B.day present to myself :)

[dougers31]

Just picked this up today and am just a lil' excited about this piece of equipment! Anyone have any tips or tricks for using this bad boy???

No more dremel, woo hoo!

 

[MimicOcto8]

i have one of those and i love it! you dont need the power all the way up to cut things. about half throttle is perfect. be sure to use SALTWATER even tho the instructions say fresh...I dont know why they said that. i'm sure you know better anyway. after you're done with it be sure to wash the resavior cup with fresh water and the blade. Then dry it real good. this will keep the rust down. play with it a few times before getting crazy with her. she very accurate though. Have fun!!!

 

[Reef Pets]

Have fun with it. It will cut through any coral that will fit in the saw.

 

[Kris]

That thing works great I picked one up a few months ago. Not sure how fast the blade wears or how fast it will rust but I make sure that i rinse it off every time I use it. And it still looks new.

 

[dougers31]

i have one of those and i love it! you dont need the power all the way up to cut things. about half throttle is perfect. be sure to use SALTWATER even tho the instructions say fresh...I dont know why they said that. i'm sure you know better anyway. after you're done with it be sure to wash the resavior cup with fresh water and the blade. Then dry it real good. this will keep the rust down. play with it a few times before getting crazy with her. she very accurate though. Have fun!!!

Thanks! I was kinda wondering how often you have to replace the blade guides...

 

[Alattner]

ew that looks like a really nice toy my friend. let us know how that thing work for ya

 

[dougers31]

ew that looks like a really nice toy my friend. let us know how that thing work for ya

I can assure you when compared to fragging acans with a dremel, this will be like walking barefoot through a dewey meadow

 

[reefhead]

it goes throughs fingers well imagine what it can do to a chalice.

 

[dougers31]

I am assembling the saw and the instructions say to use ro water... The shop where I bought it said they recommend using saltwater to. Any recommendations?

 

[Troylee]

Saltwater!!!! Ro will have I'll effects on the fresh cut coral..

 

[CalmSeasQuest]

Inland recommends fresh water. I have always used fresh water with great results. The key is to take your time and not push the material too quickly through the blade, especially when making full-throat cuts and/or turns. The blade will not cut fingers. It's not truly "cutting" (i.e. sharp edge) rather the edge of the band is covered in diamond abrasive - it simply abrades it's way through the material.

 

[dougers31]

Saltwater!!!! Ro will have I'll effects on the fresh cut coral..

Inland recommends fresh water. I have always used fresh water with great results. The key is to take your time and not push the material too quickly through the blade, especially when making full-throat cuts and/or turns. The blade will not cut fingers. It's not truly "cutting" (i.e. sharp edge) rather the edge of the band is covered in diamond abrasive - it simply abrades it's way through the material.

What to do, what to do

 

[Troylee]

You can cut your fingers off if it cuts through live rock.... I mean it would take a min to get your whole finger off but it would go.... On the other hand "literally" lol it would slice you in a second...fwiw

 

[Troylee]

Search here on r2r inland bandsaw questions I have a whole thread and every vendor or fragger said saltwater.... I would clean with ro but Use tank water for the least amount of stress.... There is no way I'm gonna cut a 1000$ chalice with fresh water it's having enough stress being cut but that's me..

 

[jledon4]

are you crazy!!!! you should try to pass your finger thru it and add some feedback on what would happen...

Inland recommends fresh water. I have always used fresh water with great results. The key is to take your time and not push the material too quickly through the blade, especially when making full-throat cuts and/or turns. The blade will not cut fingers. It's not truly "cutting" (i.e. sharp edge) rather the edge of the band is covered in diamond abrasive - it simply abrades it's way through the material.

 

[CalmSeasQuest]

You can cut your fingers off if it cuts through live rock.... I mean it would take a min to get your whole finger off but it would go.... On the other hand "literally" lol it would slice you in a second...fwiw

I guess is you left your finger on the blade long enough, but you can place your finger directly on a running blade with no impact. It's more like touching a sander than a saw blade. As for cutting rock - you're right. This project was about 10 hours of cutting...

Here's a short video clip of the final product (new tank - still cycling)
YouTube - Reef Brite supplementing T5s for Shimmer

 

[CalmSeasQuest]

are you crazy!!!! you should try to pass your finger thru it and add some feedback on what would happen...

Crazy - No. But I do have lots of hours cutting with a DFS-100 - all fingers still attached. :smile: Have you ever used the saw? It does NOT cut using a sharp edge - the blade simple abrades. I have placed my finger directly on a running blade with no cuts. I suppose if you pressed hard enough and left it on the running blade long enough it would abrade through your finger, but it is not like a conventional band saw.

 

[CalmSeasQuest]

To each's own on using fresh vs salt water. The water is used to cool and lubricate the blade and rinse away debris from the kerf. The water contacts very little of the coral - mostly the part removed by the cut.

 

[dougers31]

To each's own on using fresh vs salt water. The water is used to cool and lubricate the blade and rinse away debris from the kerf. The water contacts very little of the coral - mostly the part removed by the cut.

I guess my thoughts on this are that you already have salt and coral dust on the blade and adding one drop of ro every 4 seconds,it prolly won't affect the coral. That being said I think if I was cutting a $1000 chalice I'd use saltwater.