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Oil
Oct 20, 2011 21:11:24 GMT -5
Post by talkingstones on Oct 20, 2011 21:11:24 GMT -5
I'm new to all of this, especially saws. One of the things that has been suggested to me is reclaiming the oil that I use in my saw through filtering it. Does anyone else out there do this and if so, what method do you use? Also, how often do you change the oil? Currently, I drain and clean the saw after every use. Is it okay to leave the oil in? I'm using a small, Lortone combo unit.
Cathy
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Oil
Oct 20, 2011 21:35:59 GMT -5
Post by jakesrocks on Oct 20, 2011 21:35:59 GMT -5
2- 5 gallon buckets. One suspended above the other. Top bucket should have several 1/2" holes in the bottom. Line the top bucket with 2 large paper grocery bags, 1 inside the other. Pour your old oil, mud and all into the bags. The oil will drain through the paper, leaving a fairly hard lump of mud in the bags and clean oil in the bottom bucket. It may take a couple weeks or more for all of the oil to drain out of the mud.
You don't have to drain oil out of your saw after each use, unless you're using a water/ oil mix. Straight oil will protect your blade from rusting. But a water / oil mix will rust your blade if it sits long enough.
The oil in my 16" saw gets changed and filtered once a year. My 10" gets changed more often.
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Oil
Oct 22, 2011 16:54:05 GMT -5
Post by talkingstones on Oct 22, 2011 16:54:05 GMT -5
Thanks! I'm leaving my 2.5 pints in for tonight as I want to use it more tomorrow.
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Oil
Oct 22, 2011 17:06:29 GMT -5
Post by deb193redux on Oct 22, 2011 17:06:29 GMT -5
sounds like a 6" or 8" trim saw. you could use water and drain after use, or use a water and RV antifreeze mix and leave it in. Oil will prolong blade life, but 2.5 pints will get dirty somewhat quickly.
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unclesoska
freely admits to licking rocks
All those jade boulders tossed in search of gold!
Member since February 2011
Posts: 934
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Oil
Oct 22, 2011 21:14:38 GMT -5
Post by unclesoska on Oct 22, 2011 21:14:38 GMT -5
Ditto what Jake said, works great! Don't be afraid to stir it now and then to get every last bit of oil back. $28.49/gal for livestock grade mineral oil at the local feed store, Ouch!
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Oil
Oct 22, 2011 22:04:56 GMT -5
Post by deb193redux on Oct 22, 2011 22:04:56 GMT -5
yes. if you stick with oil, filtering does work well.
you may want to get a gallon sized bucket instead of 5gal because of only having 2.5 pints to filter.
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Oil
Oct 23, 2011 10:28:26 GMT -5
Post by talkingstones on Oct 23, 2011 10:28:26 GMT -5
Yes, it is a 6". I'm finding that the oil I filtered from my last session gets dirty more quickly...I'm using Walmarts finest generic laxative grade at $1.49 a pint bottle. Water really didn't work as well in this unit, but I think that the rocks I was trying to cut were too big for it too. I'm using the unit to do prep work for the nights I go over the mountains to the club I belong to so that I can finish the pieces down there on the big machines.
The other question I have about the oil is concerning temperature. We don't heat the room I'm working in unless I'm up there and it gets pretty cold in the winter. (Catskill Mountains, NY) Will that have ill effect on the oil if I leave it in the saw?
I really appreciate your advice on all of this! I know it probably seems pretty silly, but I really am new to all of this.
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Oil
Oct 23, 2011 10:38:06 GMT -5
Post by jakesrocks on Oct 23, 2011 10:38:06 GMT -5
Temperature shouldn't really hurt mineral oil. It will thicken some when it's really cold, but will thin back out when it warms up. My 16" saw sits in an unheated garage thru the winter months with mineral oil in it. As soon as the weather warms enough to haul it outside to start cutting, I just let it sit in the sun with the hood down. Within an hour the oil is thin enough to start cutting.
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Oil
Oct 23, 2011 11:57:25 GMT -5
Post by deb193redux on Oct 23, 2011 11:57:25 GMT -5
the laxative oil may be closer to viscosity 100 or higher. A good light white mineral oil for saws is viscosity 70 or a little lower. (Too much lower viscosity and the flash point gets too low.) The oil could be getting dirty and turning into pudding a bit fast because it is too thick when new.
