Taurus Ring Saw....good?
 

I have a Taurus saw. I like it. I like the advantage of being able to cut in
any direction. The blades aren't cheap though, usually in the $80 range. I
search on stained glass supply sites and order from the cheapest one. They
are "supposed" to last 100 cut hours. I think the longest mine have lasted
is 40 cut hours. However, the one I have in now is fast bypassing that time
length. I think the blades are getting better. They also have a seperating
blade for making inside cuts. I bought one and decided that those were not
worth the money. Others milages may vary with that blade.

I also have a speedster saw. It's ok.....but I would rather use the Taurus.
Good luck!

Kathi
Others milages may vay on this saw

"Jay Adair" wrote in message
...
I've been doing glass work as a hobby for 20 years (mostly window panels,
but a few mosaic table tops, birdbaths, etc.) and have only used a grinder
for finishing the pieces of glass, before foiling. But I saw a
demonstration of a Taurus ring saw at my local glass store the other day
and
it seemed very interesting.

$300 is a substantial outlay, but perhaps the benefits are worth it? I do
a
couple, 3 projects a year, but might do more with this little gem...

Any advice on it? Replacement blades expensive?

(It seems it would open up a world of glass shapes that are otherwise
impossible to achieve...)

Thanks,

Jay

"Jay Adair" wrote in message
...
I've been doing glass work as a hobby for 20 years (mostly window
panels,
but a few mosaic table tops, birdbaths, etc.) and have only used a
grinder
for finishing the pieces of glass, before foiling. But I saw a
demonstration of a Taurus ring saw at my local glass store the other day
and
it seemed very interesting.

$300 is a substantial outlay, but perhaps the benefits are worth it? I
do
a
couple, 3 projects a year, but might do more with this little gem...

Any advice on it? Replacement blades expensive?

(It seems it would open up a world of glass shapes that are otherwise
impossible to achieve...)

Thanks,

Jay

Be sure to wear hearing protection...the thing sounds like a New Holland
hay baler running.

IMPOSSIBLE CUTS=
difficulty in foiling
very subject to cracking
in most cases not appreciated or un-necessary

h

--

In the words of the IMMORTAL USED CAR DEALER:
THERE IS AN ASS FOR EVERY SEAT!

How about "too expensive a piece of glass to risk a bad break"....?

I was once making some panels for my front door and sidelights, using only
clear glass with lots of different textures, some thick & wavy, some thinner
and very ripply, but they were all difficult to cut. I wasted a fair amount
of glass and ended up having to modify my patterns to accommodate "close,
but not quite right" pieces of glass.

So if I were to cut a large piece of "difficult" glass again, I would be
tempted to use the ring saw so that my money could be spent on "new" glass,
not "replacement" glass.

Thanks to all who provided input....I think I will get one in the near
future.

Jay

"Howard" wrote in message
...
IMPOSSIBLE CUTS=
difficulty in foiling
very subject to cracking
in most cases not appreciated or un-necessary

h

--

In the words of the IMMORTAL USED CAR DEALER:
THERE IS AN ASS FOR EVERY SEAT!

The Taurus ring saw works fine for me, I have had no problems with my saw in
the past 4 years. You can go to geminisaw.com for more info.
P Charlotte,NC

I've got one and I like it just fine.
Negative: It is loud and has a big kerf.
Positive: you can make impossible cuts (which work great on mosaics, but
should be avoided in stained glass) and you can cut other materials as well
(stone and ceramic). Since a lot of my business is sandblast etching, this
comes in handy when making blanks.

--
There are no mistakes, only unexplored techniques

"Jay Adair" wrote in message
...
I've been doing glass work as a hobby for 20 years (mostly window panels,
but a few mosaic table tops, birdbaths, etc.) and have only used a grinder
for finishing the pieces of glass, before foiling. But I saw a
demonstration of a Taurus ring saw at my local glass store the other day
and
it seemed very interesting.

$300 is a substantial outlay, but perhaps the benefits are worth it? I do
a
couple, 3 projects a year, but might do more with this little gem...

Any advice on it? Replacement blades expensive?

(It seems it would open up a world of glass shapes that are otherwise
impossible to achieve...)

