Review of tile saw for engravers

[Michael Simpson Virgina]

I purchased Gemini Ring Saw for use on cutting out silhouettes for engravings. If anyone is interested I would be glad to go into details about the saw and how it relates to this operation. However it seems that if mention saw in the post it gets moved to another forum.

If anyone is interested please chime in. If not I wont mention it again.

[Dan Hintz]

Always an interest. I remember a thread from a year or two ago when we discussed the saw. I absolutely loved it and wanted one... and then I saw the price :( Just not enough work for something of that caliber yet.

[Mike Null]

Michael

I moved the thread to the General WW forum as it didn't seem pertinent to the engraving forum.

If you have an engraving application please describe it.

[Lee DeRaud]

I moved the thread to the General WW forum as it didn't seem pertinent to the engraving forum.It seems at least as pertinent to the engraving forum as the endless discussions of flame polishers.

But what do I know?

[James Stokes]

The saw is more pertanant to the engravers than any one else. With it you can cut your own ovals or hearts, Glass or Granite. After making a cut with it the material takes very little finish work to finish it out.

[Joseph B. Chritz]

Michael,
Please do give us more details.
I went to their web site and the saw looks very handy. It would be nice to cut marble.
Take a few minutes and watch some of the videos on the video support page, they're not boring.

[Dee Gallo]

I seriously considered getting a ring saw for cutting HD/Lowes 12" tiles into smaller sizes or shapes, but like Dan said, the price was a bit high for the amount of real use it would get here. I'd be very interested in hearing how well it works, and if you can cut irregular shapes without too much skill (:)). I've been getting my straight cuts done for free at Lowes, so that was better than buying for now, but it does limit me to straight cuts...

Thanks, dee

[Mike Null]

I stand corrected. Sorry.

[Dan Hintz]

Here's a review I did a while back of a Home Depot saw:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=104611

Ring saws were mentioned early on...

[Scott Shepherd]

That ring saw is COOL! Never seen one of those before. Really a neat and handy looking item.

[Mike Null]

After seeing the thread from last year I, too am impressed with the ring saw and definitely see applications for engravers.

Here's a link from that thread. http://www.geminisaw.com/

[nancy barry]

My main business is frabricating stained and fused glass items. I have owned the TaurusII.2 and now own a Titan saw.
The Taurus does a really great job on small and intricate pieces in 1/4' thick or thinner glass. I have not tried it on thicker glass nor on marble/tile.I am sure it would work on either material. I use my Titan to cut small tiles from fused glass slabs, do trim work, cut bottles apart... The "trick" with either machine is to let the blade do its job without pressing too hard. . It is slow and messy as the diamond blade must be kept wet.. For the Taurus, there are multiple blades and the video is good too see. Both machines use the same plastic grommets and this is where the wear comes into being. Gemini is a reputable company .

let me know if there are other questions.

[Dan Hintz]

let me know if there are other questions.
Know of any discounts? ;)

[Mike Christen]

So what is the price, I looked on website and no pricing information that I saw

[Dan Hintz]

Mike,

Prices seem to have become a bit more reasonable in the last year... modesl start at $300 and go up to $1k or so.

[Lee DeRaud]

So what is the price, I looked on website and no pricing information that I sawNot surprising, seems to be the trend these days.

What is surprising is that there's no dealer info. I suppose I could start calling tile suppliers, but that sounds like a scavenger hunt.

[Michael Simpson Virgina]

Let me start by saying I started resaerching saws about a year ago when I purchsed my laser. I was interested in doing tile murals. I wanted a way of cutting curves to maker large ovals. However I could justify the costs for a ring saw for such projects.

I recently began remodeling my basement. The floor will be tiled as well as the bathroom. Later I am doing my kitchen and two more bathrooms. This opened up a larger budged for a saw.

A quality wet saw starts around $500 then goes up if you want something more professional. The major problem with standard wet saws (Pro saws in cluded) is that they produce dust, water spray, and noise.

I started looking in detail at the Gemini Revolution XT. I could get the saw, stand and sliding table for about $1400. This saw was reported at having much less noise, no dust and little or no water spray.

I found a local dealer who had a unopened demo unit in stock and would sell it to me for $1250. It would still have full warranty and I could pick it up immediately.

OK now I have the saw. I received the saw, sliding table, stand, blade cover and a double sided blade. This turned out to be a great deal.