Warming and cooling will not change/harm oil unless it burns. If you do drain the oil, you can keep it in a warm room and just throw it back in when needed. Draining a couple pints is not such a chore.
You should ask around about using a mix of water and pink RV anti-freeze. The club in Salem OR used this mix in their 6" and 8" saws for years. In small saws water provides enough cooling, and is so thin that particulates just fall out quickly.
I think the next thing you should look at is the blade. Years ago I had a 6" notched rim .032" thick blade on my Rock Rascal and also a .025"thick Gorilla blade. Both seemed to cut too slow compared to my tile saw (which had much faster RPM) and the blades bent too easily if I tried to cut anything other than 1/4" slabs. I would consider a good blade like 303C with a .032" thick steel core. It will take the abuse and cut clean. For me, getting the job done in a reasonable time with my patience intact was as more important than getting a few more weeks out of the blade. Your time is worth something!
Good luck.
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Oil
Oct 23, 2011 20:33:29 GMT -5
Post by talkingstones on Oct 23, 2011 20:33:29 GMT -5
Thanks muchly, Deb! I was wondering about the viscosity. It does work, but not as well as I would like. I'll also check into the blades. While this one isn't too slow for me, because at this stage I'm trying to go very slowly, I am seeing limitations to this one. Anyway, thanks again!
Cathy
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Oil
Oct 24, 2011 12:39:15 GMT -5
Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Oct 24, 2011 12:39:15 GMT -5
Mel will tell you that he changes the oil when it looks like chocolate pudding. I wait almost that long. I also filter the oil with the paper sacks. Lots of people use horse laxative from the local farm store (like Tractor Supply), so I can't see human laxative being any different.
In my 6" saw I've been using water and lubri-cool, but drain it after every use (about 1.5 cups). When I run out of lubri-cool, I'll give the anti-freeze a try.
Daniel (deb) has good advice on the blades. My WorkForce blade really stood up to abuse, but I get smoother cuts with a 303C.
Chuck
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Oil
Oct 24, 2011 18:20:50 GMT -5
Post by talkingstones on Oct 24, 2011 18:20:50 GMT -5
Hi Chuck,
Chocolate pudding can be fun! Anyway, I used the saw this weekend but am changing the oil tonight because I was working on a tiger's eye derivative from Africa...Ma somthing other, and my rock club buddies said that it had asbestose in it which brings me to my next question...when working with toxic rocks is it prudent to change the oil before proceeding into new projects? I'm not going to grind these as the slab was really uneven on the bottom and I'm not thrilled with the idea of asbestose...or toes, but will throw them into the tumbler eventually, when I get a small one because the dual 6 lb barrel one that I got is beginning to seem a bit excessive now that I've started cutting and grinding. I may be able to fill one barrel by the time I'm 80 at the rate I'm going.
I know this sounds Knit picky, but I'd rather make it to 80 without asbestoesis than with it and have no clue about this stuff. Thoughts are greatly appreciated!
PS
Horse laxative sounds like a really good idea! Think I might look into that one! I wonder what the cost per pint is?
Cathy
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Oil
Oct 24, 2011 21:25:42 GMT -5
Post by deb193redux on Oct 24, 2011 21:25:42 GMT -5
Horse stuff is by the gallon. about $20 at farm tractor supply.
with water or oil, asbestos mineral is not a problem. Same for silica dust or copper oxides. Keep it wet.
in tigereye, the asbestos has been replaced by silica long ago anyway.
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Oil
Oct 24, 2011 22:23:51 GMT -5
Post by catmandewe on Oct 24, 2011 22:23:51 GMT -5
The name you were looking for is Mawsitsit. Asbestosis is when you inhale the asbestos particles into your lungs. As long as you are working your material with water or oil the asbestos particles will be in the oil or water and not into the air, which is what you are trying to achieve. You should still be able to work your material as long as you don't work it dry.
If you can find an oil supply warehouse you can get tech grade mineral oil for less than $10 per gallon or food grade mineral oil for $10-20 per gallon. If you add some baby oil to your oil it will smell good also, baby oil is mineral oil with perfume in it.
Good luck and welcome......................Tony
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Post by rocklicker on Oct 25, 2011 0:34:29 GMT -5
If you are looking for viscosity I found the best mixture is 1/3 laxative mineral oil and 2/3 baby oil. Baby oil has a very low viscosity, close to water. It all comes from Walmart/target. Just make sure to get the type without aloe. One other thing, the baby smell dissipates after a week or two. These days I switched to horse laxative which is about the same as the 1/3 regular,2/3 baby.
