SFA: What's the Answer?
Porcelain Procedure! Help!
MesaTandS
We have been ramping up production on Dekton, Lapitec, Laminam and other ultra-compact porcelains and sintered stones. We have been having one hell of a time figuring out a procedure when cutting these "new age" materials without issues. We are hoping to find someone out there that is having success with cutting porcelain.
We have been using a Fusion sawjet with a fixed rpm (1750rpm if i remember correctly) and we have been getting more and more jobs with these materials and knife-mitered or built-up edges. We have the rubber-slat tabletop on our Fusion and have been using HardieBacker® board to cut the porcelain on. We have an Italdiamant porcelain blade that we have been running at the recommended: 20"/min entry, 40"/min traverse, 20"/min exit speeds and have an issue with blowouts or chips at intersections with other cuts and at the exit end of a cut when the blade leaves the stone.
It has been a huge headache for me (programmer/saw operator) and our management in light of all the work orders coming up with PORCELAIN on them. Any help in fine tuning our system to alleviate some of the headache and stress in this new material.
Arthur Forrester
Mesa Tile and Stone
Boise, Idaho
208-378-1032
T_Kiwi
I am a technician in Australia and have been doing a great job helping people with Dekton both on the saw and CNC sink machines, I have found that each machine has different parameters and, just like humans, they all have different personalities. Almost no two machines will be the same parameters for cutting because of variables involved, rigid table vs sloppy table ... good bearings vs sloppy bearings .. rack and pinions ... amperage of the motors, etc., etc., which is why it is important to have someone who is very experienced come to your factory and set up the system for you.
However, in saying that, a ballpark piece of advice is running the blade between 1800-2150rpm, 450-480mm diameter. Generally, with my experience a marble blade will suffice, frequently run through sandstone.
Brand of blade used is important, and with so many brands available it is hard to determine the right one.
Anthony Fenton
Fentech Stone Machinery
Stone machine technician
Ghines (Australia)
https://www.facebook.com/fentons.technician
GrumpaDirt
So far we have had no success with ANY blade offered by anyone. We have tried them all! The only way to fabricate Dekton as far as we have figured out is to make your 3/4" relief cuts with your blade, and waterjet the rest and hand-polish. Don’t bother with CNC tools for profiling; they will be useless after 1 job.
T_Kiwi
I can show you great finishes with profile tools on Dekton, and the tools are great, and the blades for cutting are great. For the risk of sounding like a sales guy, I know exactly what works with cutting Sekton on a saw and on a CNC, i even have videos, short videos,
jody.nick
Hi there. I run a Breton saw cutting granite, quartz and porcelain/ceramic slabs. I find most porcelain/ceramics alright to cut once you have all the variables sorted, but without getting into trouble I find Lapitec the most problematic to cut because of corners blowing out. Does anyone else have this problem? Lapitec academy are not that helpful.
EYE4iT
Do you put a relief cut first on the far side of your cut? That seems to do the trick most times for any porcelain work I've run into.
jody.nick
Yea mate,Ii do that but still having problems with corners chipping out on Lapitec Blanco Assoluto four times to cut one piece. It has to be the worst of the Lapitec range to cut. Pity, because the slabs are clean, no imperfections.
joewright
We have not cut Dekton yet but we do cut Neolith. When I cut engineered stone, Neolith or any other slab of man-made material that is under "tension," I drill inside corners and put a relief cut at the end of slab before I cut. While the saw is cutting, I insert plastic stone wedges into the cut tightly by hand about every 20" or so. I use the GranQuartz marble blade or Alpha Silencer 3 for porcelain and crystallized glass.
I hope this helps and applies to your question. We are an old-school shop with the Park Wizard Deluxe, and Park Jaguar 2 bridge saw. All work is hand-fab and we do not have waterjet. If I have issues I usually slow down the cut so I am not stressing the stone or blade more than I have to.
Joe
Stone Guys
SFA Member
You have to relieve the tension in the slabs with any porcelain, Dekton especially.
Aaron
National Technical Manager
Email: stains@stonebenchtopcleaner.com.au
Web: www.stonebenchtopcleaner.com.au & www.thestoneguy.com.au
Facebook: Stone Benchtop Cleaner
Youtube: Diamond Surface Armour
Tim the Artisan
SFA Member
FYI - if you cut any porcelain on a rubber bed the flex in the bed will make the edges chip. Put down a hard surface like cement fibrous sheet or a piece of marine plywood and it will stop the bounce, which causes the chipping including chipping on the mitre edges.
We (Artisan Stone Surfaces) use ¼” HardiBacker with minimal issues. I have a Lapitec job this week and will update any new progress. (Editor: See next item.)
And, talk to Alex Bores/Helix. That new Hellion 3 blade rules!
Timothy Connolly
Artisan Stone Surfaces
Prescott, Ariz.
"the relentless pursuit of perfection "
Tim the Artisan
SFA Member
If you look at the pics, you will see that we are getting beautiful cuts. The pull off is normal and minimal.
Cutting on 1/4" HardiBacker using the Hellion 3 reinforced, silent core (thanks, Alex) 16" blade and cutting at 3-4 fpm slowing on entry and exit. Tons of water directed at the front of blade and sides. I actually had to reconfigure our water feed to the blade because the original feed did not hit the front of the blade. This is critical!
Good luck!
Shiney Alex
SFA Member
Just to add, it has to be new board, it can't be used or it will chip.
Alex L
Workshop Manager for a small NZ based Benchtop company.
Jfischbeck
How do you adhere it to the deck of the table so it doesn't slip or slide?
Jason Fischbeck
G3 Glass Granite Group
Mesa, Ariz.