48 inch saw blades

[Alvin]

first does someone sell a 48 inch diamond blade.
second are the diamond blades sold for cutting cement, rocks, etc. the same as the diamond blades sold by lapidary shops?

[dlackmond]

I seem to remember that Lackmond Saw Blades in Ga made them that big and bigger. I know they cater to concrete people and the blades are thicker but cuts that size whats a little loss.

By the way I am not related to them and they cant seem to explain where the name came from. To my kowledge I am the only
person in the entire world that has this name. 

[deb193]

The ones for softer material like concrete use a different metal alloy that exposes diamonds more slowly. You need to expose diamonds faster for harder material.

A 48" blade would be several thousand dollars. Also, it only cuts about 16" depth. Better to find a drag saw that can cut close 2/3 the length of the blade.

[Michael]

The blades we use for cutting concrete will also cut rebar that is in the concrete.

[Alvin]

you got my attention. I researched drag saw, but did not find anything that would work. I know what you mean about not having a deep cut with a regular saw. where can I find information on a drag saw for cutting stone. I do know how to split stone but I am looking to cut not split.
sounds like there is a difference for the rock cutting blades. thanks for the information. they cut granite blocks here with diamond on a cable. nice, but have not been able to talk to anyone about it.

[deb193]

Jerry Parker build this for Bruce Ferguson (rocksj2b2). I think he would cut for a fee, but not till spring. He is in full on slabbing right now for Quartzite & Tuscon.

[Taogem]

Wow Daniel..

What a saw he has !!!

[dickb]

I seen a saw like that in Alaska cutting jade blocks. It was very neat to watch and amazing how straight the cuts were. It took a long time to cut, but it just kept sawing away day and night. The prices they were asking for the cut jade blocks were high enough to pay for the saw quickly!

Dickb

[Alvin]

anyway to get blueprints on this saw. this would be perfect. do not understand where the motor is. clamping and water supply I understand. I love this information.

[deb193]

Jerry had Rouge River Saws. THis was a custom job, so I do not know if he had blueprints, or if they were sold with the rest of the business.

[catmandewe]

I considered buying Rogue Saws from Jerry and went and looked at the setup.
There were no blueprints for any of the saws, Jerry did most of it from memory.
There are also no patents. I was at Jerry's while he was building the saw that is in the picture, he told me he sold it for $14,000.

It is pretty simple really, runs on the same principle as a sawzall but slower.
Motor turns a big flywheel with a pin on it, there is a connecting rod between the blade and the pin on the fly wheel, as the flywheel turns it moves the blade back and forth. The upright guides keep it aligned. Simple.
I could build one for ya if you needed one, but I think you could build your own.

Have a great day............Tony

[Rockoteer]

Where do you buy the blades?

TOG

[deb193]

I understood the blade was made with the saw. Most of the blade is just good metal sheet. On the edge a bunch of 2" diamond impregnated segments were welded on with about 1/4" spacing.

[Alvin]

I think I understand. I have several machinists in my area that are very good at what they do. I will have to approach them to see if they will do the project. thanks everyone. always good to have goals. now I can collect the bigger rocks knowing that it is possible to cut them.

[deb193]

I encourage you to get one built just because I think that is neat. (... and I think the pursuit of all things rock and practicalities do not have to meet.). I love to cut rock, and I would love one of these saws.

But, several points about what size slabs/pieces you want/need:

The rock in the pic I posted was a test cut. Since Bruce was going to take the halves and cut them again, and then move to his 30" saw and cut them again, finally selling on ebay chunks that fit in MFRB (... or then move to his 18" saw and cutting slabs for sale), the drag saw did not make much sense. He could have drilled and split the stone, or even with the drag saw, cut about as deep as he would have drilled, then stopped, and split the stone.

Unless you want/need 30" slabs (or split halves) this is not the best way. That large drag saw makes sense when you have a 30" x 4ft petrified log, and you can get thousands for each 2" thick slice. Or you have a double thunderegg pushing 30" and you want the split halves for display or possibly sale at some hefty price tag. For making the initial cuts on something that will be blocked further, it is a very expensive option compared to other methods for reducing larger rocks.

If you want to have cut faces on larger (say 12") rocks, getting a smaller version of one of these drag saws built is not too much more $$ than a 36" slab saw - and you would have the option of making a cut wider than 12".

Also consider, you can bring a drill and splitters and sledge to the big rock without too much trouble. The fork lift that Bruce had to use in order to place that big rock on the drag saw cost about as much as the drag saw. It is a lot harder to bring the big rock to the saw, and the effort to position it for the best cut can be ridiculous. In short, the rock/result has to be worth the cost and effort - at least to you.