Slab Saw Advice // Tip & Tricks to Cutting Rocks 

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Thank you for all the information you share with people. I started collecting rock's just last year, and you've been a big help! Again thanks!

It's always good to get tips on anything, especially a ginormous saw. Thanks for sharing the cuts. Be happy, safe and stay healthy 😷⚒

This is cool. I just moved from Sweet Home, Oregon (Holleywood Ranch in Holley, Oregon) to NC. I have an 18inch HP saw. Love cutting!!

What a lot of pro tips, I will be watching more of your stuff for sure. Thank you!

Your mother's piece really surprised me with all the color on the outside, I expected more detail and contrast. I can't help but wonder what was going on there, what were the conditions to make that.

I really enjoy your videos. I just started cutting rocks myself right at a year ago. One thing I was taught was to put your rock at the very end of your carriage. That way it has more support and less likely to move.

All four pieces were so different but beautiful in their own right! Thank you on the tutorial for the slab saw. Not all of us can afford to purchase one and for those that join a rock club, to use the clubs machines, not everyone knows how to work them. So thank you for that. I know every saw is different but slab saws all work pretty much the same. And they are way different than a regular trim saw. Those pet woods all look awesome! And i agree, that they would look gook with a face polish so they can sit up or lay down and show that beautiful wood grain texture on the cut faces! Thank you for sharing this. Informative and fascinating as always!

Excellent post my friend, thank you as always for sharing! Many of my personal favorite specimen are "stand up" desk pieces and good Saddle Mountain material is some of the coolest IMO with super excellent cellular replacement. Bit of advice if I will: For the piece that is black inside, go ahead and polish it up, then soak it in bleach and a thin layer of the carbon will be drawn out and return the pet wood to more natural tones~ Really works! Thanks again sir, hope you have a great rest of your week. PS. I've soaked mine in bleach for up to 2 weeks.

Looks like a fun hobby, appreciate your fine thorough instruction and tips, hope I come across one of these saws one day, been a rock hound most of my life.

Great demo and explanation video! Awesome tips and tricks to know also. Those are beautiful stand-up specimens. Thank you for sharing this Jared!✌️🤠

some great tips!!! I'll definitely keep in mind the vapour factor when at the lapidary club...safety first yo

Great topic. 👍 Really like that Saddle Mtn material. The 18" I just brought home was being run with transmission fluid. Working on the saw electric this weekend. Can't wait to get her up and running. I think I'll call her Big Betty.

Great video - Thanks for the explanations and the tips! I’ve had success wedging irregular rocks in the vice using strips of washed foam trays that meat comes in from the grocery. Sometimes top and bottom, sometimes several strips - the dense foam conforms to the rock surface well. Next time I’ll try a wooden wedge! Also, for round rocks that are just impossible to immobilize in the vice, I sometimes will epoxy to the rock the shaped end of a short piece of 2x2, and then secure the 2x2 in the vice. This works particularly well for making repeat slab cuts from the same piece.

Thanks for the safety info. I didn't know the oil would mist.

Ooo thank you for this video! I am desperate for a saw, one day :). Those turned out lovely!

Thanks for the tutorial with the slab saw, It`s always nice to learn how slab saws work, oh and awesome pet wood, I tend to like stand ups also, I cut the end off a red marble I liked so much i made it a stand up for my wife`s cabinet, take care and stay cool.

This was a great video. We are just getting started with trying to cut bigger pieces. We have a wet saw. Now we have to get this lol

Love the jet black color.

Thank you!! You make my new interest so fun!!

I think a bit of polished vertical face portions on those stand ups would be a great addition to the display.

I need to look into a cutoff. I hadn't thought about that.

Great ideas! Thanks

Great video! I’d love to know where that black petrified wood was from. So beautiful

Awesome tips as usual man! Sweet specimens! We need to get Chris (Rockhound Treasurehunt) to send you some Rainbow wood from Nevada and Arizona! It's gorgeous!

I love slabs, this is by far one of my favorite educational videos from you. The trim saw episodes are fantastic well worth the time spend in making them and very informative. When I can afford one, it will be so useful. I would love to see more slabs, and different cuts, so there is 2 or 3 cut sides to show off. Would be interesting to see how the grain goes in the other direction on some of the pieces, plus regular rock specimens as well. So many rocks, so little time right? I noticed lots of buildup where the slabs end up, I would love to see a video regarding cleaning and maintenance, in regards to rust and buildup of sediment.

Watching from Philippines

Excellent video Jared 👍🏼 I’m sending a link to the owners of Haunted Ridge. The shop building has been built! They will be purchasing equipment soon. The large tile saw should be in the shop next week but… Greg knows he’s going to need a better saw. And good lord! Wait till you see the thing I sent Karen at Ozone Fine Art Ventures! We don’t technically have thunder eggs here but… yeah… I’m going to be borrowing Greg’s saw! Rock on brotha 👍🏼 Again, great video! This is super informative

Giday Jared, that was quite an informative video. Some good tips on using the saw. Now all I need is a 14” saw or bigger. I’m not really keen on forking out between $3500 to $4500 on a new one, so I’m still looking for a second hand one or perhaps build one. Enjoyed watching the video on the saw and your tips on use. Some nice pieces of petrified wood. Keep Safe & Keep Rockin.