Thanks,

Jay

"Howard" wrote in message
...
IMPOSSIBLE CUTS=
difficulty in foiling
very subject to cracking
in most cases not appreciated or un-necessary

h

but these don't come into play if one is fusing up the pieces instead of
putting intact in a panel.

regards,
charlie
cave creek, az

I have a * Diamond Laser 3000 from Diamond Tech International. It's messy
(splatters water everywhere) and slow.

Has anyone used both this and the Taurus Ring Saw? How do they compare?

I'm interested in knowing because I'm thinking of selling my DL3000 since I
don't use it enough to justify the space it takes up. If it weren't so messy
and slow, I'd use it more.

Thanks,

Linda


Jay Adair wrote:

I've been doing glass work as a hobby for 20 years (mostly window panels,
but a few mosaic table tops, birdbaths, etc.) and have only used a grinder
for finishing the pieces of glass, before foiling. But I saw a
demonstration of a Taurus ring saw at my local glass store the other day and
it seemed very interesting.

$300 is a substantial outlay, but perhaps the benefits are worth it? I do a
couple, 3 projects a year, but might do more with this little gem...

Any advice on it? Replacement blades expensive?

(It seems it would open up a world of glass shapes that are otherwise
impossible to achieve...)

Thanks,

Jay

"Gloria" wrote in message
om...

Costs:
- Taurus replacement blades - approx. $90
- Diamond Lasar 5000 - approx. $1000
so the Taurus Ring saw is much more reasonable.

Whoops....the blade for the Diamond Lazer 5000 is $119 from Delphi. The
whole saw is $975.

The new blade and a kit of all the loose parts that always wear out on the
Taurus is $139, and the saw is $350 or so.

Thanks for the input. I have begun working on a pseudo-Tiffany panel, with
lots of wisteria flowers, leaves, stems, etc. and some lightly rippled
clearish glass in the middle section. I am hoping to have a Taurus when it
comes time to cut the clear glass so that I can minimize the number of
pieces needed...(seems like I always start with large pieces in the panel,
but as impossible cuts result in more and more breakage, the large piece
gets re-drawn into several smaller pieces and I wind-up with more seams in
the panel than I want - hopefully, the saw will let me make the clear glass
"vanish" from the panel, emphasizing the flowers, etc.)

Jay

P.S. - Does anyone else work like this.....cutting glass a piece at a time,
fitting it against what is already cut, without using a pattern? Kinda just
going with the flow and seeing where you wind up? I'm using clear sheets of
adhesive to hold the finished pieces of glass in place as I work, saving the
foiling for later....


"Gloria" wrote in message
om...
I've had a Taurus Ring Saw for about 4 years now, and my husband
bought a Diamond Lasar 5000 a couple of months ago. While the Taurus
Ring Saw will cut tile, it was far too slow for stone tiles, and posed
too great a risk to breakage of the blade. I haven't yet cut glass on
it, but will be trying this within the next week as I have some
otherwise impossible cuts to make, but may end up using the Taurus
instead. The diamond laser 5000 cuts thru the 1/4 inch thick tiles
(granite, slate, ceramic, travertine, it doesn't matter) like they
were soft butter. The cut is very small, and can do a 1/2 inch
diameter radius cut.

We love them both.

Costs:
- Taurus replacement blades - approx. $90
- Diamond Lasar 5000 - approx. $1000
so the Taurus Ring saw is much more reasonable.

Differences - Pros & Cons of each:
- Both are very noisy
- Both can get you somewhat wet, the Diamond Laser probably more so
- Size - both have a very large footprint, the Taurus is about half
the height
- Cutting ability:
- Taurus - can cut in any direction, so can make a "V" cut with
about a 1/8 inch radius (or slightly smaller) at the sharp end
- Diamond Laser - requires a 1/2 inch diameter radius cut for the
smallest, but can make multiple cuts to make a "V" or other shape.

I haven't had any problems with breakage or weak points/cracking,
except when trying to make a very narrow appendage.

I haven't needed to use a saw often, but they can be nice if you can
afford the expense. I also agree with the post concerning cutting
rippled glass, etc.

Good cutting,
GK