I have a little 4″ saw for tile & stone and I then bought a 10″ saw for doing accurate cuts in brick to do patio installs (only way my better half would be happy about the “investment” in the bigger saw). I’d like to get a spare blade for the 10″ saw that will give me a smooth cut in stone (marble tile mostly). Existing blade is very coarse (cuts brick like soft butter, but leaves a ragged edge on stone). Anyone have a favorite blade brand/type that gives the best cut?
Along the same lines, I’ve noticed lately that the 10″ saw spits out a good bit of dry dust while cutting. I don’t think it used to do that (I used it indoors for the first time about a two weeks ago so noticed the dust — maybe it always did that and I never noticed). I looked at the water flow closely and it hits the blade about a half-inch in from the bonded diamond area and kind of bounces off rather than hitting it and coating the blade with water. Any hints, like is it supposed to do that or should I play around with the water outlets to hit the blade in a better spot?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Replies
By way of a bump, here are a few thoughts-
Not sure what sort of blade you've got on now, but for smooth cuts you'll definitely want a continuous rim blade, and you should look for one that is matched to the material you'll be cutting. I think a glass/porcelain blade might be smoothest, but the correct blade will wear away the steel at the same rate it wears away the diamonds, so the blade will keep working correctly for a long time. MK is the first place I'd look for a good blade, but I'm no expert. Check out Amazon, they've got some decent blades.
Seems like the water is hitting in about the right spot, but is should be closer to parrallel to the blade so it doesn't splash off too much.
zak
Zak:
Thanks for the bump and for your thoughts. I'll try futzing around with the little water pipes to see if I can get it to flow across the blade better. Helps a lot to know that at least it's hitting the right area.
I'll also check out a porcelain blade. Blade I have is continuous rim, but the diamond grit is, say, like a 36 grit paper, maybe even a little more coarse than that. On my 4" saw it's much, much finer so I figured there must be "grades" or "grits" of blades. Neither blade is marked with any type of "grade" indication (or if they were the marks wore off long ago). The porcelain blade should fit the bill.
Anyway, thanks again.
These blades have never done me wrong
http://www.iscenterpointe.com/joey/pearl/site/index.html
james
With my tile saw I have had to change the water pressure to get good blade coverage without it bouncing off doing no good.
What brand of saw?
Thanks for the suggestions. I'll definitely try the water flow (now why didn't I think of that -- guess that's why this forum is such a help).
Thanks also for the link on the blades. Always want to use something that works well for someone else -- pioneers get the arrows and blades are expensive.
For the brand, I hate to admit it but its the Harbor Freight Central Machinery brand. My excuse is it's something I planned to use only a few times a year and at $199, it was cheaper then renting one every time. I bought it to make nice cuts in brick and it paid for itself at the third patio job. After that it's all gravy. For occasional use I'd definitely recommend it. It's got plenty of power and seems very accurate (but then again I haven't used it to cut large format tiles, so maybe its accuracy is relevant?). The standard blade they sell for it would not be useful for tile -- like I said, cuts brick like soft butter but makes the edges of stone look a little too "rustic" for my taste (chips the top edge pretty bad). Never tried it on tile but I assume it would be even worse. I'm doing more stone jobs lately (lots of stone backsplashes) so I want to get a better blade for the 10" to cut the stone faster than my trusty 4" saw.
I do a handfull of tile jobs each year and also use the Harbor frieght saw. This is the second I've used and the first was great, with no downtime over a couple thousand square feet of slate.
The first week the second saw blew a capacitor and it was either wait two weeks for a warantee replacment or eat the cost. In the middle of a tile job I had no choice but to eat the cost and get the thing going--$29 + an hour of time.
Then about 100 feet of cutting later the power switch went south, so it was a half hour to get it fixed--again no big deal.
The water feed "Y" connector broke--30 minutes to fix.
Then the water pump went out on a 1500 square foot slate job and our small town didn't have one anywhere so there was a day of downtime when it was all done.
Lately, the roller on the tile "slide/rest/shelf/thingie" is wearing unevenly so the table goes up and down, making poor cuts. 30 minutes to figure that out.
The chain on the drain plug broke so I added a small stainless quick link--15 minutes.
The bolts holding the switch cover loosened up and stripped when tightened--30 minutes to rethread to an american 10-32.
My 90 degree attachment for the table is also not square so I've added a little tape--a half hour lost there.
Low and behold I've had the exact same problem that you do with the water feed not working worth a darn. What I did to completely solve the problem is drill and tap a 1/4" pipe thread hole on each side of the guard and screw in 90 degree brass elbows 1/4" pipe thread by 3/8" hose barb. The water flow is easier to control and covers the blade much better. I've messed with it for hours until doing the above fix.
If you are cutting outside I can't stress how nice a fresh water line is. My set up uses standard air hoses and a female garden hose adapted to a female air line connector to connect to the hose bib. Another male air hose adaptor is screwed to a 1/4" brass ball valve with a 3/8" hose barb to attach to the tile saw. I can just unplug the water pump and plug in the fresh water. The saw stays much cleaner and your blade will last twice as long.
The Harbor Freight saw is an awful lot of machine for $200, but it can nickel and dime you. I've spent so much time on repairs that I almost could have bought a 10" MK.
Lately, the linear bearings are becoming very warn and the side to side slop is getting worse. The bearings are also getting more noisey so they are not long for this world. The good thing is, most things that are prone to breakage can be replaced or fixed.
I just took the saw out of my truck or I'd shoot you a pic of the new water lines on the blade cover.
Good luck with it.
I've had very good luck with the MK Hotdog blades available at home depot/lowes. They cut smooth and straight if you don't force them very hard. The blade plate is quite thin and deflects easily, but is easier on the saw.
In cold weather these blades are next to useless since warm water can't be used or the outer rim of the blade expands and the whole blade will wable almost 1/4" until the temperatures equalize. A thicker blade allows warm water, a real plus in the cold weather.
Phil: I have a 10" MK that I use a lot to cut rather thick slabs of granite - like about 3 inches. Still using the original MK blade. It takes about 8 - 10 passes to cut through the slab. I still get a finish that is as good as #50 diamond grit used for initial polishing. \Don
The Glass Masterworks
"If it scratches, I etch it!"
Thanks again to everyone for all the great advice.
Don, just curious about that 3" granite. Sounds like a real interesting project. Only time I've ever seen it was at the edge of a bar. What 'cha building? Any pics?
Trout, I'm with you on being nickeled and dimed by cheap, er, inexpensive tools. I bet you're like me, though, a cheap tool is usually better'n no tool. Certain tools I'll spend the money on -- I bought the Ridgid 12" SCMS a while back and I think it was over $600 at the time -- ouch, but I use it constantly and I find it to be super accurate. Couldn't do good work without it. On the other hand, I recently needed a rotary hammer for a job that would extend over several days. Could have rented a quality tool but I ended up taking a chance and buying the HF. It lasted through that job and I have it on a back shelf in my shop. If I ever need one again, I have one, but that might be a year (or 5) from now so there's no way I could justify buying a "real" one. Thinking about your adventure with the HF wetsaw, don't forget that if you had rented one each time instead, there's a lot of time lost at the rental house, so maybe it all works out in the end. I agree with the old saying, you pay for a quality tool only once (or twice after its stolen, but I'm in a city so that tends to happen), but you pay for a cheap tool many times over. When I become wealthy, I'll heed that saying ;-)
Best regards.