Fused Glass Saw

[ab2255]

I’ve taught myself how to solder silver and want to try cutting fused glass pendants into bars with the intent of framing them in silver.  Is a Taurus 3 ring saw the best saw for cutting fused glass or  is there much difference in brands?

Thanks

[bhawbaker]

You will probably go through a lot of ring saw blades cutting pattern bars, and the replacements are expensive.

 

Try using a tile saw with a glass blade, such as http://www.harborfreight.com/25-horsepower-10-inch-industrial-tile-brick-saw-95385.html or http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100665659/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

[katkramer]

I had a Taurus Ring Saw which I bought with the intention of cutting glass snowflakes.  I ended up selling it on eBay and trading it in on a little XL Speedster bandsaw.  I like the bandsaw better, but rarely use it.  I ended up making snowflakes out of cut pieces of glass…the saw was really unnecessary…

I do, however, use a tile saw all of the time, and cut most of my jewelry on one.  I have two of them…one is a 24″ contractor’s tile saw, and the other is the smaller table-saw style Ryobi from Home Depot.  We use the little Ryobi more often for jewelry because it’s small and will sit on a table.  The big saw you have to drag out buckets and it’s messier.  I have the big saw for sale, and am looking at a “bridge saw” at Harbor Freight…with this style you hold the material and the blade moves, similar to a radial arm saw.  It’s a mid-size saw, but takes a smaller blade.

My favorite blade is the specialty glass tile cutting blade from Home Depot which is made especially for cutting glass tile (less than $20, I believe).  Paul at Helios recommends NOT using the kind of blade with cuts in the blade…they seem to chip out more.  But the glass tile blade currently carried by Home Depot is absolutely wonderful…it has a smooth cut, and we rarely have to grind any of our pieces before fire polishing them.

: )
Kat
http://www.glasskatz.com

[josthings]

I have a Taurus ring saw and I love, did not like the band saw, but the blades are very expensive so I only use it for very fine work. I have a tile saw that I use for everything else, it is relativly cheap and the blades are easily replaced as nessecary, it is tough and I leave it outside with a cover over it all the time.

I am off to home depot to chek out that blade, anything to cut down on grinding

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