I have run into a situation where I need a lapidary diamond
wire saw for a particular cut. my slab and trim saws will not work,
and, due to the geometry, I cannot use a 'ring saw' such as the
taurus.
g’day if you are interested in what can be done with a hard tough
material like jade, go to orchid archives ;-
http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/gallery.htm
and use the search engine to locate ‘te hei matau’ -john burgess
i found the diamond coated wire was inexpensive, and when water
lubricated and cooled, and used with a hand operated jeweller’s saw
frame lasted a considerable while. the slot made by the saw blade
[the kerf] was about 1/16 wide. a bit laborious; but it didn’t
last 3 minutes when used with a mechanical jig saw. diamond burrs
were used to give the final smooth shape. after sanding, it was
polished with tin oxide on a leather disc with water. 50,000 grit
diamond powder is faster, but i didn’t think i could afford that in
those days. i could now; i’m a ‘poor’ pensioner with no rent,
mortgage, car repayments, school fees, health insurance… bin
there, dun all that.
Cheers for now,
John Burgess; @John_Burgess2 of Mapua, Nelson NZ