Diamonds: A Fabricator’s Best Friend

August 7, 2006

The majority of the calls that we receive are in regard to the tooling used on various saws. The result are a series of tips we’ve developed that will help you run your bridge saw more efficiently while saving you tooling costs in the long run.
• Cut the stone at the correct amp speed as recommended by your equipment manufacturer. We can’t stress this enough. Fabricators often run their saws too slow or too fast. If the saw isn’t operated at the recommended speed (based upon the material being cut) the diamond-bonding material won’t wear away and expose additional diamonds. The result? Uneven cuts that need to be reworked.
Recommended amps will vary based upon the machine that you’re running, as well as the material that you’re cutting, because the density of the stone can be dramatically different. For example, with a Park YUKON® II, we recommend that you run at 80 percent of full load-amps.
In addition, make sure that you maintain the same speed throughout the entire cut. We often hear that fabricators will slow down their blade amp as they approach the edge of the stone, in fear of cracking the edges. Chipping the edges will never occur if your saw is set up properly.
• Dressing the blade for glazing. To properly expose the diamonds, it’s important that you dress a blade if it is glazed. For a short period of time, step-cut a scrap of stone at higher feed rates with less water. The stone will actually grind away the bonding material on the blade, exposing a layer of diamonds.
Has your blade ever glazed up because you ran your saw too slow? You would follow the same procedure for dressing a blade to de-glaze a blade.
• Periodically check the water forks. Uneven cuts, excess dust, and blade damage are the results of a blade not being cooled properly.
It’s very important to supply an equal amount of water to each side of the diamond blade. Also, the water stream should be contacting the blade at the same height on each side of the blade.
The water should be directed to the junction where the blade and the stone meet at the full depth cut. If the stone is 3cm, the water forks should deliver the water 3cm above the bottom of the blade.
Please remember to check your water forks periodically for debris. Ear plugs, metal, and particulates can clog water forks, resulting in an uneven distribution of water. To clean water forks, blow them out with compressed air or use a drill bit.
• Dial-in your blade correctly. We recommend that you dial-in your saw each time you change blades. In addition, check your blade’s kerf every month to assess the normal wear of your blade. If the measured kerf is significantly greater than the blade width, you might consider checking your blade’s quality (loss of tension) or dial-in your blade.
It only takes about 15 minutes – a very inexpensive tip that could save you money and frustration.
• Knowing when it’s time to call it quits. When is the right time to retire your blade? That’s the million-dollar question – well, maybe not quite a million, as bridge-saw blades run, on average, from $300-$425 each.
Visually inspect your blade every production day. By looking at the blade, you’ll be able to see the diamond segments. If they’re thin or are unevenly distributed, it’s time to replace the blade. Don’t be cheap – it’s not worth it.
Always have an extra blade in stock. OK, you’ll tie up $400 in inventory – but you’ll be caught short with time lost and production bottlenecks if your saw blade needed to be replaced.
• Buy a quality blade from a reputable tooling manufacturer. The old saying, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” can be applied to tooling. Remember, the upfront savings of $50 to purchase a cheaper blade could cost you thousands of dollars (not including frustration) in the future.
If you ever have a doubt about tooling, call your equipment manufacturer for tooling recommendations. They have spent literally thousands of hours testing – they will know which blade works the best on the equipment. Poor quality tools save you nothing in the future.
Jerry Paul and Tom Gjerstad are trainers and Brent Ford is a sales associate for Park Industries in St. Cloud, Minn. For more information, go to www.parkindustries.com.