Fragging with a wet tile saw (and diamond bandsaw).

[whatcaneyedo]

For the past two years I've been doing most of my LPS cutting with a diamond wheel on a rotary tool. Having to hold both the coral and the tool at the same time led to many close calls with me almost cutting my fingers. So like with everything else in this hobby I upgraded. Princess Auto has this wet tile saw for sale right now for $60 with two 7" diamond cutting wheels. I've tried it out on two of my corals now and I'm very happy with the experience.

*For anyone wanting to try this at home I highly recommend wearing gloves like Blue Nitrile (box pictured) and wearing a face shield because this can be pretty messy... I still need to get a shop or lab coat for myself as well.

So far I've cut my green and purple acan with it and my oulophyllia. Their skeleton is quite porous so the blade cuts through very fast and clean. Before when I used the rotary tool I would have to cut around the coral to create a break line and then wedge a chisel in the cut and hit it with a mallet... This was a lot messier and took considerably more time. With the wet tile saw I just run the coral through quickly and then plop it back in the tank. Its much less mess and stress for both me and the coral.

Next on the chopping block is my large galaxy colony, lobophyllia and probably my duncan again just as soon as I have room for them in my frag tank.

My cutting station.


Purple and green acan before being cut.


Two days after being cut.