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Post by tims on Jun 2, 2016 13:37:15 GMT -5
My saw project is coming together and I'll try cutting one of these over the weekend. I'm afraid to cut the one with the nice fortification showing, it looks like that exposed face is right in the sweet spot. Maybe i'll use the dremel or something just to try and clean that one up.
Thanks for the encouragement. I tend to be intimidated by new things but the ideas here always make me feel more comfortable experimenting.
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Post by tims on Jun 2, 2016 13:28:14 GMT -5
Looks good, tims . I clamp a garden hose to the table and stick the nozzle set to mist inside the reservoir. Adjust the water flow and you can find a good balance of water in/water out. Got tired of filling it up. Good idea --- i'll still need to tone it down some though, it's a geyser. Plus i'm hoping to use water-soluble oil in the mix and I can't afford to water the lawn with that ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
Would it make a difference adjusting how deep the blade dips into the water reservoir? Hoping to play with it more today, but as usual work tends to pick up in direct correlation to me having something better to do with my day ...
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Post by tims on Jun 1, 2016 21:54:40 GMT -5
My blade showed up today so I put everything together and spun it up. There's some wobble in the blade --- it's like the shaft out of the motor is bent just slightly out of true. Maybe 1/8" of movement at the edge of the blade though at speed it looks like less, but it's difficult to judge while the blade is spinning. Might be an issue.
After adding some water I also realized I'll need to fashion a much better shroud / splash guard because as it sits the saw shoots a jet of water about 15 feet up and out at a 45 degree angle, and within 30 seconds or so my water reservoir is half empty. Otherwise, the saw runs virtually silent and there doesn't seem to be any looseness or vibration.
I've fashioned a shroud out of the bottom of a 5 gallon plastic bucket but I'm unsure of how to attach it. Might just epoxy it onto the frame. It sits flush behind the blade so I'm uneasy about screwing it into the frame in case a screw might wiggle loose, contact the blade and turn into a bullet.
Here's a quick walk around of the first spin-up (dry).
I'm waterproofing the 2x4s tonight with some leftover plasti-dip and will play with the splash guard tomorrow. Hoping to cut something by the weekend.
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Post by tims on May 31, 2016 13:54:43 GMT -5
MK225 is a a really high quality porcelain blade and I'm told it is MK's big seller. BD started marketing as "Agate Kutter". I tried it on my drop saw and it works well. A little thick for slab trimming but no deflection when slabbing. And made for high speed water cooled applications. If you can find them for $52 I would grab them. In fact, tell me where. At BD's $134 list I'm paying more than $52. Is this the same blade? 1 left on Amazon for $44.99.
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Post by tims on May 31, 2016 13:51:21 GMT -5
I ordered the DEWALT DW4764 10-Inch blade based on rockjunquie's suggestion, reviews, and the price (just under $50). The saw runs pretty fast at 3600 rpm but the blade is rated to 6115 rpm so it should be fine ... I've always assumed that a faster blade would cut smoother, but having 0 experience it may be a poor assumption. The specs on the blade say it integrates XP2 and XP4 matrix, which seems to indicate a very hard matrix for durability. I didn't understand the impact of matrix hardness and "more durable" sounded excellent, but thanks to John that's something I will be cognizant of in the future. Maybe try something softer down the line.
Once again, thanks to everyone for the informative input.
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Post by tims on May 30, 2016 16:27:34 GMT -5
Thanks for the link NDK. I went a different way to raise the saw for clearance but might rethink it, the bolts for feet would be less intrusive than the 2x4s i used. I still need to sort the splash guard and reservoir but am waiting for the blade to arrive to use for reference. Now that it's shaping up i just wish i'd tested the saw to see if it even works lol but am hoping for the best. Just curious, does your saw want to walk around perched on the bolt feet? I'm thinking of using something rubber on the base to give it some traction. Oh, and out of curiosity how much usable blade depth did you end up with?
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Post by tims on May 30, 2016 3:22:17 GMT -5
That's gorgeous, what an explosion of color.
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Post by tims on May 28, 2016 17:06:53 GMT -5
Ordered some EZ cut and a 10" Dewalt porcelain blade. I'm going to trim up the saw enclosure and try it 10" for now, and if it doesn't work I can still put a 7" blade back on it. Thanks to everyone for the helpful suggestions, and hopefully I'll have a first cut to show off / cringe over in a week or so.
