I have been using a wet tile saw for cutting rod blanks with a diamond blade and it works great! But I'm in the market for a new, smaller one that fits the shop better.

I'm wondering if the type that just has a water tray below the blade that the blade runs through controls dust well enough, or if I need to stay with one with a flood water pump?

Marc

How many blanks do you cut that gives you concern for dust control.

Depending on the amount of blanks to be cut I think a wet saw is is an over kill but one always uses the tools at hand. I get by with a Dremel with a cut off wheel..

If you feel comfortable with the wet saw then by all means continue.

The flood water pump machine sounds like the best option for maximum dust control. Even with that you should always use personal protection such as eye shields and dust mask.

Have fun

John

.

Marc,
Great idea.
But, I agree with John,
Unless you are cutting a couple of dozen blanks, I really don't see the need for a water tray.
I would think that it would take about 1.5 seconds to cut a blank. The total size of the blank is very small and the amount of dust should be very minimal.

However, if you want water, a water tray works well. I have a 4 inch tile saw with diamond blade that I use for tile and the water tray does just fine to minimize the amount of dust in the air.

[www.harborfreight.com]|*PLA+-+All+Products+-+Higher+Sales+Items|New+Products+-+%283%29+Price+%2430-50|69230&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&mkwid=sVAKvfSBj|pcrid|296324984313|pkw||pmt||pdv|c|slid||product|69230|&pgrid=60674595798&ptaid=pla-297670672015&pcid=1458484684&intent=Higher+Sale&gclid=Cj0KCQjw5rbsBRCFARIsAGEYRwe0zbXKxPbBHaxCTvio5PjW3jYQorhrhl1PrMLAiWrj7qrhufstSskaAt1sEALw_wcB

----------------------------------------------
But, if you want small and compact, go with a small chop saw with an abrasive cut off wheel:

For example:

[www.harborfreight.com]

Several years ago, I purchased one of these small chop saws. I removed the blade guard and saw blade.
I removed the saw from the base and then, stripped the base of everything. On the one that I had, there were some raised markings on the base to mark angles. I used a bench sander to remove all of the raised markings to have the base perfectly smooth. The only thing that I wanted to use the chop saw was for making 90 degree cuts. I put the saw back onto the base and mounted a 3 inch abrasive cut off disk on the saw motor. Then, I obtained a small piece of angled aluminum that had a 3/8th by 3/8th edge that was 1/16th thick. I placed this at the center line of the saw motor at a 90 degree angle to the cutting blade. Then, I clamped the angle in place and drilled 2 holes through the 90 degree backing angle for mounting to the base of the saw. I had the flat portion of the angle facing the front of the saw. Then, I used 4 bolts to mount the saw back stop to the base. After everything was mounted and bolted together, I turned on the saw and made one cut that sliced through the aluminum backing angle piece of stock to form a 90 degree angle to the blade with a slot in it that was just exactly as wide as the cutting wheel.

These 3 inch thin cutting wheels work well to cut virtually anything. Metal, brass, aluminum, steel. Graphite blanks, fiberglass blanks, etc.etc. etc.

The foot printe of the was is about 6 inches by 6 inches. In my case, I mounted the saw to a piece of 2x wood stock, to form a heavier base to keep the saw from moving around. Then, I added 4 rubber feet to the bottom of the 2x wood stock to help to minimize any movement of the cut off saw on the work bench.

A picture of the saw:

[www.rodbuilding.org]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is an arrow cutting saw, that uses essentially the same motor and cut off wheel that I use with the mini chop saw:
[www.amazon.com]

============================
If you want an unstoppable chop saw in a small package, here is a 6 inch version with an abrasive cut off wheel:

[www.harborfreight.com]

============================
But any of these chop saws will do a very nice job and an advantage with any of these "chop style" saws, is that the work piece stays stationary and the saw moves through the stock to be cut. So, it is easy to insure perfectly measured cuts with no slippage.

By the way, if you want to go with a diamond wheel, you can put one of these wheels on the mini chop saw listed above. You will just need an appropriate arbor to fit the saw:

[www.homedepot.com]

Best wishes.

