|
unclesoska
freely admits to licking rocks
All those jade boulders tossed in search of gold!
Member since February 2011
Posts: 934
|
Post by unclesoska on Jun 22, 2014 9:41:46 GMT -5
Just to be clear, the saw shown is a lapidary trim/slab saw, made by Highland Park. It's a very good saw, but NOT a tile saw. If you could find one of these locally, you'd have a great find. Also, every tile saw I've seen is hand fed, some have a miter gauge or guide to help you oush the piece thru, but you're still pushing by hand. Also the saw pictured would use oil as a lube, not water like a tile saw.
|
|
bhiatt
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2012
Posts: 1,532
|
Post by bhiatt on Jun 22, 2014 10:58:13 GMT -5
thanks unc. Would like to figure something out so I didn't have to hand feed. Im comfortable with doing it but Id like a clamp instead. There are a lot of tile saws on local craigslist but I haven't seen any with a clamp.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2014 12:49:15 GMT -5
The lortone combo unit has a small clamp setup similar to the one in the photo .there is nothing to keep the vice from riding up the blade though..and it's less than $30. Dave
|
|
Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,681
|
Post by Fossilman on Jun 22, 2014 15:20:32 GMT -5
Make your own clamp buddy...Thumbs up
|
|
|
Post by Peruano on Jun 23, 2014 21:39:04 GMT -5
The HP saw pictures has a number of advantages already mentioned, but let me summarize. 1. A vice that will hold the rock - this lets you concentrate on feeding the rock rather than holding it square to prevent binding. The vice also helps you maintain a parallel cut to the last one - a better slab resulting. 2. The HP has a fence - the little vertical plate on the left that can be positioned at any distance from the plate and helps guide your work at that thickness. A good feature but one that should not be depended on too much or you will get binding. 3. The HP can be rigged easily with a gravity feed. You still may want to push (feed) your work a bit but the gravity weighted assist is welcome on a cut that may take several minutes (or more). 4. The HP in a 10" version should be able to run with water especially with Smokey's magic additive or other high quality water additives for lapidary saws. You might be able to devise a vice for a tile saw, and certainly you can rig a gravity assist if you do have a saw that has a sled like feed. And a fence is certainly capable of being rigged, created or improvised. So yes a tile saw may meet your needs, but me I'd look for any lapidary saw that had a decent vice (i.e. one that will not climb up the rock when it hits resistance; one that has a decent way of tightening on a reasonable sized rock, and one with a decent tank capacity so that it does not need to be cleaned every other day if using oil. Good luck in your search. Come to New Mexico and I'll give you a 10" saw with a vice, you can rig the fence, motor, and cover, and be in business. Free if you promise to try to use it for awhile until something better comes along. Cheers. Tom
|
|
|
Post by 1dave on Jun 28, 2014 9:17:10 GMT -5
thanks unc. Would like to figure something out so I didn't have to hand feed. Im comfortable with doing it but Id like a clamp instead. There are a lot of tile saws on local craigslist but I haven't seen any with a clamp. Usually a TRIM SAW is used for trimming slabs into cabs. Most cuts take less than a minute and a clamp is a waste of time. Aligning and holding works best by hand for the few moments per cut, so you want water, not oil. Saws built for lapidary are few in number and expensive. Tile saws are made in massive numbers and are cheap but do the trimming job very well.
|
|
bhiatt
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2012
Posts: 1,532
|
Post by bhiatt on Jun 29, 2014 15:39:06 GMT -5
hey thanks, 1dave. Makes sense to me about them being used for trimming slabs.
|
|