Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
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Post by Benathema on Feb 28, 2021 4:20:11 GMT -5
... I promise I won't break them this time...
I received an amazon gift card recently and... well... amazon money is amazon money so I spent it on one of these SKIL 7" tile saws. I wasn't expecting it to be here until next weekend, but it came today! I put it together and filled it with water and went nuts. Holy crap, dude. Like... I want to cut everything now. I'm having a blast.  Near about 1.5" depth of cut on this. I could proooobbbbably pull off a 3 inch thick piece with a bit of care and more practice. There's another blade on its way which should be thinner.  First rock ever, practice run.  Guess these have a cream filling.  I have a few bots left over from knave and had a go at one. Those are some hard and tough agates that take a looong time to cut. Here's sort of an inside/outside look at some I was testing this out with.  This is fun. Now to get better at it so I can preshape my next big tumble. I picked up a little tidbit from prior threads about working from the backside of the saw and pulling the rock towards yourself to keep from getting soaked. That seemed to work pretty well. Had to keep an eye on the water level though, it seems to empty itself out pretty quick with all the spray. Oh, and a flex shaft and a pile of diamond bits are coming soon for my dremel, soooo, more toys soon. Weeee!
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Post by Garage Rocker on Feb 28, 2021 6:06:11 GMT -5
Sweet! There is a lot of fun to be had with a saw like that and a bucket of little cutters. Definitely stand behind it. If you have the room to throw a little rooster tail, go ahead and clamp a hose directly into that water reservoir. No more worries about going dry, that's for sure. Happy cutting!  |
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Post by fernwood on Feb 28, 2021 6:13:39 GMT -5
Congrats on the purchase. Looks like it is already getting some good use.
When I purchased my tile saw, I experimented a little. Granted, I was using it to cut stone tile at the time.
I mounted a piece of webbing to the end of the guard. This deflected most of the water spray away from me.
Yes, the water disappears quickly. Adding the makeshift guard seemed to direct some of the water back in the reservoir.
Sorry, this was many years ago and I do not have any photos.
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,512
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Post by Brian on Feb 28, 2021 7:41:16 GMT -5
Congrats on the new toys!
I wish I had known about the trick of standing behind the tile saw years ago! I remember being drenched all the time while doing a big tiling project.
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Post by miket on Feb 28, 2021 8:07:14 GMT -5
Oh yeah, now you're in it!
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Post by rockjunquie on Feb 28, 2021 9:26:38 GMT -5
Congrats! I used a skilsaw for a very long time. Have fun! The only advice I have is to save your really good stuff for a thinner blade.
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Post by jasoninsd on Feb 28, 2021 10:58:23 GMT -5
Congratulations!!!  Yep, when I first got my tile saw, I was grabbing every interesting rock out of the landscaping river rock I could find...just to "see" what could be lurking in the middle. Now I have a decent patch of "half-round" rocks in one section! LOL I also cut from the backside to avoid a shower...and will on occasion cut a preform from the side of the blade that is closest to me rather than "pulling" it toward me. Be careful if you do that...the saw can throw a rock halfway across the yard if the blade grabs it. Not saying I know that from experience or anything. (Lost a piece of Crazy Lace out in the yard doing that...my wife will find it in the Spring and think she found an odd Fairburn! LOL)  |
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Post by beefjello on Mar 1, 2021 21:22:58 GMT -5
You're on your way now!  A Home Depot Workforce was my first rock cutter. Even used it to cut some tile down the road |
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Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
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Post by Benathema on Mar 4, 2021 3:14:49 GMT -5
Been having a bit more fun. The thinner blade came. It's 1.6 mm (0.063") and seems to be easier to work with. I've gotten a bit more practice on thicker pieces in terms of either rolling the cut through or making a second pass through the other side. There's a few slices where I can barely feel the edge where cuts meet. I also picked up a tidbit on refreshing the blade by running a brick through. I noticed the cut times when the blade was new were quick and then increased considerably, to a point where it was almost doing nothing. Running the brick through seems to be helping. I've been taking a slice off the brick, making a cut on a stone, then taking a few slices off the brick slab between stone cuts. After a few stone cuts I run out of the brick slab and take another slice off the brick. Now I have a little bucket of brick pieces I don't know what to do with. I guess my question here is if this is an appropriate tactic or if I'm unknowingly destroying my blade?
