new-old grinding wheel

[lithicbeads]

Refurbishing my old grinding wheel  is a little different process than most others . My coarse grinding wheel is made from cheapo saw blades ( continuous rim ) , is 3/4 of an inch thick and cuts like the devil. I stack these 8 inch , .050 blades on the arbor of M.K.'s biggest tile saw and the hardest rock just gets eaten up . The last stack was 2 years old  and was used an immense amount but   had lost less than 1/16 inch of diamond. I just put 8 fresh blades on the stack , alternating old and new with new on the outside . The old blades will be used to cut small cobbles and trim preforms. The new blades on the outside are important to me as after achieving my general shape of a preform by rotating the rock into the blade I use the edge of the stack to carefully eliminate most of the remaining rough spots. This can be very effective with practice. My next step is a 100 grit hard wheel which lasts  much much longer  with the nasty grinding  and sharp edges out of the way.You may think that I switched to this system for efficiency and cost savings but those are just perks, I really switched because my hands could no longer spend whole days grinding on standard diamond hard wheels. this system cuts so easily that my hands never cramp anymore.

[deb193]

I've seen these gang-blade grinders set up on cabbing arbors as well. Good water supply is important.

[lithicbeads]

The tile saw is designed to be used with a submersible pump which works well. I only use this saw outdoors and on a windy day I will get a 30 foot plume of mist trailing downwind. As these saws are not supplied with continuous run motors resting the saw every half hour provides a good time to either top off the water or replace it .

[lonelygems]

I likes your idea Frank...it is great, i'm thingking about to combine old and new blade to get a specific wheel shape.....i must try this trick...thank you Frank........

[lithicbeads]

 Hi, I started making profile wheels out of saw blades years ago. As the blades wear from trim saw use
 I save them. After getting a pile of  worn blades I put them on the arbor with the most worn , the one with the most loss of diameter , in the center and build outwards on each side from that blade symetrically so the two outermost blades are the largest in diameter. This stack of blades has a u shape when viewed on edge and cuts a bead profile in seconds.I literally can't count the bead preforms I've done this way. Solid profile wheels cost  a small fortune and wear very quickly .These "profile" stacks last and last. I'm going to post a grit delivery system for your ultrasonic at some point this weekend.

[3rdRockFromTheFun]

Well that is just damn clever as hell Frank...! I have a 10" harbor freight tile saw - I'll have to check around and see I can find some used blades. Reason for such interest is that I'd not only gain a wheel, but I can't even fathom how easily such a contraption would go through rock and I have a penchant for liking to grind where most people would just saw (I like to feel my way through some areas and watch the shape develop - nice, but hard on lap wheels). Brilliant!

[lithicbeads]

These set ups have been standard with a lot of cutters for about 15 years now. In one of Henry Hunt's books he states that some famous carver uses one. I was faced with proving up and cleaning up hundreds of pounds of Holley Blue years ago  and  as it is hard and dirty  to grind when it has it's typical pitting on the big pieces I adopted this set up and never stopped. This set up made fast stock removal easy, O.K. not easy just easier.

[lonelygems]

  , i'm looking for any profiles wheel for a long time.....this idea never pop up in my mind, darn...i can make any spesific wheel by this way and have a new tools, save my broken saw not only for drilling  .....this is surelly usefull for carving too, i thought it can be faster if i want to get off a 'large mass'.

I was use an old carborundum and shaped them with carborundum too to get a profiles wheel.....it's a hard way and gone fast....but it's works for me, now it is the past.

Hi, I started making profile wheels out of saw blades years ago. As the blades wear from trim saw use
 I save them. After getting a pile of  worn blades I put them on the arbor with the most worn , the one with the most loss of diameter , in the center and build outwards on each side from that blade symetrically so the two outermost blades are the largest in diameter. This stack of blades has a u shape when viewed on edge and cuts a bead profile in seconds.I literally can't count the bead preforms I've done this way. Solid profile wheels cost  a small fortune and wear very quickly .These "profile" stacks last and last. I'm going to post a grit delivery system for your ultrasonic at some point this weekend.

Thank's again Frank...i need that.

[lithicbeads]

I still remember dressing profiles into the old S.C wheels. Very messy. I got huge extremely coarse diamond drills from Boeing surplus  and could put a perfect groove in a wheel very quickly.I don't miss the bumping and redressing  of these wheels at all.

[Eu_citzen]

Good idea, Frank, never thought about it.

[lithicbeads]

Hi, I've been asked for a picture of the set up so here goes. One giant tile saw and one lawn that appreciates the spray and a couple of blades. The green blade is a 4 inch version of the 8 inchers that are stacked on the tile saw arbor. There are 15 .050 diameter blades in the stack. The other "blade" is an incredibly coarse diamond wheel that I stack with two  others like it on the arbor of an old cabbing machine. This set up is too coarse for agate or jade but makes quick work of non-brittle stones such as granite , rhodonite , marbles ,  hydrogrossular garnet and quartzites. The  slabbed  and sliced stones on the saw table in the foreground will be shaped and deposited in the bowl resting on the arbor. When the bowl is full of preforms they go into a bucket to be sorted at a later date.When the table is clear I switch to a saw blade and start slicing rough and making strips of stone for preforms. After this pile it will be mostly very unusual jade cobbles for quite a while. There is a finished preform in the middle of the pile , the one with yellowish dots , ready to go to the drill. I do not make small things any longer. One of the privileges of age is that you can make things stupidly big if you want and other old people who don't care what people think can buy them.

[lonelygems]

Thank's for the picture Frank....