20 inch from Kingman, AZ

Great score! I have a 20" with a sump an I cut the messy stuff all the time. My drain to the sump is threaded and I have a 3/4" pipe in it to keep oil in the saw. It with a short pipe but I raised the oil level with a taller pipe. With the oil having to flow over the pipe to get to the sump much of the rock dust settles in the saw tub and never gets into the sump. The saw is easer to clean then the sump.............................MrP

good deal on that ! i would use a hydrolic oil like a 100vic then cut that in half to 3/4 with diesel i use it year round cleans rite up after you put your slabs in kitty liter for a day

My HP24 came with a submersible pump in a blue cut off barrel under the saw. The 2" drain pipe had a canvas bag attached to catch bigger chunks. It would be good to have the pump raised in sump so sludge would settle out below but mine never was and worked fine. Cooler pump should be in some kind of strainer to keep debris out of pump and pump needs to be securely mounted. Cooler pumps are only submersible once. The best sumps are multi chambered so oil runs over a divider trapping sludge in reservoir before oil runs over into pump reservoir. Some commercial pump sumps have three chambers. The measure sump with bucket would be a good idea if you want to use the sump splash you are used to. If it is over 10 gallons you could put some bricks or something in the sump. You would want enough volume to allow oil to stay cool.

Way to go John. Careful with your back lifting the huge rocks into it. I think I would have to use an engine hoist.
Jim

I use deep well pump oil in my 16" and I have a 12v bilge pump it's a little to much pump but, the watter cooler pumps suck up too much sludge. deep well pump oil usually goes here for about $35.00/5-gallon jug! a lot cheaper than comercial. and look at the msds, material safety data sheet, it will tell you everything you want to know. I missed a 24" about a year ago because I didn't have $500.00 cash on the spot, it was really rusty but could be cleaned easily. my bad. by the way deep pump oil/mineral oil whatever name they put on the can make sure it is not highly flamable, and keep a fire extinguisher close just in case. never use kerosene that is for the old days! live longer cut more rocks. congrats, great score. I am going to build another that is 24" the rocks keep getting bigger!

YUP!!

Regardless of the type of oil you use, don't open the saw as soon as sthe cut ends. Walk away and wait 30 minutes or so to let the mist separate back out. The diesel fires I have heard about happened when the lid was lifted with the saw full of mist. I use used ATF in my 18, ist stays real clean, I have some mineral oil to use if tshe ATF ever needs changing. Found some light mineral oil used for horse laxative. I use diesel in my 30 inch saw with no problems so far.

The cooler pump will handle mineral oil just fine if you decide to abandon the witch's brew. If I die from something I ingest, its going to be red meat, or liquid beverages, and not somebody's idea of a cheap saw lubricant. Be kind to yourself and your family. And oh yeah, enjoy the saw. It sounds like a score. tom

looks like an old highland park from the 60's-70's? I still have a few.
The problem with these older designs, and even the latest models sold by DP and others is they break down fast if used regularly.
They are designed to hold a huge amount of oil, (especially 36" size) to keep them cool, when gas was $.75/ gal. At least yours has a smaller tank in the design.
Whomever was using it knew what they were doing.
What happens now is many run them low with the pump, and the oil heats up. As the oil heats, in turn the blade heats up. Then after a very short period of time it starts to wobble and the diamonds deteriorate 5x faster than normal. Most people use the same blade and it lasts "forever". For those that use it occasionally, not an issue. For those that will use the saw frequently, especially if they have more than 1 saw: create a recirculation system with the oil housed outside the saw. the oil is pumped onto the saw blades and drops down into tubes that feed it back to the tank, keeping everything cool/
If you running 2-10 saws at once, this is the way to go. You have valves on each saw, if not running, no need to run the oil through it.

Coolant. You can buy the oils the saw sellers sell at ridiculous prices, or, you can use what they use in the agate cutting centers in Brazil and China use.
You mentioned kerosine/diesel smell. Good call. That is the blend you want. 50:50. Kerosene is a better coolant, but has a low flash point. The combo is safe and works fine. There are fumes, and exposure on the skin needs to be addressed. For those that are more health conscious, use mineral oil. It is little more expense, but will upgrade your slabs to food-grade ready. Be aware - mineral oil on the floor is like a skating rink. Keep it clean. Test your blades and make sure they are always "true" this will keep them running much longer. You can even adjust them when they start to wobble. Also, if possible upgrade to chain driven pulleys, to replace the rubber pulleys that will require constant attention.
The old saws work with worm feeds, and manual vices that are slow and wear out. Chinese systems work with sliding vices that last, and the rock can be adjusted in seconds. Our original 1970's era HP saws would break down every few months from continuous work. The mods mentioned above will keep the older machines running much longer. We run our saws continuously for 8 hours per day, since 1992. In 2001, in a monsoon thunderstorm in Madagascar - a transformer was hit by lightning and exploded beside our saw rooms. One our buildings (full of oil everywhere on the ground, walls, and likely the roof) to burn to the ground. This was before we implemented the re-circulation systems, using 10% of the oils, and keeping them stored cool underground. The saws have virtually no oil in them, and if there is a flash, nothing happens. After the accident, I went to Soledade Brazil and bought 20 autosaws. They were built 2x stronger than the american-made ones we had. Then a few years later I discovered entire towns in China that run autosaws, again, much better quality than even Brazil.  The reasons for the quality difference is industry (brazilian agate slices sold by every rock shop around the world), versus a few family-run businesses that make the slab saws for a hobby industry in the US.  The machines haven't really changed in 40 years, and were not even their creations in the first place!! I love my friends at DP, and have been telling them since 2001 !!  
Those that use saws occasionally will likely disagree. Those that cut all the time will appreciate...
Good luck with your new toy herchenx