Yup. I FINALLY got around to uncovering my tile saw that had been sitting idle for way too long. The mood was right for taking beautiful large-ish tiles and cutting them into tiny pieces and diamond shapes. The planter box I built was finally prepped and ready to mosaic. The weather was perfect for not only standing in front of a wet saw, but also for slapping tile on the surface. It was a grand plan.
The first day, I was able to cut tile for a solid three hours. Things were going great guns UNTIL the pump broke down and simply would not work. OK - a little research and turns out you can use a pond pump (who knew?) just as well. Quick trip to Harbor Freight and home with a pond pump. Hooray -- it worked. And I learned you can put the pump in a bucket of water and not in the tray which gets dirty really fast and can clog the pump. Terrific.
Things went smoothly for roughly 1/2 hour and then -- oh no. Did the fuse blow? No problem. Headed to the fuse box and fiddled with that for 20 minutes and still the saw would not turn on. Multiple attempts to revive it were to no avail. Looks like the motor just blew out.
To the computer to see if there are tile saw repair persons/parts nearby. No. Quick search for a potential new saw. Several sites recommended DeWalt. Fine. Where could I get one in a hurry and look at it to make sure it was what I really wanted or if I should try to find parts for my old one. Found 20 authorized dealers. Of those listed, over half were out of business and the others could order it for me but there were none set up to look at and measure. Sigh. Then inspiration. I called a tile place in a nearby town on the off chance they would have one. And they did!! Okay- things were moving now.
When I got to the store, the most delightful and patient man showed me the saw, described the features. let me make measurements, and was interested in what I was using it for. He then asked if I wanted to see the fabrication/design portion of the place (where the public does not go) so I could see some of their equipment in action. I was like a kid in a candy store! There is a thing called a wet jet that cuts shapes you design on the computer, and then the jet does the rest. Those huge magnificent mosaics with specialty cut designs are made by that enormous machine. They also had an assembly line of stone being cut in perfect squares and packed to sell. I confess in that moment, I fell in love with that lovely man for taking the time to show me the inner workings.
On the way home, armed with measurements and information, I decided to try and salvage some of the day by starting the planter box with the pieces I had cut. Since it gets dark so early and the beautiful weather we were having started to turn chilly, I didn't get very far, but this is the beginning. Of course, until I get a new saw or fix the old one, get it all set up, and wait for the weather to improve, who knows when I'll get to it again. So the project that was going to take a week or two is now projected for a month from now. Again -- sigh.
So it's started:
No comments:
Post a Comment