herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Feb 19, 2014 1:43:56 GMT -5
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rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Feb 19, 2014 3:19:04 GMT -5
I bought two 14" gold blades last year and they both left saw marks. I then bought one of the black, sintered, continuous rim models and was very pleased with it. The black ones cut a bit wider kerf than the gold one, I think C-ya, Rick
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Post by roy on Feb 19, 2014 10:08:34 GMT -5
in my 10" and my 12" i like the 303 they cut good and smooth
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Mark K
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2012
Posts: 2,574
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Post by Mark K on Feb 19, 2014 11:53:13 GMT -5
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Post by johnjsgems on Feb 19, 2014 12:46:01 GMT -5
John, if you decide to go with a BD blade, the 301 in 12" is less expensive and a better blade. !2" is the only size where 301 is less than 303. My prices are better than those above for the record. The Gold blades have been discussed here before. They are Chinese crimp rims. Most of the reports are not very encouraging for slab saw use.
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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 Feb 19, 2014 14:07:03 GMT -5
I have all the blades mentioned above but in 10". On a scale of 1-10, I give the Covington gold blade a 2 because that's about all the hardness it will cut! Close to worthless in my opinion. They use to put those on the new saws. 303 is a fantastic blade, not only doesn't leave any marks, darn near polishes the slab. In 10" size, the 301 is about 50% more in cost but it's really 50% more blade. It is one hell of a blade. You can tell the difference if you feed by hand. Just slices right through the hardest rock. The auto feed & blade motors run cooler because the 301 cuts so well.
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Feb 19, 2014 14:12:23 GMT -5
John, if you decide to go with a BD blade, the 301 in 12" is less expensive and a better blade. !2" is the only size where 301 is less than 303. My prices are better than those above for the record. The Gold blades have been discussed here before. They are Chinese crimp rims. Most of the reports are not very encouraging for slab saw use. Thank you everyone John I was looking at your site but I was not finding a 12 inch blade with the correct arbor size of 5/8. If you can send me a link to the one you're talking about I'd happily buy it. If all the blades have a one inch hole and a bushing for 5/8 I just need to know that I have never taken the blade of my saw yet. I did check your site first and just couldn't find what I thought I needed so thanks for chiming in!
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Post by johnjsgems on Feb 19, 2014 14:43:04 GMT -5
The BD/MK blades are 1" from 12" up. I usually order the 12"-16" with 5/8" arbor bushing and 18" up with 3/4". I'll have to correct my website. Thanks.
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Mark K
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2012
Posts: 2,574
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Post by Mark K on Feb 19, 2014 16:43:06 GMT -5
John, if you decide to go with a BD blade, the 301 in 12" is less expensive and a better blade. !2" is the only size where 301 is less than 303. My prices are better than those above for the record. The Gold blades have been discussed here before. They are Chinese crimp rims. Most of the reports are not very encouraging for slab saw use. I didn't see any MK blades at all, unless I am missing something of course. The site I posted is the site I always have used for blades as they were the cheapest for the 303 blades I could find. If you have them cheaper, they just lost me.
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Feb 20, 2014 1:18:57 GMT -5
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rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Feb 20, 2014 2:03:27 GMT -5
I didn't experience any problems with my 2 gold blades as far as cutting hard material - just the saw marks. The rims of both were slightly bent right out of the box and there was no way to hammer them out unless you hammered the rim, which is a mustn't-do-it. They weren't due to any tension problems because it was only the crimped area. C-ya, Rick
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Mark K
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2012
Posts: 2,574
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Post by Mark K on Feb 20, 2014 9:30:33 GMT -5
OK, so the BD are equivalent to MK? Or maybe a better question would be "How do they compare?"
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Feb 20, 2014 16:39:07 GMT -5
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Feb 20, 2014 16:45:14 GMT -5
johnjsgems - ordered my blade, can't wait to get slabbing again!
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Mark K
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2012
Posts: 2,574
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Post by Mark K on Feb 20, 2014 16:50:54 GMT -5
Good to know,
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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 Feb 21, 2014 11:45:37 GMT -5
The Gold blade is an entry level blade and over priced at that. Can't get much worse. You made the right move in getting the 301. Can't get any better than that! Report back after you try it. Over the years I've notice some of the material you play with and you'll be very pleased. You get what you pay for.
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Post by johnjsgems on Feb 21, 2014 12:50:17 GMT -5
BD and MK blades are exactly the same. Even use the same part numbers. When I became a BD dealer they gave me a roll of MK labels for people that insisted on MK blades. Historically, the owner of MK bought the old Star Diamond company and had his son run it under the BD label. In '05 or so they merged it into MK as the lapidary division. Before or after the merge they were family owned and shared most of the same blades. MK specializes in more construction related products and BD is lapidary and "stone" meaning counter top products.
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Post by Rockoonz on Feb 21, 2014 13:30:01 GMT -5
Methinks as soon as I sell something to come up with the cash I'll be getting one from John too. The current old stock 14 inch blade in my HP14 saw has lots of life left but is so close to the bottom of the saw that it only takes about a gallon to fill, and that turns to mud after only a little cutting. A 12 inch blade would be better.
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Post by johnjsgems on Feb 21, 2014 15:25:53 GMT -5
Your oil will run cooler with more volume as well.
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