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Post by deb193redux on Oct 13, 2012 10:52:49 GMT -5
I don't think quilt batting would work. it breaths. you could put some quilt batting over a vacuum and feel it sucking air through. if you put paper over the same vacuum, it would seem to stop the air flow. the motor would start to whine.
this is how fine the pores of the paper are. this is why it take days or weeks to filter. the oil would flow right through the batting, or maybe take a short while, but most of the gunk flows through too. you only get a few chips and sand grains filtered out.
this gunk is 600g or finer.
paper is cheap and available. I don't understand why we are talking and talking about all kinds of alternatives to paper. am I missing something?
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Post by phil on Oct 13, 2012 11:11:27 GMT -5
If it helps, last Tuesday I drained our 14 inch saw and split the 5 gallons or so of gunk into 2 paper bag - plastic bucket filtering setups. This Tuesday when I went in to the shop, I had 4.5 gallons of oil all clean and ready to put back into the saw. The left over gunk was slightly moist, but fairly solid, so I disposed of it because I had to drain and filter another 14 inch saw that had even thicker sludge. That gunk is filtering right now, and next Tues when I go in again, I'll put that back in that saw also. I use a single bucket filter. I bend up some 1/4 inch hardware cloth to form a shelf about 1/3 of the way up the bucket. Then I set 2 large grocery paper bags on the shelf, pour the oil into the bags (leave some wiggle room at the top so you can move it around) and set out of the way to do their thing. Be careful which bags you use tho, some stores have really cheap thin paper bags which lose their bottom if you try and pick them up before the oil is all done. Usually after I take the weeks worth of filtered oil I leave the sludge to continue for another week, and I usually get another quart or two, depending on how much sludge I loaded. I use multiple buckets to keep the weight and slop down making them easier to move around. Works every time and saves a lot of $$$ over 2 saws. Out of 10 gallons sludge, I'll get around 8 or 9 gallons of reclaimed oil and that's about $126! You just gotta be patient and plan to have the saw down during that time, OR have a second load of oil you can swap out every other time.
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mossyrockhound
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Post by mossyrockhound on Oct 13, 2012 12:07:42 GMT -5
Cleaning a slab saw is the only bad aspect of being a rockhound I can think of. I don't filter my oil anymore. I just collect it in 5-gallon buckets and decant it when it gets clear. The saw oil will get dirty after your first cut anyway. You just don't want the sludge to build up too much in the bottom of your saw. I use a version of Catmandewe's slab saw sucker (http://forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/index.cgi?board=tips&action=display&thread=21533) to suck up the oil and then give it about 3-4 days to clear up before pouring it back into the saw. I add extra oil to make up the difference in what was lost in the sludge.
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sheltie
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Post by sheltie on Oct 13, 2012 12:28:20 GMT -5
From Deb - "paper is cheap and available. I don't understand why we are talking and talking about all kinds of alternatives to paper. am I missing something?"
What you are missing is that in my area all the stores use plastic bags. This morning I went to five different stores before finally finding one that had the "old" grocery bags.
I got two five gallon buckets and drilled a bunch of holes in the bottom of one (as Snuffy does) and put one bag inside the other, suspended the bucket with holes in it above the other and opened the drain. All the stuff came out and I proceeded to clean the inside of the saw. I just went back outside (after about an hour) to check on it and the drained oil is STILL 100% brown. The bags still are draining and look like it may take some time before they quit, but am I going to have to filter the oil again before putting it back or is "dirty" oil ok to use, minus the debris from the slabbing I've been doing?
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sheltie
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Post by sheltie on Oct 13, 2012 12:32:43 GMT -5
How long a period of time between draining and filtering the oil do y'all go? It was only three weeks for me but I wanted to be sure I understood what to do. I suspect three weeks using the saw using it 4-6 hours per day isn't nearly enough time to worry about it and I won't do it that quickly again, but is there some rule of thumb on when it needs to be done?
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Post by catmandewe on Oct 13, 2012 13:53:42 GMT -5
If I drop a slab in the oil and it disappears it is still ok, if it stays on top I shoulda cleaned it a little while ago. I usually change my oil when the sludge starts sticking to other things like the vise and such.
Brown oil is ok, it is gonna get dirty again anyways. You are just trying to remove the particles that are going to affect how your saw performs.
Have a great day...............Tony
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Post by parfive on Oct 13, 2012 14:22:09 GMT -5
Brown oil after it’s filtered through a paper bag?
Don’t sound right. Mine’s always clear as a bell.
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Post by deb193redux on Oct 13, 2012 14:49:24 GMT -5
if the oil is brown after filtering, I think the bags may have holes or bad seam in the bottom, or possibly in corners. but, something wrong with the bags.
