[Phoebe3]

Hi,
First post here.
I'm putting together a studio after 2 years of classes. I'm going to convert an old electric to a gas raku kiln by turning it horizontal and making a down draft with a flue at the back. Now it will require an odd-sized shelf. Can I cut an old broken shelf down to size with a wet tile saw? The blade is for cutting porcelain tile.

Thanks!,
Phoebe3

[AmeriSwede]

If the wet tile saw is equipped with a good diamond sawblade it should be able to cut it, however, the progress needs to be slow. Don't know what your sizes are (broken shelf and cutting table of the saw) but it sounds like a very safety risk operation. I had a diamond saw for years that I used to cut many different stone hardnesses and a lot of my 10" thick cast borosilicate glass. Some shelves are also very very hard, don't know what the mohs hardness is of the different compositions of shelves, but I believe carborundum is about a 9 on the scale of 10 (diamond).

Still, I probably wouldn't attempt it as diamond blades are expensive to replace!

[Rapid Dog]

You can also cut cordite shelves with a masonry blade available at your local hardware store.
Best to use with a radial arm saw if you have one.
Makes alot of dust, so wear a mask.

[ron]

I just cut one in half using a Harbor freight chop saw with no problem and it had the blade that came with it (for metal)

[JBaymore]

I'd skip trying to cut silicon carbide, even with a wet diamond saw. Even super duty firebrick are a good go with that. Silicon carbide is harder than those bricks. Wear out a very expensive blade pretty fast.

Clay type shelves should easily cut with a diamond saw.... but I am not sure about the actual quality of the blade in a "tile saw". My guess, unless it is an expensive unit, is that it is a cheap blade. Likely will cut for a while..... but might not cut too many square inches of shelf before losing it's cutting power.

I ususlly use a large water cooled chop saw with a 12" to 16" diamond blade or bigger for big kiln building projects involving cutting a lot of hard bricks accurately.

In a pinch, a body grinder with a diamond blade will work on a brick. And add in judicious use of a bucket of watrer. But it is dangerous at many levels. I wouldn't try it on a long cut on a shelf.

Why not just order what you need and save yourself the expense and hassle?

best,

................john