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RockIt2Me
has rocks in the head
Sometimes I have to tell myself, "It's not worth the jail time."
Member since December 2009
Posts: 668
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Oil
Oct 25, 2011 7:09:04 GMT -5
Post by RockIt2Me on Oct 25, 2011 7:09:04 GMT -5
I cringe when I read about using antifreeze because of the potential hazards. Antifreeze has a sweet taste that contributes to accidental poisoning, especially in pets and wildlife. It is very toxic to animals and humans. Just handle with care and dispose of properly. BTW, there is environmentally safe antifreeze available....stepping off soapbox. I use mineral oil in my big saws from Tractor Supply at $14 gal and plain water in my workforce. Nancie
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Oil
Oct 25, 2011 8:58:54 GMT -5
Post by deb193redux on Oct 25, 2011 8:58:54 GMT -5
Great point. DO NOT USE GREEN ANTIFREEZE.
I was always told that the pink RV antifreeze does not have the toxicity problems of the green automobile antifreeze. Over the years whenever the question of toxic comes up, that point eventually gets made.
I never confirmed this with a chemist, but all the discussions on RV and boat forums talk about how the pink stuff is non-toxic, and says so on the jug, and can even be used to winterize fresh water tanks.
I should have made the "non-toxic" aspect of my advice clearer. You get to hear/knowing a thing for so long you can become unmindful of what someone else might no know.
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Oil
Oct 25, 2011 9:55:40 GMT -5
Post by deb193redux on Oct 25, 2011 9:55:40 GMT -5
To followup on the asbestos issue: Hawk's eye is a partially silicified fibrous blue-gray crocidolite asbestos, so its fibrous structure is due to embedded fibers of crocidolite in quartz. It is usually very dark and almost opaque.
In tiger's eye the crocidolite fibers appear to have been fully replaced by quartz and the hydrous iron oxide goethite, FeOOH, the latter being responsible for the yellow-brown color. www.quartzpage.de/eyes.html So blue tigereye might be more risky than gold (which may no longer have any crocidolite), but even for blue, it is not clear that the crocidolite mineral form is the very dangerous type. MESOTHELIOMA AND FIBER TYPE Studies of the mineral fiber content of lung in U.S. patients diagnosed with mesothelioma have shown that amosite is the most common fiber type, accounting for nearly 60% of all fibers 5 or greater in length among more than 1500 fibers analyzed from 94 cases. Ten percent of the fibers analyzed were tremolite, and 3% were chrysotile. (Chrysotile tends to break down in the lungs over time so that there is a relative enrichment of the more stable tremolite contaminant). Crocidolite accounted for only 3% of fibers.
www.mesothelioma.com/treatment/research/etiological-studies/mineralogic-evaluation-of-lung-tissue-of-persons-with-malignant-mesothelioma.htm Generally lots of different rocks can have minerals it would be harmful to breath in powder form. Even silica dust causes silicosis after enough exposure. It may not be cancer, but it can still kill you. Working wet/damp is reasonably good protection. Also, don't let the water in the grinder dry up. You want to wash out and throw out sludge - not dust.
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mworb
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2011
Posts: 11
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Oil
Oct 25, 2011 16:50:03 GMT -5
Post by mworb on Oct 25, 2011 16:50:03 GMT -5
RV antifreeze is propylene glycol, is pink/red and is food safe... it is used in some foods as a thickener and emulsifier. It is designed to keep the RV plumbing from freezing, including the water tanks and toilet and faucet valves, and thus must be drinkable since you can never get every drop out when you rinse and refill your tanks with water. It runs $5 -$8 / gallon. Automotive coolant /antifreeze is ethylene glycol and it is extremely toxic if ingested. Pets and wild animals die when they consume it when it leaks onto the ground from your car radiator. Both forms taste sweet, thus the danger. But only the propylene glycol is safe to eat. Big question is, how does it lubricate?
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Oil
Oct 25, 2011 19:51:49 GMT -5
Post by deb193redux on Oct 25, 2011 19:51:49 GMT -5
I'm not sure it lubricates any more than water. Not as well as oil, so do not use on larger saws. But it does keep the blade from rusting, and may dissapitate heat better than water.
I want to say the guys were mixing 30% with 70% water - but I really don't know for sure.
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