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Post by rockjunquie on Apr 5, 2015 16:43:30 GMT -5
I just can't keep putting it off. I want a big saw, too, but I have material waiting on a finer blade, not a bigger blade.
After getting a lot of info here, I decided on the mk 145 4". John from JSGems likes his. I figure he could have his pick and has that one so it has to be pretty good. I'm gonna use the 303c .020 blade, but I need to use water soooooo....
What do I use as a water conditioner/coolant/lubricator? Do I need one product or several?
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Post by orrum on Apr 5, 2015 16:50:24 GMT -5
I use pink RV antifreeze with borax to keep the blade from rusting. Also John Jsgems water wetter, Smokey cut.
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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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Post by unclesoska on Apr 5, 2015 17:32:05 GMT -5
The MK or BD 303 blades are NOT for water use, as per the manufacturer. This was proven to me with a 6" 303 and I only used water and the blade life was really a disappointment. I've used the 303's in 9" and 12" and have been totally happy with their performance in mineral oil. Maybe someone else can confirm or deny this info. I'd just hate to see you disappointed with your new saw, due to a quirky manufacturing spec.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Apr 5, 2015 17:41:55 GMT -5
I also use water and pink antifreeze and only use MK303 blades in my trim saw. I completely agree that it reduces blade life but even if it cut blade life in half I still would not use mineral oil for my trim saw. Its the price you pay for convenience.
Chuck
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Post by rockjunquie on Apr 5, 2015 18:28:10 GMT -5
I have seen the blades listed as being for oil, but they can be used for water with the conditioner. I don't mind sacrificing a little - as Chuck says. I don't want to use oil. orrum and Drummond Island Rocks what is your recipe? I saw that stuff at JSGems, but 50 plus the shipping to the east coast? I think I'll use antifreeze.
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Post by deb193redux on Apr 5, 2015 18:31:43 GMT -5
I also use water and pink antifreeze and only use MK303 blades in my trim saw. I completely agree that it reduces blade life but even if it cut blade life in half I still would not use mineral oil for my trim saw. Its the price you pay for convenience. Chuck ditto ... and you need hearing protection with the 145 30 to 50% rv pink is fine
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Post by orrum on Apr 5, 2015 19:03:50 GMT -5
Like Chuck half water and half pink RV. Put two tablespoons Borax in a gallon. James stuff makes more mix than you will ever use Tela and it's well worth it.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,711
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Post by Fossilman on Apr 5, 2015 20:30:52 GMT -5
I can't stand the smell of antifreeze! So will be running mineral oil,when I get a trim saw......
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Post by Rockoonz on Apr 5, 2015 22:14:51 GMT -5
Antifreeze is pretty toxic, just sayin... Even the stuff for winterising potable water tanks. If it werent toxic you wouldn't be instructed to fill and drain the tanks multiple times before using. A friend in the rock clubs' doctor is sure use of antifreeze in rock saws gave her cancer.
I hear the Diamond Pacific additive is pretty decent, I've been using the lube cool I can get locally but I want to try it and compare. I volunteered Yesterday at the Rice Museum Thunderegg eggstravaganza cutting smaller eggs in half for visitors, In about 3 hours of cutting with a very loud MK tile saw the blade was pretty much gone.
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barclay
has rocks in the head
Lowly Padawan of rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 510
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Post by barclay on Apr 5, 2015 23:12:55 GMT -5
I am a safety kind of guy and a lot of anti-freeze contains ethylene glycol and other nasty chemicals you don't want to be breathing. Some of the old timers in my rock club think safety just means not licking the rocks. I run horse grade mineral oil from my local feed store in my slab saw. I hear Walmart sometimes has large containers also. It is clear and when it gets cloudy you can run it through newspaper and a colander in a 5-gal bucket and recycle it yourself. Unless you are cutting porous stuff throwing the slabs in a 5-gal container of kitty litter will leach the oil out. For porous stuff I hear Dawn dish washing soap works wonders to get the oil out.
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Post by deb193redux on Apr 5, 2015 23:45:37 GMT -5
I am a safety kind of guy and a lot of anti-freeze contains ethylene glycol and other nasty chemicals you don't want to be breathing. Some of the old timers in my rock club think safety just means not licking the rocks. I run horse grade mineral oil from my local feed store in my slab saw. I hear Walmart sometimes has large containers also. It is clear and when it gets cloudy you can run it through newspaper and a colander in a 5-gal bucket and recycle it yourself. Unless you are cutting porous stuff throwing the slabs in a 5-gal container of kitty litter will leach the oil out. For porous stuff I hear Dawn dish washing soap works wonders to get the oil out. rv pink is safe for potable water. that is the reason we are saying "rv" - no toxic concern
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Post by MrP on Apr 6, 2015 4:17:31 GMT -5
Lube Cool 4800. Good blade life on a 10" slab saw. Works for me..............................MrP
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spiritstone
Cave Dweller
Member since August 2014
Posts: 2,061
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Post by spiritstone on Apr 6, 2015 6:20:09 GMT -5
What about Propylene glycol? Propylene glycol does not cause sensitization and it shows no evidence of being a carcinogen or of being genotoxic.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Apr 6, 2015 6:48:42 GMT -5
MSDS Chuck
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Post by Peruano on Apr 6, 2015 7:29:47 GMT -5
Rockjunque, 1. Don't use oil if you don't want to. 2. If you use water (or water with additive) drain and semi-dry the tank/blade daily to prevent rust. 3. To my knowledge no additive to water will totally prevent rust. They are lubricants and help disperse heat better (actually they may be surfactants) and thus increase blade life. 4. Smokey's EZ Cut is good. I think Lube Cool is OK but some are worthless so listen to more than one person before you buy a lot and commit forever. BTW I use oil in my trim saw but only because I'm lazy and don't want to drain daily. I do have Smokey for my 3rd saw for those days when I fire it up. Enjoy the saw. I can smell RV antifreeze and anything I smell I avoid breathing regularly. Go figure. Tom
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,564
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Post by jamesp on Apr 6, 2015 7:35:16 GMT -5
That is about as benign a MSDS as can be found.
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barclay
has rocks in the head
Lowly Padawan of rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 510
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Post by barclay on Apr 6, 2015 19:43:12 GMT -5
MSDS Chuck I hate to put on my "safety guy" hat again, but I have to point out the obvious. The MSDS says there are no effects "under anticipated conditions of normal use". It is perfectly fine if you use it inside of your RV's cooling system. No where does it say it is ok to use this as a saw lubricant where you are going to mix it with rock dust of unknown chemistry, heat it up and turn it into a fine mist which will be breathed when you open the saw cover. I would stick to something made for use as a saw lubricant.
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Post by johnjsgems on Apr 6, 2015 20:16:26 GMT -5
I use plain water in my MK145 with no issues (unless I forget to dump the water after use). The Smokey's EZ Cut only sounds expensive. A quart makes either 16 gallons or 32 depending on hard or soft rocks so it is much less expensive than any of the water soluble 10:1 mix stuff. I've never bought RV antifreeze so can't compare price. The MK145 is made to operate with plain water. Any dilute saw coolant that contains no petroleum would help blade life I suppose.
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spiritstone
Cave Dweller
Member since August 2014
Posts: 2,061
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Post by spiritstone on Apr 6, 2015 20:16:30 GMT -5
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Post by rockjunquie on Apr 6, 2015 20:48:13 GMT -5
John is the man. He has the saw and the blade, he runs it with water, so will I. I will keep the blade dry between uses and see how long it lasts. I use my skilsaw with only water and it is fine. If I run into trouble, I'll go to plan tBd.
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