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Gadgets, Gizmos, and Dohickeys => Cutting, Grinding, Polishing => Topic started by: olgguy on June 16, 2016, 04:58:45 PM
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I used an 18" crimped blade to cut a block of Jade. The cut was 3 1/2" X 2 1/4" and took 5hrs. 50min. Is this a reasonable time?
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15 minutes on my 18 inch with a top quality blade - MK 301.
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Some jade dose not like to be cut. What kind of drive do you have on your saw. Gravity may take the longest. Hydronic pressure may take time. My saws are the screw drive and I set it for the slowest drive speed. If I am cutting jade I dress the blade first and I can still get the oil vaporizing. If the blade is to rounded you can flatten it with a hammer. Micheal Hoover talked about doing it in anouther thread. I only do it when it gets round I believe that doing it too much can reduce the life of the blade
This is what I do, it works for me but may not be the best way.
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My saw is a gravity feed plus a hydraulic cylinder that can slow the feed to a complete stop if you want. I ran the hydraulic wide open. I have to check how much weight is pulling on the cable. Also I saw the thread that Micheal Hoover posted and tried it with another material and it made a big difference.
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Be sure your vise is running square to the blade too. There are WAY too many blade marks on that slab. In my saw the slabs USUALLY look like they were sanded with a 300 grit flat lap when they come off. If I see marks on the slab I sharpen the blade. Using a 6 ounce hammer (lightly tap, tap, tap) you spread the kerf slightly and reduce the chance of deflection.
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Using a pneumatic cylinder drive that would be ten minutes with a 301 or five minutes with a Chinese notched blade. Definitely need to check alignment and whether the blade is cupped.
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If I was checking to see if the vice is runing square with the blade I would clamp a pencil or something for a pointer so that it is above the nut on the blade and screw the vice in so that it just clears the blade and than slide it on the carriage (slowly)from front to back , if it starts to touch the blade back it out in till you can slide it the full 18" Than you can see if things are true. Also try moving the vice rotating it left and right to see if it is loose on the carriage. In my limited experience with saws that use weights for the drive I have see. Some that want to pull the vice at an angle when cutting hard to cut rocks
Is it a well loved and hard used saw that may be seeing it's age like some of us?
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This Won't work if the blade is dished