Recent Posts

Sold! Thank you Orrum!
Larry C.

WOW! That Moroccan Apple Valley Jasper is stunning!!!


Larry C.

Most lapidary saws use a motor with approximately 1725 rpms. If that motor's rpm rating is in that neighborhood then yes that pulley is MUCH too large. And IMO that large open pulley is a safety hazard too.

And yes you are correct in that the blade should cut on the "downward stroke". Just remount the saw and motor with the motor facing the opposite direction and that will take care of the issue of the direction of rotation of the blade.

If the plate on the motor says it's 1725 rpms you'll only need to replace the blade arbor pulley and they are less than $10 at most any hardware stores. The blade on that saw looks to be an old MK-297 Criterion Blade which was the predecessor to the BD/MK-301 blade. MK recommends an rpm speed range of 1150-1720 for their 10" notched rim 301 blade. www.mkdiamond.com/lapidary/tec_speed.html
And after checking your motor speed here is a link to a site with an rpm/pulley size calculator to help you determine pulley sizes needed. mgfic.com/rpm_calc.asp

If the motor on the saw is a compressor motor with a high rpm rating (like 3450 or so) then I'd recommend replacing the motor with a 1/3hp continuous-duty motor with 1725 (or close) rpm rating.

If the 1/16" movement of the blade is from arbor movement then you probably need to replace the bearings. If its just wobble in the blade then the blade will probably still be usable. Just take it slow when initially starting to feed the rock into the blade.

Larry C.

Diamond Pacific's 303S looks to be Barranca Diamond's 303S blade. JSGemsLapidary has the best price I've seen around lately on a BD-303S 24" blade at $544.
www.jsgemslapidary.com/BD-303S-24in-x-100in-x-1in-Blade/
The owner of JS Gems is a member of this site and is who Shotgunner linked in his post.

Larry C.

I've never used the HP Geenline blade but .160" is a very thick kerf for a 24" lapidary blade. By comparison the 24" BD-303S blade has a .100" kerf which is almost 1/16" thinner than the HP Greenline blade. So with using the HP Greenline blade - every 4 to 5 cuts you would loose the equivalent of the thickness of another whole slab. When slicing better grade lapidary materials, especially in sizes requiring a 24" saw, that additional loss of material from the thicker blade kerf will translate into $$$ lost very quickly. But if you plan on using your 24" saw only to reduce the size of large rocks to then slab in smaller sized saws then this might not be as much of a concern.

Larry C.

P.S. Also using a .160" kerf blade versus a .100" kerf blade you will be having to clean your saw out more frequently.

19 gallons of oil for an 18" Covington saw? My 20" Covingtons only require 7.5 gallons. So either you have a much larger than 18" saw or the guy that told you that it takes 19 gallons was confused. Measure the distance from the center of the saw blade arbor to the bottom of your oil reservoir and see what maximum sized blade it will accommodate.

Larry C.

A couple of years ago I tried to find pillow block bearings to substitute on my Lortone 12" and 14" saws and never could find any with a low enough profile to match that would leave enough room for the blade not to extend deeper than the oil pan space will allow.

The problem is that there are no longer any good quality U.S.A.-made insert bearings being produced. Most are made in Asia now and are junk. The last few years Lortone has been using JIB brand bearings and when running my saws 8-10hrs a day, 5-6 days a week, I was lucky to get 4 months use out of a set before they went bad. I have searched and tried other brands and have found no new bearings that will fit these saws that I consider good quality. Even tried some expensive bearings from a French company. They were junk too (I suspect they were actually really Chinese made being sold as French). And the Mexican made bearings weren't much better. I eventually found some old stock U.S.A. bearings that I am currently using but when all the old stock is gone it's back to the Asian junk bearings.

Since good quality permanently sealed insert bearings seem impossible to find these days, IMO Lortone needs to redesign their 12" and 14" saws to accommodate better quality pillow block bearings with grease nipples. But I doubt they ever will and even if the do it won't help those of use who have the current design.

As for your problems with the power feed. Double check the coupling that joins the power feed motor shaft to the threaded power feed rod. Make sure the set screws for that coupling are very tight on both ends. And if the power feed rod turns but the vise carriage stalls when feeding then you may just need to replace the tension spring on the split nut lever.

Hope this helps.

Larry C.

OUCH! We should all just surrender the field to Shotgunner after that one! LOL!

Larry C.

Nice looking group of cabs! You're doing great! As far as your question about working with standard shapes, while not a necessity, I've always been of the opinion that one will develop better skill sets if they first learn to produce and work with standard calibrated/standard shaped stones.

It's the equivalent of an art student first learning to draw and paint realistically before delving into impressionism or more contemporary art styles. After mastering realism the student will be better equipped to produce whatever their imagination can envision in other styles.

Sorry if that reads a bit flaky but it's the best comparison I can think of at 6:30am.

Larry C.