Taurus 3 Gemini Ring Saw - Use & Maintenance

Taurus 3 Gemini Ring Saw - Use & Maintenance
By Irene
 
I wish they would have named this great tool a Ring Grinder….
With the name of Saw most push too hard thinking they are sawing the glass.
By pushing too hard the cut is not usually smooth as we desire and the machine can actually become damaged.
What is happening during the use is that the ring of metal with the bumps/grit on it is grinding away the glass that it is in contact with.  We need to go slow enough to allow for the ring of bumpy to do its’ work.
 
This noisy machine also instills stress into us as we use it and the stress can be seen in the results on the glass.
I recommend relaxing and thinking of this as a real noisy glass grinder.
 
Amazing but true..
One thing that is amazing is that when the grinding ring is moving we can touch our finger to it and it will not cut our skin because it is a ring of grinding material and not an actual saw blade.  When I show my fellow glassy’s this they are amazed and then very relieved to have this in their knowledge.
What if….
What if the ring is moving and our fingernail comes in contact with it?  It will grind away our fingernail. 
Sometimes when I break a nail while doing art I will smooth it out using my ring saw rather than go find my finger nail file.
 
Useful and good things to use:
Face shield – This protects our face from glass and allows us to look closer at the glass as we all like to do.
Nick’s Grinders Mate – It holds the glass so well.  I began using this great tool when I got tire of looking for small pieces that shot across the room while trying to get my shape just right.  It also keeps tiny pieces from falling through the surface.  I don’t use it for large pieces.
 
Cold Water….
Fill the hopper area up to the line that is on the front of the machine with Cold Water.  If you toss in a few ice cubes that is a good thing.
If the water that is being slung near the glass while cutting then the water level may have become too low.
 
Marking the glass
I use a Super Permanent Black Sharpie for light colored glass and a Gray Paint Sharpie on dark colored glass.  If you cannot see the marking then try a more color appropriate marker that will show up.  Sometimes on dark glass a red sharpie marking will show up well.
If I want to Ring saw the glass I mark the glass today then perform the cutting the next day.  This allow for the marking to dry well.  I then use a soft bristle paint brush and apply Mark Stay over the line in a very thin coat.
Guide the glass slowly to allow for the ring to grind away the line that you are intending to follow.
 
Most of the time we do not need to ring saw all of the lines.
Prior to taking the glass to the saw I will make scores of easy cuts on the glass with my cutter – placing a small dot next to where I scored so I remember where I scored.
I then use the ring saw on the intricate cuts and then break the others with my running plier or breaker/grozer.
 
I found that if I score after the intricate cut that the new score pressure, most of the time, makes the glass break while scoring and not in the place that I desire.  Xo
 
When done with the machine I clean it out by pouring out most of the water then spooning out the glass and putting it into the garbage. 
We do not want glass in our drains of our plumbing.  Xo
 
The Maintenance…
The face shield can become cloudy over time and can be replaced.