Glass saw

[eegee]

If you were to buy 1 glass saw, wouldnt a bandsaw be a better choice than a tile saw? I assume you can do anything on a bandsaw you can do on a tile saw, plus you get to cut curves if you need to (like on plate glass or dichro). Does a bandsaw suck at cutting 26 or 32 rod? Or 50 tube?

[Primathon]

I don't know if you can really cut glass with anything other than a diamond-encrusted cutting surface. I'd be interested to see what other options are avaiable other than a wet-cut wheel.

[blazeoffire]

I have been thinking of a saw too. Any recomendations?

[PalisadeGlassGallery]

A tile saw is set up for a thick blade with a crude feeding surface.. But the concept of the table like base is much better than a band saw as long as it has a water well for the blade to swim in.. Band saws like a Torus # from Glasscraft . ( sorry to use a brand company) has a thick blade also , cuts great.. but rather crudely also.. They do have a small 4 inch type table saw that uses a thin diamond blade .. This type of saw will cut almost any size tube or rod.. ( Frankly you just score a ring around a tube and pop it from there.. )

With a little for-thought and some real thinking .. one can make a nice water pool saw like the one above and just buy blades... ( E-Bay has a ton of em.)

Its not the cut thats important.. but the straightness of the cut all around the Tube along with how clean it comes out.. The band saw has a problem with wider tubes not cutting stright from top to bottom.

Thats my 15 cents worth.

[Julian]

I know a glass artist that bought a band saw, and said he wished he had got a normal tile saw.
Apparently, the diamond band saw is nice and precise, but too slow and weird for cutting large rod and tubing.

[smutboy420]

The small band saws with diamond blades meant for craft and hobby use are not very big.
There are larger wet cut band saws that will take a diamond blade. When I worked in a place that made marble and granite counter tops they had a sweet band saw. It was a reg saw cept had a dia. blabe on it and a water feed.

[eegee]

That's good info. I know some stained glass and fusing people that use a band saw - but I've never tried it on heavy rod or tubing. I'm real close to buying a tile saw and at the last minute thought "Wait - maybe a bandsaw is a better saw if I only own one"

Mr. Joseph - for the 4" table saw, you're talking about the Revolution, right? I saw it online - have you used it? Do you think it would be a good choice for a good, all around glass saw?

Thanks,
Eric

[kbinkster]

I have both a diamond bandsaw and a diamond ring saw (Taurus III) that I use for stained glass and fusing. While the ring saw is pretty amazing (it lifts out of the resevoir and can be used like a circular saw to cut big things like marble countertops :eek ), it doesn't do the greatest job on tubing. It goes through it, no problem, but at the very end of the cut, the blade will jump a little and leave a blib thingy. I suspect that a bandsaw would probably do the same thing on tubing, but don't know for certain since I haven't tried it, yet. I believe this little jump happens because the ring and the band blades are flexible. For making straight cuts through tubing, I would go with a little tile saw-like jobber, like the little one they have at GlassCraft. I know that it is good for slicing murrini, and I think that it would be good at cutting tubing, given the rigidity of the blade.

[skip]

Get a rock saw with a nice thin blade for rocks and it will cut sweet.

[Julian]

A groovy type of saw is the diamond wire saw. They cut in any direction like a Taurus ring saw, but are reputed to be less difficult and especially less costly to maintain.
One page about these: http://store.allstainedglass.com/gromwisablpa.html

I wanted a cut off and trim saw, so l bought something large and overpowered: a 10" 1 1/2 hp tile saw. I went with the 'Hot Dog' tile blade that came with the saw for a while, and then bought a non segmented 'Dia Laser' that gives smoother cuts. This saw is great for cutting large rod and tubing. It is quick, but a splatters glass dusty water all over behind it. Mmmm. It is also difficult to make precise cuts as this saw is large and on a stand instead of a table.
A table top trim saw with a 4 or 6 inch blade would be much better for working art pieces on the saw, more precise and less messy. Check out the selection of these rock saws at www.kingsleynorth.com or just search google for 'lapidary trim saw'.

[skip]

yeah A trim saw is what I have. Although it is not an end all solution it is great for small to medium cuts. Great affordable starter saw.

[Greymatter Glass]

I have a 10" tile saw from harbor Freight (same make as the home depot Q brand saw for half the price)

It's great for cutting up big glass... rods, tubes, glass blocks, billet chunks, slag glass....it will also cut wood, metal, stone, concrete, bricks, plastics, just about anything you can think of. Not wax... that just gums it up... and I dont think it would cut chewed chewing gum well either come ot think of it.

It's really harsh on small things however. Cutting 9.5mm tube works fine, smaller sucks. The blade is so big and heavy that smaller and thiner glass will just shatter the second the blade hits it. It works ok for cutting plate glass but cutting dichro tears the coating off the edges, so you can't cut really fine little shapes like you can with a gemini or taurus band saw. Ring saws are sweet if you want to cut custom dichro shapes.

-Doug

[skip]

just stick the chewing gum in the freezer. Your saw will cut it.

[Greymatter Glass]

daaaaaaaamn dude yer like always thinkin' and stuff! :)

Hrm...could I use liquid nitrogen instead, that would be more fun?

-Doug

[Racer X]

We got a bandsaw and hardly ever use it. The tile saw from Kingsley north with the advantage blade is the shiznit. Before we got that blade... the boro shit I would cut would dull the blade real fast. Now we have a blade that has lasted two years and taken on quite a bit of work. I can cut just about anything on it.

Highly recomend the line of blades out of Kingsley north.

[kbinkster]

I have a tip for using saws (I learned this from the lady who owned the stained glass shop where I used to work.)... This is probably not terribly practical for boro, but in case some of ya'll do soft glass art, too, here ya' go:

When grinding or cutting dichro coated glass, only grind or cut the same coe between cleaning your reservoir. That way, the slurry left behind will be the same coe and you can let it dry out and then fuse the glass/dichro dust onto glass - kind of a sparkley enamel thing. You could dry it out by letting the slurry settle, pouring off as much water as you can, and then dumping the mess onto a coffee filter. Just set the filter onto the top of your kiln and let it dry out. Be sure to wear the appropriate mask filter when dealing with this or any other enamel or fine frit.

[glsgrl]

I have the taurus Ring Saw and blade replacement is expensive....Just a note. Thanks for the tip on the coe...I"m going to try that...