R16 High Frequency Ring Saw & P8000 Power Converter
Operations Manual | 9
stand proud from the bond matrix. Blades made for cutting harder materials will have a softer bond, allowing
the diamonds project more aggressively (but will not last as long). Blades made for cutting softer, abrasive
materials will have a harder bond, allowing them to resist the abrasiveness of the material and to last longer.
Without enough erosion of the bond matrix (the diamonds not exposed) and the blade becomes dull . This is
called glazing . If the blade seems to refuse to cut anymore,
it is glazed.
See below:
”Sharpening a Glazed Blade”
Never use a sharp motion or the blade will be damaged. Conversely, don’t feed too gently or the diamond
segments will become glazed. Keep the blade steadily working.
Take great care to keep the blade perpendicularly aligned to the kerf. If the blade is crooked, it will easily bind.
When cutting reinforced concrete, if embedded steel is encountered, take special care. Reduce the feed
pressure by about 1/3 and let the blade go at its own pace, if there is too much vibration the blade may be
destroyed. Once the steel is passed, continue normally.
WARNING: Never use blades for cutting a material other than the material they were intended for.
SHARPENING A GLAZED BLADE
Diamond blades may become glazed (dull). Once the diamond segments are glazed, the blade’s cutting
performance will degrade and the segments will overheat. To resharpen the blade, turn down the water
feed and make a few cuts in a very soft, abrasive material such as brick or an alumina oxide or silicon carbide
dressing stone.
MOUNTING THE BLADE
First make sure that the machine is unplugged.
1.
Loosen the drive tensioner knob fully.
2.
Loosen the thumb knob and slide the drive wheel cover plate out of the way. Remove the drive wheel if it
is fitted.
3.
Loosen both guide tensioner knobs fully.
4.
Fit the blade in position with its grooves facing the male grooves in the guide wheels.
5.
Fit the drive wheel on the spindle. Using the face spanner wrench to immobilize the wheel, tighten the
arbor bolt using the T-handle box wrench.
6.
Tighten one guide tensioner knob, just enough to keep the guide wheel from slipping on the blade.
(Wearing gloves, grab the blade and rotate it back and forth while holding the guide wheel to check that
it will not slip.)
Do not over tension the guide tensioner. Overtensioning will unnecessarily increase
the load on the motor and increase wear on the mechanism.
Repeat for the other guide tensioner.
7.
Wearing gloves, grab the blade and rotate it back and forth while turning in the drive tensioner knob
until there is enough tension so that the blade is turning the drive wheel without skidding. Then tighten a
further 1/4 turn.
Do not over tension.
8.
Slide the drive wheel cover plate into position over the drive wheel and tighten the thumb knob.
NOTE: Always replace the drive wheel with a new one when replacing a worn blade. The drive wheel and
blade wear together and should be replaced as a set.
