To Many Diamond Blades - Not Enough Time

[zeebie]

First I would like to share a cool site:
http://www.mcgillswarehouse.com/
Weird collection of stuff but has good prices.

I just bought a hydraulic lifting table in Los Angeles without having to ship it from back east and saved hundreds in shipping. So this may be a resource for anyone out west. They have a huge selection of Diamond Blades.

I am working on a white carrara marble. What is the best blade to use?
Continuous rim, Segmented Rim, Turbo, Freedom Turbo or Turbo Segmented? I would try them all but life does not permit.

I'll be using it with a 5" electric angle grinder.

Thanks for sharing your experience.
Z.

[Zenos]

I've found continuous rim works the best for me. I mainly work in limestone, but I've done a few marble and granite pieces. Marble and limestone are pretty close in hardness, with marble being slightly harder but they cut the same.

I've also discovered that you should get the thickest blade you can, thin blades will bend and your cut will go off on a wierd angle, especially if it gets hot. Lots and lots of dust too when you're cutting, the neighbors hate me when I get a new block of stone.

[jvc stone]

Hi again Zenos.

I too work mostly with limestone (Texas and Indiana), with a smattering of domestic marble carving also.

Have all sorts of diamond blades, but they mostly hang on the wall. My blade of choice for limestone is a carborundum ( fiber) throw away blade. got my favorite brand, but they all give me a better cut in limestone than any diamond blade I've tried. Have used them in some of the more workable marbles also.

You are right about the dust' sometimes it looks like my shop is on fire with a huge cloud of smoke drifting down wind. Fortunately no one has ever complained (knock on wood) :rolleyes:

JVC

[Zenos]

I actually used the masonry fiber blades too until I did a granite piece and soon discovered they won't work. So I had to buy a diamond blade, then on my next limestone I used the diamond and liked it better.

Have you ever tried using a larger blade than the grinder can take by taking the guard off? I use the 7" blade on a 5" grinder, lets you make deeper cuts. I also use a circular saw for straight cuts with the same blade. I also use a masonry grinding cup wheel too, for basic shaping. I try to get as close to the finished piece as possible before I employ hammer and chisel.

[jvc stone]

Wouldn't even consider using a fiber blade on granite. Even with sandstone, I'm more likely to use diamond. (but not always) Don't often use a grinder of any size, either, although I have several. Like a circular saw with guard removed. Of course most of the saw work I do is to establish steps for profile work in architectural pieces, and that fiber blade sure gives a slick, finished surface, cut with no wobble or matrix slap.
JVC

[bluedogshuz]

I use both a worm drive circular with guard removed and contiuous diamond blade and an angle grinder with same but smaller blade. I rough out marble by cubing with the blade then knock of with hand hammer and chisel. Clean up with pnumatic. I would caution the use of using segmented blades without a guard. I had one break off once, missed my head by inches and dug WAY into a tree 8ft away. Segmented is better because less drag cuts quicker, but I check those blades frequently. The dust is rediculous and if married could impact you VERY negatively. For me it woulda been cheaper to get water fed as the divorce was WAY more expensive!!! :)

[Zenos]

Oh yeah, segmented blades coming apart. A piece of one hit me in the faceshield when I was cutting a piece of granite, can't imagine what would've happened if I wasn't wearing one.

[bluedogshuz]

Zenos, Your Sh..tin me?! I'm going to start wearing a face shield!! I know in production areas like Carrara they wield these things w/o protection. However, who knows how many accidents.... the quarry monuments are testiments to the danger of messin with stone on all levels!

[Ammonite]

Hello,

I was hoping someone could help me? I'm trying to learn how to cut limestone. :confused: Primarily 3" - 4" small slabs and was hoping you could suggest the best type of saw or process? I really don't know too much as I just use a chisel now. :)

Thank you,
George

[jvc stone]

Hi George,

Just read above in the thread.. There are as many favorites as carvers.

Personally, for limestone, mine is a makita 13 or 15 amp 7.25 inch saw with blade guard removed and an 8 inch fiber blade. There are some limestones (dolomitic) I have worked with that fiber blades didn't work so good with, but for the most part, they give a nice clean finished cut. That 8 inch blade will give me (when new) close to 2.75 inches of cut depth. Usually for slabs up to 5 inches I'll cut through from both sides. I do keep a 10 inch circular saw around for deeper cuts, but the rig described above is good for 90% of the saw work I need to do.

You'll need to fool around with various tools -both saws, and grinders w/ saw blades, to determine what works best for your needs.

JVC