Rock Saws for Dummies

Using a rock saw

If you were to visit the AN HQ offices, you'd likely notice that there's an interesting bookend in the conference room. It's a hunk of black rock maybe ten inches tall and four inches thick with one side and one end cut flat. If anyone cares, it's gabbro from Montana's Stillwater Complex. It was cut on a rock saw, but that rock saw was nothing like the saw someone might make using "How to Build a Rock Cutting Saw," vomited up at OurPastimes.com by one Darby Stevenson.

We will grant you that it is possible to put a diamond blade on a circular saw to score flagstones, although we're pretty sure an angle grinder would be a better choice. However, when we see the phrase "rock cutting saw" in the title, we're fairly sure the OQ was interested in lapidary equipment or, at the least, cutting a geode or two in half. In other words, Stevenson's suggestions are utter bullshit.
Darby's "solution" wouldn't work, anyway. He thinks all you need to do is,

"Purchase an abrasive blade for rock cutting, or a diamond-tipped circular saw blade from your local hardware store..."

...and install it on a circular saw. Yup: just take off that combination blade and put on a diamond blade: those are Stevenson's entire instructions!

Idiot. You can't cut rocks with a circular saw. Well, you probably can if you don't mind trashing your circular saw. You see, a real rock saw is a wet saw, one that sprays water or oil on the cutting blade while it operates to prevent overheating and to keep down the dust. A true rock saw is therefore going to be in  a watertight cabinet.
Oh, and one more thing our Dumbass of the Day failed to account for? Both of the cuts on that bookend we mentioned in paragraph one took more than an hour to make. Try holding your circular saw steady that long, Darby.

copyright © 2019-2022 scmrak

SE - POWER TOOLS