Yes it will cut down on dust and gives a very nice, clean cut.

I agree... unless you are cutting a lot of blanks... an abrasive wheel is probably ok. A diamond wheel on a dremel tool works very nicely too.

-----------------
AD

I was disappointed in that little Harbor freight saw.

one option Dremel Battery operated, an spray the cut area with a spray bottle [ WATER ], that would do a lot of BLANKS with no dust I think an safe around water, [ BATTERY OPERATED }

William Sidney
AK

Lynn,
You indicated that you were disappointed with the Harbor freight saw.

When I first received mine, I thought that the saw was a bit light on power.

So, I dug into my junk box and found a high speed motor that had likely been for blenders. It had the same form factor as the original motor in the saw, but had a different shaft size.

I clamped the motor in place, and then used a file and sand paper to turn down the size of the too large shaft on the motor. I turned it down until the shaft was identical in size and then cut to length to be identical to the original motor.

I think that the original motor turned at about 5,000 rpm. The replacement motor turns at about 14,000 rpm. The little saw will cut through virtually any thing. The only downside is that it is pretty noisy when running this fast. So, I added a stand a lone 120v ac router speed control box between the wall outlet and the saw. I start the saw on low speed and gradually increase it to the speed that is just fast enough to nicely cut through the item that I am chopping with the saw. The rest of the saw has been fine.

I had some more of these motors. If you would like to drop me an e-mail Lynn -- to : hflier@comcast.net, I will check to see if I still have any left.

About a month ago, I went through storage and was pretty generous on my additions to the trash barrel. So, the extra motors may no longer be in my possession, but may be in the land fill. But, if you wish, drop me a line and I will see if I still have any motors.

Roger

At times I do cut a fair amount of blanks, larger musky style blanks with heavier butts, so dust control is really nice. Thanks for the feedback so far. I'll keep researching. I wonder what the large companies use that cut a lot of blanks? Anyone ever seen one of their set ups?

Marc,
Most of the large companies use the equivalent of an arrow cutter.
Essentially a motor fitted with an abrasive cut off wheel.

They all have a hood over the saw, so the hood which has a large @#$%& fan in it controls the dust.

========================================
Several years ago, I made this chop saw starting with an 8 inch miter saw. Since an abrasive wheel wears down as it is used, I raised the bed of the saw by adding a 2x4 piece of steel channel to the bed of the saw. Then, I added a backstop to the bed to allow for a straight cut. I use 8 inch .064 inch thick tool room abrasive cut off disks when using this saw. I added a light to have good illumination whenever making a cut.

Since it is a nominal wood cutting miter saw as a base it has plenty of power to cut anything that i put under the cutting wheel.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

----------------------------------
A few years later I purchased a new 8 inch miter saw and essentially duplicated the saw and currently use it in the shop for any chopping chores. This will easily cut glass and graphite blanks as well as aluminum , brass and steel rod as well as bar stock and flat stock.
I also use it for chopping PVC pipes for completed rod shipments. A very versatile saw.

==============================
A chop - type saw works much better than a table type saw for chopping blanks. With a chop saw, the blank is held stationary against the back stop and the saw is moved through the stationary blank.

But, with a table type saw, the blade stays stationary and the work is moved through the spinning stationary blade.

Much better control and precise cuts with the stationary work piece and the moving blade.

I use the small 3 inch chop saw in the rod building room and I use the large 8 inch chop saw in my dirty room where I do all of my cork turning and other work that generates a lot of dust and shavings.
I dislike using any sort of tooling in the rod building room that will generate contaminating dust that might end up on a rod build.
But, with the 3 inch chop saw, and a vacuum system beside the blade, there is little to no dust set free in the rod building room.

Best wishes.


I

Thx for the offer Roger, I think I'll sit pat just now.

Lynn,

By the way, I did check my storage and found that yes, indeed, I had pitched out the motors that had been in the box for years. Best wishes on our situation.

Roger