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Post by tims on May 28, 2016 1:08:17 GMT -5
OK, I've got solid options for blades and lube. Many thanks.
After looking this saw over I'm very tempted to modify it for a 10" blade. As it sits a 7" would only give me ~1.5" of cutting depth. The 10" would give me about 2 7/8", and if the higher RPM doesn't result in disaster it would give me enough saw to keep me busy for a summer or 2.
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Post by tims on May 27, 2016 18:47:49 GMT -5
Rockjunquie, does that work ok for hard stuff like jasper and agate? Thanks for the suggestion. EDIT had to look up the mohs on porcelain and it's harder than I thought so should work fine. Thanks!
We have 3 hardware stores here and only 1 even had tile blades so I'll definitely have to order something.
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Post by tims on May 27, 2016 14:07:21 GMT -5
Orrum, I'll check out EZ cut, AFAIK there isn't a Harbor Freight within a hundred miles and I buy almost everything except groceries online. I worry about flipping / rolling cuts already but maybe they'll be manageable if I try.
NDK I considered cutting a bigger slot for the blade but this is built with the motor and blade kind of offset in the enclosure so you'd also have to cut out parts of one side to mount a larger blade. This looks like the same saw. There's also a plastic shroud on the bottom that encloses the blade, not sure if it's to help it draw water or a splash guard or what but it would have to go. Half tempted to pull the saw out of its enclosure entirely and just build something to fit a larger blade but was worried that the higher RPM of the tile saw + larger blade might be an issue.
Jim, I'm gonna check the local hardware stores today for blades and maybe there'll be something usable. The PO tried cutting some hard material with the original tile blade which warped and completely deteriorated the blade. I want something that can hack agate hardness but it can be difficult finding anything local when the elevation is > population ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
Thanks for the replies, fellas. This saw doesn't amount to much but I feel like a kid at Christmas.
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Post by tims on May 26, 2016 22:52:29 GMT -5
A buddy just game me a 7" Master Cut tile saw. The blade only has about 1 3/8" of cutting surface so I could only use it for tiny / thin stuff, but I thought it might be something fun just to get my feet wet. I looked online for 7" lapidary blades and they seem to run from $50 - $70 (which is about the same cost as the saw when it was new).
Is there anything in particular I should look for when shopping for a new blade? The saw has a water reservoir; would it hurt anything to use oil instead? Or would water work OK with a lapidary blade?
TIA
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Post by tims on May 26, 2016 21:20:08 GMT -5
Hrmmm, my buddy said he had a 10" lapidary saw but turns out it's a generic 7" tile saw. Not sure if it would even be worth investing in a good blade to try it, there's only about 1.5" of cutting depth which would be really limiting even if I flipped and double cut everything.
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Post by tims on May 21, 2016 17:19:51 GMT -5
Might have found a small saw, fingers crossed.
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Post by tims on May 20, 2016 17:58:20 GMT -5
A few naturally exposed teepees that were fractured long enough ago that they're building up a new coat of lime. I don't have the heart to break nodules so these are what I come home with ... ![](http://westoncountybuyselltrade.com/miscpics/tpnodsouth.jpg)
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Post by tims on Apr 16, 2016 17:22:06 GMT -5
You scored some pretty stuff, really like the opal. No fossils?
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Post by tims on Apr 15, 2016 17:52:20 GMT -5
That's gorgeous. Welcome and thanks for sharing. Will you keep it as a specimen or cut it?
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Post by tims on Apr 12, 2016 3:23:50 GMT -5
Last kind of looks like a calcite geode in agate? Just a noob opinion my ID skills are pathetic.
Obviously someone put a lot of time, effort and love into amassing that collection. It seems obscene that it should be used as pothole filler. Glad you were able to recognize some goodies and salvage them. Maybe enough leftovers for the girls to start their own collections, or at least pique their interest in the beauty of rocks.
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Post by tims on Apr 9, 2016 0:39:58 GMT -5
Too soft. Knife scratches. Please see previous posts. Definitely not granite, same reasons. I say cut it. Sadly I read the entire thread, twice, and completely disregarded that information. Please forgive my selective senility.
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Post by tims on Apr 9, 2016 0:29:10 GMT -5
Alien Egg! The sheen and texture make me think chalcedony, maybe a weird jasper nodule. In the second picture in the top-left quadrant in the orange part I keep wanting to see banding, but that's probably my predilection for teepee agate kicking in If you do cut it would love to see the result.
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