I know petrified wood is beautiful but from my standing making jewelry and mainly a lapidariest and metallurgy. I give all but extremely agatized wood to my son who is a architect and geologist, if I can't see how to cut a really nice gemstone or make it into a ring or bracelet band into my son's hands they go. My one son did have me make a piece into a ton of buttons for some wedding suits he was making and turned out beautiful on the suits. I personally like it but I'm not as imaginative as others in making fine jewelry from them. I do use extremely agatized wood in inlays on bands surrounding certain gems that compliment each other and have made some solid bands that I set another gem into or bracelets that I will set gems into extremely agatized wood but to get the looks I desire to make they have to be very agatized I have tried it without and simply doesn't meet the styles I make. I do find thier beauty. I also am a lapidariest with a conscience when I get a extremely rare piece of rough with unusual form I do wieght do I cut it we dream of cutting some of these stones but when truly rare knowing as a specimen it would be extremely rare I will not cut it and just prepare it as a specimen. We also have a family tradition in my home every time I order a large parcel of rough my son's and wife always pick a piece out that I will cut for them set as is or leave in current state. Of course the geologist architect always goes for uncut natural my fashion designer my baby he is half cut half natural but almost always set into jewelry cufflinks tie clips whatever he is in mood for. And my life partner loves sparkers but I never know some I think she would no question want in jewelry she leaves untouched others I would think she wants as a specimen she has me cut. She always has left me guessing. We also have a house rule I'm only allowed to talk about gems for thirty minutes a day period. Years ago Dr. Hanneman told me you got the bug and everything in life and everything you see along with every experience you will find a way to relate it to gems. I had no idea how right he is so I supplement my urge to talk nonstop about gems by doing guess lectures. Both my son's are also professors so I guess lecture in their classes every semester. I have been offered teaching position but I learned when I went to complete my doctorate I hate teaching. But I do like lectures lol the sound of my own voice my life partner and sons would tell me. They all have very large jewelry gem and rough specimen collections. I have more rough and cut stones then I could use in my lifetime I couldn't cut all the rough I couldn't set all the cut gems but I still always am looking and purchasing more specialty dops antique tools and always material rough gems raw metals. I'm also always looking for special stones unusual properties it truly is a addiction. You do catch the bug and can't help it. My favorite thing to do is annually visit the local high schools and with the metal shop teachers I teach the students and provide all the material so they have a ring they made with a gem they choose that they set into it many make it for thier mom's girlfriends sometimes dad's and some make for themselves but it is wonderful because I teach a new generation about the arts I show them the difference between commercial cut gems and how a true lapidariest cuts them they are also always shocked when I explain that a person who has three months experience tends to cut and polish a gemstone better then what you find in the vast majority of jewelry stores and if they go and the places aren't making their own jewelry and sourcing or cutting the gems themselves you will almost always pay more for much less quality. The first question I ask is how many of you have some in household that owns at least one diamond and every hand usually goes up then I say other gems and that yes it loses me customers but I only work with natural Untreated gemstones sometimes I do settle for heat treatment or lightly oiled in case of emeralds but I will not touch a diamond unless it is a natural colored diamond. If someone wants diamonds they can go to countless other jeweler's but I personally can show countless stones that look better than just a white diamond for central stone or accents.

Awesome pieces! Very informative about the slab saw, right now all I have is a 4 inch tile saw which is ok for some of the things I do! I do need a bigger saw because it only cuts small rocks and I want to cut some bigger slabs because I make jewelry and want to do something with them also! I don't know if I will ever get a slab saw like yours but who knows maybe I will! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks!

I need to get around to joining our local rock club. It would be great to have access to a slab saw or have contacts who can slab for me. I don't have space for one here & I wouldn't use it enough to buy one. Thanks for sharing!

Newbee question, what are the determining factors in the choice of coolant (water or oil) for a rock saw?

The piece from your Mum was my favourite, but they were all nice

I just picked up my new...to me.... 16" slab saw and have been using it for 3 days straight. Had to drain the old oil out and put in some machine food grade in. Was wondering how much of the saw blade should be in the oil once filled. Thanks for all your great videos.

Any thoughts on why they turn black sometimes? I've polished some petrified wood before and it's gotten blacker then when it started. Almost like whatever wood is left is burning 🤔

Hi Jared! How do you dispose of the used oil/sludge? Sorry if you’ve covered this before. I’ll eventually get to that video. 😁 I’m considering getting a slab saw. Any advice?

So then how do you cut a rock with a rounded surface without causing blade deflection as many rocks are rounded ?

The last piece you cut looks like it came from the Nevada side of cedarville Ca.

I have another crazy question ⁉️... Can I use that same type oil on a wet tile saw? What brand is it?

Those would really shine if you polished the cut ends on a flat lap. Good surface area to weight ratio.

Where is best to get a belt for pulleys? I have a small trim saw but needs pulley belts and I don't know where to start

I just acquired a fourteen inch a 24 inch and a36 inch slab saws im having fun but I have no idea of what I'm doing

I do hope to get a larger saw at some point, and if I get one similar, this has been a very informative guide on it. Oil saws seem messy, is there a particular reason to use oil over water?

Great video! Talking from Brazil. Could you tell me who makes and sell this rock oil cutting machine? Thanks.

That peice of your mother surprised me I thought it was gonna be the same color as the out side that was kind of a bummer but still beautiful very nice tips. I use a tile saw and I been getting chips on one side any tips for that it is a 10 inch with a slide table

Great episode. I saw you were using the agate eater blade that you fixed a few episodes ago. How are you liking it now that you have cut a bit more with it?

I would probably have cut that big one length ways and made book ends

I know nothing about rock cutting..... So why oil instead of water?

Was that weed seedlings I saw? 😂 🌱

What kind of industrial saw is that?

Gotta ask what is that at 13:40?

Typically a standup has two cuts. One for a base and one for a face so the person can see a polished surface all the time. Check out my channel Episode 8.

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Put a overload on your motor dude

What's with the tattoos, there is something wrong with your thinking, its not mature, its not positive.

🤘👍

Thanks!