Lapidaryforum.net
Gadgets, Gizmos, and Dohickeys => Cutting, Grinding, Polishing => Topic started by: latte on July 25, 2018, 12:59:06 PM
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Hi,
I am a newbie learning to carve jade and hoping to turn a 7 inch tile saw that I have into a trim saw and also a small slab saw for jade.
Is this a reasonable thing to do? Will I need a speed reducer? What would be a good blade to use? Will I be able to cut even slabs without
a vise and power feed?
Any and all suggestions will be appreciated.
Latte
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You can use the saw without speed reducing if you use a blade such as the "Agate Kutter" which is the Barranca Diamond BD-305 that is designed for the high rpm of the tile saws. Otherwise if you are using std lapidary blades you would need to reduce the speed.
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Thank you, irockhound.
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There are limits to what you can do with simple equipment, but if you are willing to compromise occasionally, you can do wonderful things. 1. Cut small things on a small saw. Trying to cut too big of a slab will only result in a bad slab and potentially damage to the saw.; 2. Make a sliding vice by gluing the stone onto a 2x2 block or other flat piece of wood and let the flat surface sliding on the saw keep the angle true as you move through the blade. The wood block may be easier to hold onto (for one hand at least) than the stone. 3. Support both sides of your stone rather than just one side; this will help you keep the cut straight and avoid binding the saw. Listen to the saw and if it is slowing, so too should you and back off enough to straighten the cut (binding usually means the rock is binding against the side of the blade or that you are feeding too fast (crooked or fast - correct them both). Have fun sawing rocks. Enjoy jade cutting.
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What Peruano said. I have a 7” and a 10” I use and cut rocks all the time with tile saw blades. They make a blade designed for cutting rocks on a tile saw but when I need a blade I don’t want to wait to order one so I run to Home Depot and buy one. I preform a lot of smaller spheres with the 10” because I can do it fast. I will cut cab preforms or slab up a small rock when I am cutting preforms.
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Thank you all for the suggestions.
Will definitely be trying them.
Am always interested in trying to make use of the equipment that I already own instead rushing out to buy something.