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Post by Bikerrandy on Mar 3, 2012 19:19:14 GMT -5
I just wanted to brag a little. ;D I made all of the parts myself (I can cut, bend, weld, shrink, and do just about anything else to metal). Anyhow, I can't believe how much better this is than the auto-feed was, it's a difference like night and day!! I can cut three slabs in the time that it used to take to cut one. I'm not sure how many slabs I cut today, I was having so much fun that I honestly didn't keep count but I can tell ya one thing, the 18 inch saw is getting gravity feed as well!! This is the 16 inch Covington........ Here's the pulley made from some metal stock that I had laying around and some sealed bearings and flat washers that I also had laying around. I gotta say one thing, every single piece was made from stuff that was already in my garage, I purchased absolutely nothing to get this working. Hell yeah ;D Here's the lever, pic taken without the weight. This was made from metal stock and piece of a horseshoe stake..... Here it is with the 5 pound weight, I add another 5 pounds for agates..... Here's what it all looks like..... Here's the inside of the saw, you can see the cable running through to back.... This went off without a single hitch and took 5 days to build. I even have it synchronized with the auto shut-off so the power to the saw cuts off when to cut is finished. The only issue with the whole operation is a slight oil leak which will be fixed tomorrow. Oh, I also have the sudden urge to cut rocks....all the time. I can tell ya this, I love the gravity feed!!
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Post by catmandewe on Mar 3, 2012 19:50:19 GMT -5
I love gravity feed and it beats the heck out of the Covington feed/clutch system, but you have to cut obsidian every 5th or so rock to keep the blade from glazing over as it will glaze over faster than before. You can make an easy shield that keeps the oil from running out that hole by using either thin sheet aluminum or a small piece of pipe that the cable runs inside of and gluing or siliconing it to the back inside of the box.
Nice fix up............Tony
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Post by Bikerrandy on Mar 3, 2012 20:01:39 GMT -5
Cool, I have sheet metal. Thanks!! I'm going to do that tomorrow. I have some rubber washers too, maybe I can attach one to the sheet metal with small self-tappers to act as a squeegee for the cable. I'm there!
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NDK
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 9,440
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Post by NDK on Mar 3, 2012 21:46:04 GMT -5
Nice mod Randy.
Nate
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Post by NM Stone Supply on Mar 3, 2012 22:10:04 GMT -5
Nive job Randy, That looks like it is going to work great. I wish my oil looked like yours. Mine is so thick I stopped cutting.
Jason
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,341
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Post by quartz on Mar 3, 2012 22:19:43 GMT -5
Too many times I've read of people building workable things from stuff around the place or mtl. that is scrap from another process, and apologizing for using it. I think it's a real accomplishment to make something quite workable from "stuff setting around", especially when it works better than the original mechanism, you did well.
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Post by NatureNut on Mar 3, 2012 22:59:18 GMT -5
How much faster will it cut if you put Fonzie on top of the weights?
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Post by Bikerrandy on Mar 3, 2012 23:18:20 GMT -5
He's a fat lizard, he'd bend the bar.
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Post by sandsman1 on Mar 4, 2012 0:00:04 GMT -5
dam that came out nice man -- looks like a small piece of leather with a hole the size of the cable in it with oil resitant gasket seal to glue it to the saw would fix that leak right up haha
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Post by Rockoonz on Mar 4, 2012 0:23:03 GMT -5
Nice job Randy. I try to re-use material as much as possible in my projects. If 10 lbs force speeds up the cut that much the Covington power feed setup must be seriously messed up, with my hydraulic saw I run about 25 PSI to a 1.5 inch ram, which is about 30 lbs of force, but my old screw feed HP saw travels faster. After finding out how slow my frantom 24 cuts I might try weights to get an idea what works best, but I will most likely end up making it hydraulic too since I can use a flow control to keep it from breaking through too fast at the end of the cut.
Lee
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rockingthenorth
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2012
Posts: 1,637
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Post by rockingthenorth on Mar 4, 2012 0:33:40 GMT -5
Nice job on that Randy
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Post by Toad on Mar 4, 2012 0:44:24 GMT -5
Great job. Curious as to if you go through blades faster now...
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Post by Bikerrandy on Mar 4, 2012 9:03:41 GMT -5
I'm not sure about going through blades yet, the blade that I'm wearing out now is the one that I replaced a couple years ago. I never got a ton of use out of it because the screw feed would always bind the rock into the blade. The gravity feed puts an even amount of pressure through the entire cut, it's so cool!! Like Lee said, I do get break-through at the end of the cut but it isn't too bad. When I get a good pile of slabs going, I take them to the tile saw to trim off the break-through corner of the slab.
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LarryS
freely admits to licking rocks
SoCal desert rats
Member since August 2010
Posts: 781
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Post by LarryS on Mar 4, 2012 9:50:13 GMT -5
Nice fab Randy. Yeah, sometimes old school works better than the new. The gravity feed I installed on my 10" Covington is working great. I'm not trying to speed things up but instead slowing it down. Nice to have control of the feed.
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Post by roy on Mar 4, 2012 10:43:21 GMT -5
nice job randy! now we can start seeing some slab pic's right?
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Post by NatureNut on Mar 4, 2012 10:44:24 GMT -5
Yeah Randy, don't be stingy with the pics. Jo
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NDK
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 9,440
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Post by NDK on Mar 4, 2012 11:10:04 GMT -5
Randy, John (JSGems) had mentioned in another thread of putting a bucket of water under the weight (I'm assuming that was a pail of weight hooked to the cable, not a lever) to slow down the feed rate towards the end of the cut. Maybe a very light bungee or something similar would do the same thing on your set up to avoid the break out.
Nate
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cabjunky
has rocks in the head
Regency Rose Plume
Member since November 2008
Posts: 683
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Post by cabjunky on Mar 4, 2012 11:27:44 GMT -5
Nice job on the conversion on the Covington Saw to gravity feed. Robert
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utdigger
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since January 2012
Posts: 84
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Post by utdigger on Mar 4, 2012 13:05:14 GMT -5
Nice job. Always interested to see how people who really use their tools come up with great improvements. Keep up the good work.
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Post by Bikerrandy on Mar 4, 2012 13:59:45 GMT -5
Nate- actually I was thinking of adding more weight and attaching an automotive shock absorber to the bottom of the lever. I have at least 8 new shocks in my garage and this would be a really simple mod.
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