I can get "paper or plastic" at the local stores. But for a while I paid a few bucks for a 6-pack of paper lawn & leaf bags from Ace hardware. I did not want to have to remember to ask for paper. I also like the 12x15" bottom surface area. I built an appropriate cage to use them. But, they do leak a little sludge at the corners. Must just be the way they are made. I can still pour off the clean oil and put the few ounces of tainted oil back in the bag.
But finding paper is just not a problem if you put your mind to it. You can use several. 2-quart or gallon bags instead of a full size grocery. (Like one of the pics in the thread linked earlier.) These bags are available by the dozen at many supermarkets or places like wal-mart.
Craft stores also have several sizes of paper bags, in packs by the dozen or 25-count.
You can also get rolls of brown wrapping paper in any shipping supply section and use it to line a more shallow pan - like a roasting pan. Likely the craft store also has even wider rolls - uptp 48" wide.
If all else fails, brown bags from lunch to grocery size are available on sites like Amazon.com in counts from a dozen to 50 (more if you want).
You might find another material that works well, but medium to heavy-weight brown paper is known to work well and available form many sources, including some grocery stores.
good luck with your oil filtering
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RockIt2Me
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Post by RockIt2Me on Oct 13, 2012 16:31:45 GMT -5
From Deb - "paper is cheap and available. I don't understand why we are talking and talking about all kinds of alternatives to paper. am I missing something?" What you are missing is that in my area all the stores use plastic bags. This morning I went to five different stores before finally finding one that had the "old" grocery bags. I got two five gallon buckets and drilled a bunch of holes in the bottom of one (as Snuffy does) and put one bag inside the other, suspended the bucket with holes in it above the other and opened the drain. All the stuff came out and I proceeded to clean the inside of the saw. I just went back outside (after about an hour) to check on it and the drained oil is STILL 100% brown. The bags still are draining and look like it may take some time before they quit, but am I going to have to filter the oil again before putting it back or is "dirty" oil ok to use, minus the debris from the slabbing I've been doing? Are using mineral oil? My oil will will be slightly amber, but clear of debris. I don't change oil until it turns to pudding and starts coating the blade...maybe that's why I recover less.
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herb
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Post by herb on Oct 15, 2012 11:43:11 GMT -5
From Deb - " I got two five gallon buckets and drilled a bunch of holes in the bottom of one (as Snuffy does) and put one bag inside the other, suspended the bucket with holes in it above the other and opened the drain. All the stuff came out and I proceeded to clean the inside of the saw. I just went back outside (after about an hour) to check on it and the drained oil is STILL 100% brown. The bags still are draining and look like it may take some time before they quit, but am I going to have to filter the oil again before putting it back or is "dirty" oil ok to use, minus the debris from the slabbing I've been doing? I used a single paper bag and the drained oil also came out brown (it filtered through the bag quite quickly). I just poured the brown oil back into the bag and then the oil that filtered out was clear. I think the pores of the paper bag just needed to get filled up a bit.
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sheltie
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Post by sheltie on Oct 15, 2012 13:43:13 GMT -5
From Deb - " I got two five gallon buckets and drilled a bunch of holes in the bottom of one (as Snuffy does) and put one bag inside the other, suspended the bucket with holes in it above the other and opened the drain. All the stuff came out and I proceeded to clean the inside of the saw. I just went back outside (after about an hour) to check on it and the drained oil is STILL 100% brown. The bags still are draining and look like it may take some time before they quit, but am I going to have to filter the oil again before putting it back or is "dirty" oil ok to use, minus the debris from the slabbing I've been doing? I used a single paper bag and the drained oil also came out brown (it filtered through the bag quite quickly). I just poured the brown oil back into the bag and then the oil that filtered out was clear. I think the pores of the paper bag just needed to get filled up a bit. I thought I would do the same after a week or so, refilter it I mean. I filled up the saw with new oil today but this time I'll be more judicious in my use as I'll probably only regain about 1 - 1 1/2 gallons of the old oil. I just threw away the gunk on the bottom and used a paper towel for the initial cleaning of the oil off the slabs. I won't be doing that this time! After my first slab with the new oil, as everyone has already said, the oil is brown!
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The Dad_Ohs
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Post by The Dad_Ohs on Oct 21, 2012 20:57:48 GMT -5
I was able to recover about 3/4 of a gallon from my 18 inch, out of the 3 gallons that it takes to fill, but I too, let my oil turn to pudding and now know better!!
Luckily, the TSC near me finally opened and I was able to buy 3 gallons of light white oil for $48.00 after the 10% off discount for grand opening. I am going to re-filter the oil from the saw because I saw a fair amount of sediment in the filtered stuff and probably got it from the bag corners.
On another note.... if you are looking for paper bags .. go to Walmart!!!
They have the brown paper bags for Ice Cream in the frozen food aisle and I usually got 2-3 bags and "double them up" to keep the ice cream cold, they work well too!!!!
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