The saw was still in the box so it has to be assembled. The saw comes with written instructions. They are not that good and in black and white and are hard to follow. The included DVD is much better as it has complete assembly and setup instructions. The only problem is they individuals in the videos must have done the assembly and set up 1000's of times so its not as easy as they show. In reality you are only installing the blade, but since its a ring blade there are pulleys and belts that hold it in place. There is also a keel on the top that stabilizes the blade from the top.

It took me about an hour to get he main saw base up and running.

First cut.

I filled the tank with water. This pretty much requires a hose or a funnel. Since I am in my house I chose a funnel and small painters bucket.

With the tank filled I fired up the saw. The saw does produce noise but most of the noise is from the blade and pulleys not the motor. They use a direct drive induction motor so the motor produces hardly any noise. The blade, guide wheels and belt is where you get most of the noise. While nowhere near the noise level of normal wet saw I would still recommend ear protection if used for extended periods.

On my first cut I just used a small 4x4 piece of glazed ceramic tile and cut out a small square off one of the corners. The blade runs at only 1500 RPM and if you touch it will not cut you.

The cut produced no dust at all. You do however get a slight amount of spray directly out the front of the saw. I say slight as its hardly noticeable unless you are doing a lot of cutting. For that reason I recommend a apron when doing anything but single cuts as you will get a wet spot on your cloths.

The blade I was using does create a small amount of chipout. For general tile work this does not matter as the cut edges are normally not shown.

The chipout is not that much and you have to put the piece up in your face to see it. The saw is fairly aggressive so I can see why there is chipout. They sell a fine glass blade the is supposed to eliminate this. I will be getting one of these and will let you know.

The saw cuts curves very well. I have the double sided blade so it cuts the tile in both the forward and reverse directions which lets you do even tighter turns. The saw is intricate enough to do fine work. I use the saw to cutout the letters M.I.K.E and it was like using a small scroll saw.

For making large strait cuts I recommend the sliding table. This table creates a very large work surface. Its rubber coated and comes with a circle cutting jig and two magnetic stops. I took large 16" piece of ceramic floor tile and cut it diagonal from end to end. It cut like butter.

I have a 12 x 12 piece of granite tile. It does not cut as fast as ceramic tile but it still cuts it pretty easy.

After about a hour of use the saw started vibrating and making loud noises. I shut it down and found large pieces of black material inside the guide and pulley housing.

Upon close examination I found that the one of the motor mount screws was loose and worked its way up into the main drive pulley. This sheared the bottom portion of the pulley off. I tightended to motor mount cleaned up the blade the best I could and reassembled the housing and started cutting. I get more blade vibration and therefore more chipout so the main drive wheel needs to be replaced.

I called my dealer and he is going to get me a new drive wheel and drive belt from Gemini. In the meantime I have ordered an extra drive wheel from one of the distributes it only costs $12.

I don't think the saw is a durable a normal wet tile saw but every single part is user serviceable. IE pulleys, drive belts, guides are replicable. The blades are not just diamond coated. The diamond particles are inside the metal so as the metal wears down more diamond particles are exposed.

I wanted to do a black silhouette in grannit of a piece I am working on but until I get the new drive wheel I dont want to attempt it.

Before I close let me say. You do need eye protection. When the saw cuts it does these little micro chipouts on the top of the piece along the kurf. While these may not be too visible, they can hurt real bad if you get one in your eye.

Please ask any question you like and I will try to answer them.

[Dan Hintz]

I don't think the saw is a durable a normal wet tile saw but every single part is user serviceable. IE pulleys, drive belts, guides are replicable. The blades are not just diamond coated. The diamond particles are inside the metal so as the metal wears down more diamond particles are exposed.
I wonder about the longevity (and therefore safety) of the blades... if you get it too thin, does it break in one spot and then rip your hand a new one as it flips to the side, does it shatter altogether, etc.

[Michael Simpson Virgina]

The blades are not that thin. 1/16th thick. They are very durable. If you attempt to bend the blade too much while it is in use it will simply stop turning. I think there is much more danger of getting a chip of tile in your eye than getting attacked by a runaway blade.

I think I would ba accurate in saying that the Gemini Ring Saws are among the safest wet saws ever created. You can use your finger to guide the blade while doing a very delicate cut.