I took after a couple more bots I had. (one of these I did already, so some duplicate images here just grouping them together) Before:  During:  After:  RWA3006 's recent thread reminded me of fridge magnets and I'm thinking that's exactly what I'll do with these once they're tumbled. A stone I picked up from the river had some red/orange coloring on the surface that I thought might just be surface rust staining. I decided to have a peak inside, and turns out it goes all the way through. No clue what it is, but it's softer than those agates and bleeds red when cut.  |
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Post by Garage Rocker on Mar 4, 2021 3:50:13 GMT -5
Those are some nice Bot slices, they'll make nice magnets. That rock you found is wild, hope it take a decent shine for you. Those would look good on the fridge, too.
Glad to see you're having fun with your new toy!
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saxplayer
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2018
Posts: 1,327
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Post by saxplayer on Mar 4, 2021 9:08:30 GMT -5
Awesome bots!
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Post by miket on Mar 4, 2021 10:08:55 GMT -5
Very cool slabs!
I haven't done it much, but people say that cutting obsidian also dresses the blade...
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Post by rockjunquie on Mar 4, 2021 11:18:30 GMT -5
Nice bots!!! They are super hard so I'm not surprised they are giving your blade a run for the money. I'm not sure, but it does seem like you are wearing your blade unnecessarily with the brick. I think fewer passes may be in order. Or, try some obsidian, if you have any, like miket said. I have done that on my wheels with some success. I typically use a dressing stone for all my diamonds and I use it sparingly. |
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Post by greig on Mar 4, 2021 13:04:13 GMT -5
Looks like you are getting some nice cuts and beautiful results. I wonder if the grass by your saw will improve with the additional water and rock mineral dust? I too have thrown rocks that caught in the blade, but my tile saw chops down and your blade is on the bottom. It seems to mostly happen towards the end of a cut. Still, I'd hate to be in the way when a rock rockets into the yard. I am a little surprised that you only get 1.5" from a 7" blade. Perhaps, there is a way to raise it up? I get about 3.25". Still, I am confused. What's that green stuff in your yard? This is what it looks like here. ;-)  |
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Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
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Post by Benathema on Apr 25, 2021 20:44:23 GMT -5
He's dead, Jim... Nothing but sparks. Even flooded with water it looks like I'm taking a piece of steel to a grinder.  Maybe that's expected of an $18 blade after 100+ cuts, maybe 200, or maybe I'm hard on equipment? Both? 2 months - dead. I put the stock blade back on for one more cut... Yeah, nah... Super slow, hard to keep it aligned when rolling the material through. I'm on pause with cutting for the moment. |
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stefan
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Apr 26, 2021 18:25:19 GMT -5
I question the need to dress the blade? I have never dressed my blades (I have completely worn out 4 or 5 blades, but I have been using my Work Force saw for 15 years now, well over 10,000 slices made.) I think you may be pushing (or pulling) the rock a bit to hard. Let the saw do the work, with just enough pressure to keep contact with the blade. Speed is your enemy and just wears the diamond faster. Let the saw do the work. Ease the rock in and oh did I mention, let the saw do the work lol.
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Post by stardiamond on Apr 26, 2021 18:44:24 GMT -5
I don't dress 303 and dress 301. I push through to fast so I avoid slabbing with a manual feed. I use a blade that is almost shot when I have no choice.
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Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
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Post by Benathema on Apr 26, 2021 19:53:25 GMT -5
Yea, I stopped with the brick thing. By your estimate, I should be getting a few thousand cuts per blade.
What blades y'all using? Tela has mentioned using the dewalt blades. I've eyeballed them but haven't grabbed one yet.
My only frame of reference here is the stock one vs the $18. I feel this is a category of getting what you pay for. Granted, I could stand to ease up a bit too.
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Post by stardiamond on Apr 26, 2021 20:16:38 GMT -5
The number of cuts is directly related to what you are cutting. Bruneau kills blades and I imagine so does Montana Moss agate.
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Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
|
Post by Benathema on Apr 26, 2021 21:29:49 GMT -5
Makes sense. I feed it mostly agatey things. Green moss agate, carnelian, chalcedony, jasper... Etc.
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