ok all you tile saw gurus - have an mk diamond 370 tile saw, i'm using their special diamond coated glass blade - put a new blade on the other day, worked beautiful, 10 min to cut strips in 6.25" wide slab, very slight minimal chipping on bottom that won't require grinding, felt like slicing thru butter after taking 30 min to make the same cut with the old blade, was thinking this is good....
worked for about 3 hrs with that new blade, today did some work on the tile saw again for about 1 - 2 hrs, is starting to take more than minimal guiding pressure to cut, chipping on bottom edge seems to be getting a tad more....
so, is there a way to refresh the diamond coating on the blade? these suckers are $58 a pop plus tax and time getting home depot to special order and pick up
The blade can be dressed, but you may also be using too much pressure and not taking enough time to make your cuts. Diamond blades degrade quickly when they are used aggressively. You should be applying very little force to push the glass through the blade. Let the blade do all the work. Also, make sure that your water flow is directed at the contact point between the blade and the glass and that it is flowing well. Overheating the diamond bond will also cause premature blade failure.
Tony
The tightrope between being strange and being creative is too narrow to walk without occasionally landing on both sides..." Scott Berkun
Tony Smith wrote:The blade can be dressed, but you may also be using too much pressure and not taking enough time to make your cuts. Diamond blades degrade quickly when they are used aggressively. You should be applying very little force to push the glass through the blade. Let the blade do all the work. Also, make sure that your water flow is directed at the contact point between the blade and the glass and that it is flowing well. Overheating the diamond bond will also cause premature blade failure.
Tony
thanks ron and tony, i'll look up the info on dressing the blade - was hoping this would be an option. tony, when i first changed the blade, didn't need to do more than hold the slab in place and guide - last night it seemed to be requiring some pressure to make the cuts - will check tomorrow when i spend more quality time with my tile saw ;P
Just saw into it a little and then test and see if the blade cuts glass better. You need to go at least as deep as the diamond band around the edge of the blade. You shouldn't have to make a whole cut off the end to get results.
Ron Coleman wrote:Just saw into it a little and then test and see if the blade cuts glass better. You need to go at least as deep as the diamond band around the edge of the blade. You shouldn't have to make a whole cut off the end to get results.
Ron
thanks ron, lowe's did indeed have a silicon carbide block back in the tile saw area i'm all set for tomorrow's session of quality time with my tile saw
Ron Coleman wrote:Just saw into it a little and then test and see if the blade cuts glass better. You need to go at least as deep as the diamond band around the edge of the blade. You shouldn't have to make a whole cut off the end to get results.
Ron
ok, have used the dressing stone, has improved chipping on the bottom cut back to almost none, and it's not taking much pressure to move thru the glass however i'm still taking 30-35 min to cut strips off a piece that when the blade was new was taking 10-15 min - should it really be talking me THAT long to cut 6.25" wide by 3/4" thick? am exerting almost no pressure and the water flow on the mk 370 is good, all along the blade with freeflowing drips at front, middle and back of the blade housing - the water is fed up to the blade and into the blade housing by pump, only way to add more water is to use my garden hose...
At this point it may be a tradeoff between chipping and speed. As you increase your cutting pressure (thereby increasing your feed rate) you will eventually get more edge chipping. You might find that increasing your pressure until the chipping becomes unacceptable will be the balance you are looking for.
I'm a little surprised that the blade performed so much better new. Some degradation would be expected, but it shouldn't have been that significant. Did you use the blade that came with the saw first or did you wait for the glass blade? If you waited for the glass blade, you might have overstressed the blade early on. I'm not implying that you abused the blade, but as people get more practice with a tool, they tend to develop a feel for the tool and perhaps a little more finesse with it. I think it's clear from people's experiences with diamond drill bits that the way you use the tool from the start can significantly affect the life of the tool.
Tony
The tightrope between being strange and being creative is too narrow to walk without occasionally landing on both sides..." Scott Berkun
Tony Smith wrote:At this point it may be a tradeoff between chipping and speed. As you increase your cutting pressure (thereby increasing your feed rate) you will eventually get more edge chipping. You might find that increasing your pressure until the chipping becomes unacceptable will be the balance you are looking for.
I'm a little surprised that the blade performed so much better new. Some degradation would be expected, but it shouldn't have been that significant. Did you use the blade that came with the saw first or did you wait for the glass blade? If you waited for the glass blade, you might have overstressed the blade early on. I'm not implying that you abused the blade, but as people get more practice with a tool, they tend to develop a feel for the tool and perhaps a little more finesse with it. I think it's clear from people's experiences with diamond drill bits that the way you use the tool from the start can significantly affect the life of the tool.
Tony
hi tony - i ordered this saw "reconditioned" and have no clue what the blade was for that came with it other than it was USED ;P didn't want it near my glass! i don't even have that many hours on the first glass blade, but will put it back on when this one finally gives out and use the dressing stone on that - i have copper inclusions in these slabs but that is a soft metal and i wouldn't expect it to bother the diamond blade. when i put this blade on i was just guiding and barely applying pressure and had great cutting times but by the end of a few hours i was back to cuts taking longer and longer - by using the dressing stone periodically today i have been able to get cutting time back to 15-20 min per 6.25" cut with the minimal chipping - with diamond drill bits i have little trouble when i've used them other than being too fast and breaking the corner a couple of times ;P
Did you say "cutting time back to 15-20 min per 6.25" cut with the minimal chipping"? That isn't right. You should be able to do a 6" cut in well under a minute.
Did I misunderstand you?
Tony
The tightrope between being strange and being creative is too narrow to walk without occasionally landing on both sides..." Scott Berkun
Tony Smith wrote:Did you say "cutting time back to 15-20 min per 6.25" cut with the minimal chipping"? That isn't right. You should be able to do a 6" cut in well under a minute.
Did I misunderstand you?
Tony
nope, that's what it is - 15-20 min per cut for a 6.25" wide slab - has been as long as 30 min - THAT's why i'm not the happiest camper around with the speed tony ;P
Put on the tile blade that came with the unit and see what that does for you. You will see increased chipout, but the cutting should be much faster.
I made a mistake a while back and bought a narrow kerf lapidary blade and burned it out very quickly. I think the problem was that it was so narrow that it didn't allow enough water flow into the kerf.
Let me know what happens with the other blade.
Tony
The tightrope between being strange and being creative is too narrow to walk without occasionally landing on both sides..." Scott Berkun
Put on the tile blade that came with the unit and see what that does for you. You will see increased chipout, but the cutting should be much faster.
I made a mistake a while back and bought a narrow kerf lapidary blade and burned it out very quickly. I think the problem was that it was so narrow that it didn't allow enough water flow into the kerf.
Let me know what happens with the other blade.
Tony
well, since i have a dressing stone, i will do that - i am really not sure what blade i got with it and it looked fairly used - the glass blade was recommended by the manufacturer - i really like the 1/16" kerf for what i'm doing and the almost non-existant chipping, means i won't be standing at the grinder for long periods after cutting ;P but the time factor is outrageous...
was thinking of getting another pump and some tubing and rigging that up in a bucket of water to provide additional water to the cut, i'm going to finish rigging up a pump to keep the catch bucket emptying today....
the bucket brigade routine is getting very old ;P
D
i'm all set for tomorrow's session of quality time with my tile saw 