sintered wet application blades too, but I've found that the "bang for the buck" with the amount of cutting I do, the middle of the road hardware store brands like HD or Lowes carry, have been my go to's without problems. |
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mrhomescientist
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2019
Posts: 51
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Post by mrhomescientist on Feb 19, 2020 19:28:36 GMT -5
Here's everything I've cut with the saw, labeled for your convenience! It's not very much at all, so I'd be quite surprised if the blade was dull already.  (Actually I just realized the Brazilian agate was cut with my tile saw, not this one.) I just now tried cleaning the blade by cutting a brick, since I've seen that recommended elsewhere. No difference on the crazy lace afterward. BUT, I then tried cutting the dolomite and yooperlite again and it went through those like butter! So I'm thinking this blade just isn't great for hard material. I'll get a Tile Pro blade from HD and see if that fares any better. |
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mrhomescientist
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2019
Posts: 51
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Post by mrhomescientist on Feb 25, 2020 17:54:54 GMT -5
I got one of those Tile Pro saws from Home Depot, and that thing is NICE! It blew through the crazy lace and that big Brazilian in minutes. Massive improvement. I had to force myself to stop cutting because technically I'm home sick today   |
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mrhomescientist
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2019
Posts: 51
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Post by mrhomescientist on Mar 1, 2020 22:08:41 GMT -5
I finished one! I'll take you through the whole process, and tell me what you think! The stone is Kona dolomite. I cut some slabs out of it.  Slabs marked up.  And cut out.  Forgot to take a few pictures, but here they are a few steps later preformed, dopped, and marked.  Partway shaped. I started focusing on the one on the left.  Here it is halfway polished.  And the final product!!  I'm really happy with it. I know it has some imperfections and isn't perfectly oval, but I think it's pretty nice for a first try. Any feedback is always appreciated. |
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mrhomescientist
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2019
Posts: 51
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Post by mrhomescientist on Mar 6, 2020 13:35:35 GMT -5
Anyone have recommendations for a place to buy a grab bag of assorted bezels/settings of different sizes for cabochons?
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Post by rockjunquie on Mar 6, 2020 13:45:36 GMT -5
Anyone have recommendations for a place to buy a grab bag of assorted bezels/settings of different sizes for cabochons? Better to start a thread in the buying section and mark it as WTB (want to buy) OR post the question in the vendor section. |
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mrhomescientist
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2019
Posts: 51
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Post by mrhomescientist on Mar 6, 2020 17:06:30 GMT -5
Thanks! I'm not able to post in the marketplace yet, but I put something up in the vendor section.
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Post by rockjunquie on Mar 6, 2020 18:15:57 GMT -5
Thanks! I'm not able to post in the marketplace yet, but I put something up in the vendor section. Just so you know.... you can post in the sell section- you just can't sell, yet. |
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mrhomescientist
having dreams about rocks
Member since October 2019
Posts: 51
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Post by mrhomescientist on Apr 7, 2020 9:12:48 GMT -5
With the quarantine in effect, I've had plenty of time to work on cabochons! I've got a bunch to show you. Rainbow obsidian:  Rainbow obsidian and kona dolomite:  One thing I discovered about this obsidian is that it doesn't look that good with transmitted light. So what was happening when I set them was light was reflecting off the silver backing and making the stone look a little brown. It also revealed some bubbles from the glue I used. So, I painted the back of a stone with this ultra-black paint I have and then set it. The difference is pretty huge! Painted on the left, unpainted on the right:  I also tried my hand at wire wrapping, following the groove wire wrapping tutorial I found here. Definitely room for improvement, but I think this one looks really nice for my first try! I painted the back of this one too, to enhance the color.  |
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Post by rockjunquie on Apr 7, 2020 9:23:25 GMT -5
They look great and you are a quick learn. Good idea backing the obsid. If you are pulling off obsid that nice then you know you're doing something right.  |
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Post by miket on Apr 7, 2020 9:47:53 GMT -5
Very nice!
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Post by RocksInNJ on Apr 7, 2020 20:54:26 GMT -5
Great job on the obsidian. Not an easy thing to work with for sure and you pulled it off exceptionally.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Apr 7, 2020 20:59:29 GMT -5
Nice looking cabs and your first groove wrap looks great!
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