2 years, 3 months ago-
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What method do faceters use to cut rough to size. I have a diamond blade for use with my ultra tech machine. Is this good enough or should I invest in a trim saw? What size, make and model do faceters prefer?
Thanks for all your advice.rubin if you have that saw adapter for the ultra tec and can use it it will work fine but yes i know what you might run into. i picked up a 4″ trim saw made in simi valley calf. and used it for yrs but would recommend looking for an affordable new or used 6″ trim saw to handle most sizes of stones you’ll be dealing with and check ebay for the blade as some of the thin china blades are very affordable/cheap and will do a good job. i bought a 6″ thin metal bonded, not notched, blade for $6 including shipping and works great. i put it on a used 6″ lortone combo cabbing unit that i also put on diamond grinding wheels to use to grind off bad parts of stone. the trim saw on it works great. you might check ebay for a trim saw too. thats where i got the combo unit cheaper than a new saw. mike z. gemmakermz@cs.com
As gemmakermz says, the blade on the faceting machine works fine, but you’d find a dedicated trim saw easier to use for many operations. On the other hand, the price for lapidary trim saws is ridiculous. It’s really a pretty simple piece of equipment, and some people have built their own.
I intend to cut quartz, synthetic ruby, CZ, and spinels for faceting.
I may be doing some cabbing from pieces of Jadite and agate that I have as well.a hint for everyone, when i lived in so.calif. i made a trim saw from plexi glass/plastic 1/4″ sheet stuff. now here in wa. state i have members here wanting same so i started again. i went to local plastic place with the dementiond of pieces i wanted and they cut them right to size and i got their glue for it and put together. i made the saw arbor having a lathe. and got motors from china. the plastics cost me $45 and motor $15 see pictures
I recently bought a Rock Rascal model J and bought a Chinese sintered blade on Ebay and I now wish I had done so years ago. I agree that the price is high but the best way to go. It comes with a Pro Slicer blade. The saw came from Johnson Bros, nice people.
I have both, a trim saw and a 6 inch blade for my faceting machine. I usually use the trim saw to get an approximate size cut out of the rough. But I use the 6 inch blade on my machine when I am cutting particularly valuable rough so that I can save some smaller pieces for future projects. In other words when cutting the expensive stuff, I may make the first couple pavilion cuts with my saw blade and then save the chips for future use.
Thank you everyone for your advice. I did go out and buy a small trim saw; so now I have the trim saw and the saw blade for the ultra tech.
Stay safe!
if anyone want to make the plastic one let me know i can probably make the arbor for you and give you the dimensions i used for the plastic pieces.
While other faceters require you to rotate the stone while it stays attached in hardwood floor refinishing seattle
If $$ were no object, I would invest in a trim saw. But alas, they are. So I have a 6″ thin blade that I use on my faceting machine. It saves hours of hand preforming and / or grinding. But for larger stuff that requires separating into several pieces I have a Harbor Freight wet tile saw. I got a thin blade for it to reduce waste and it has served faithfully for about 50 years.
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