casey
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Post by casey on Jul 30, 2020 21:04:56 GMT -5
I have just gotten myself a Covington 10" power feed trim saw and have seen that a lot of people complain about the mess because that left side doesn't have a rim for some "intelligent" reason. Everyone that I've seen complaining about it though has been using oil. So... what about using water instead? Is there any real reason to use one over the other? I'm still a little new to all of this and would really love to avoid the mess and hassle of oil if water would be a good alternative.
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casey
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Post by casey on Jul 30, 2020 23:35:50 GMT -5
So I take it that you wouldn't want to cut small slabs using water? Really trying to learn here... why wouldn't water work? What's the difference?
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Post by manofglass on Jul 31, 2020 7:24:33 GMT -5
You can cut small slabs with water to I glue the stones to 2 by 4 blocks with yellow wood glue Hold on to the block with one hand feed the stone with a push stick with the other hand I built a saw to cut cabs and hearts This saw runs with water MK303 blade forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/84025/new-7-build |
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casey
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Post by casey on Jul 31, 2020 7:52:37 GMT -5
Great! Thank you.
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EricD
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Post by EricD on Jul 31, 2020 8:06:29 GMT -5
So I take it that you wouldn't want to cut small slabs using water? Really trying to learn here... why wouldn't water work? What's the difference? I've always used water with my 10" trim saw, but it's not power feed.
You'd want your feed to be pretty slow to avoid wearing the blade out prematurely. If it ever "binds" or slows down the blade it's too fast. Patience with feed speed will save a lot of money on blades.
When trimming or cutting small (<2.5") slabs water is the way to go for sure. |
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casey
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Post by casey on Jul 31, 2020 9:34:28 GMT -5
That is definitely good to hear! Using oil on this saw sounds like a giant pain in the butt! I'll definitely keep an eye in the feed speed. Thank you for the info.
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Post by stardiamond on Jul 31, 2020 20:31:36 GMT -5
I used a Genie trim saw attachment for many years to hand slab. It has an 8 inch mk303 blade. It is a trim saw designed to use water.
I use an additive with the water cool-lube or lube-cool. I also use the additive when grinding and sanding. The concentration of coolant to water is double for the saw compared with the grinder. I go through a lot of additive.
My experience with hand slabbing using the trim saw is I go through a lot of blades. Your blades will last longer and require less dressing using oil. If the problem is mess, I would make a plexiglass box to go over the saw with a hole for the on off switch. Now that I have a slab saw, I do almost all slabbing with it even very small rough. I just got some 13mm Tahoma slices and glued them to a board in order to split them. I normally only use my trim saw for trimming.
If you plan to rarely cut slabs the blade wear issue isn't significant. Is the saw designed so water can be used or is there a possible rust issue?
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Post by Peruano on Jul 31, 2020 20:52:03 GMT -5
Depending on your saw and your activity schedule, the choice can be on how much you like to or have trouble with cleaning and draining your saw. Water begets rust, oil is tranquil even when left in the saw for months. Do I want to drain my saw every day I use it, . . . no! Can I use some sort of rust inhibiter, . . yes but it often dries to make as big of a mess as any oil splash and you are lucky to still avoid rust. If you are feeding fast water is not as good at cooling as oil. Me. I use oil in my trim saw and clean it up with dawn and oil dri granular absorbant. No problem for my system.
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Post by stardiamond on Jul 31, 2020 22:37:24 GMT -5
Except for the blade and the arbor, my trim saw is all plastic. It goes on the right side of my Genie. When I'm trimming, I remove the hood, the arbor and the blade and put the base and deck aside full of dirty water. It takes about a minute. It is pretty messy with the water, not spray, water coming off the deck. Wipes up with a cloth. I bought in 2002.
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casey
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Post by casey on Jul 31, 2020 23:47:51 GMT -5
I used a Genie trim saw attachment for many years to hand slab. It has an 8 inch mk303 blade. It is a trim saw designed to use water. I use an additive with the water cool-lube or lube-cool. I also use the additive when grinding and sanding. The concentration of coolant to water is double for the saw compared with the grinder. I go through a lot of additive. My experience with hand slabbing using the trim saw is I go through a lot of blades. Your blades will last longer and require less dressing using oil. If the problem is mess, I would make a plexiglass box to go over the saw with a hole for the on off switch. Now that I have a slab saw, I do almost all slabbing with it even very small rough. I just got some 13mm Tahoma slices and glued them to a board in order to split them. I normally only use my trim saw for trimming. If you plan to rarely cut slabs the blade wear issue isn't significant. Is the saw designed so water can be used or is there a possible rust issue? The sump is steel and so is the table. For whatever reason Covington decided to remove the rim on the left side of the table so whatever you use, oil or water, spills over the side no matter what. Even with a hood. It actually has a power feed on it too. Though I do plan on using it for some slabs, the majority of it will be for trimming. Thanks for the info on the water coolant. |
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casey
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Post by casey on Jul 31, 2020 23:56:22 GMT -5
Depending on your saw and your activity schedule, the choice can be on how much you like to or have trouble with cleaning and draining your saw. Water begets rust, oil is tranquil even when left in the saw for months. Do I want to drain my saw every day I use it, . . . no! Can I use some sort of rust inhibiter, . . yes but it often dries to make as big of a mess as any oil splash and you are lucky to still avoid rust. If you are feeding fast water is not as good at cooling as oil. Me. I use oil in my trim saw and clean it up with dawn and oil dri granular absorbant. No problem for my system. Thank you for the info. I think the major problem with this saw is that Covington removed the rim on the table on the left side which means whatever you use, oil or water, ends up spilling over that side quite significantly. Water... probably not that big of a deal as far as clean up goes. Even if I have to drain it each night. Oil on the other hand... seems like a pain in the butt as far as mess and clean up goes from the spill off. The other guys that have complained and this say they'll never buy another one because of that. I'm hoping with as much as I'll use it that water will work out for me. Again thank you for all the info. |
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EricD
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Post by EricD on Aug 1, 2020 9:57:36 GMT -5
Depending on your saw and your activity schedule, the choice can be on how much you like to or have trouble with cleaning and draining your saw. Water begets rust, oil is tranquil even when left in the saw for months. Do I want to drain my saw every day I use it, . . . no! Can I use some sort of rust inhibiter, . . yes but it often dries to make as big of a mess as any oil splash and you are lucky to still avoid rust. If you are feeding fast water is not as good at cooling as oil. Me. I use oil in my trim saw and clean it up with dawn and oil dri granular absorbant. No problem for my system. Thank you for the info. I think the major problem with this saw is that Covington removed the rim on the table on the left side which means whatever you use, oil or water, ends up spilling over that side quite significantly. Water... probably not that big of a deal as far as clean up goes. Even if I have to drain it each night. Oil on the other hand... seems like a pain in the butt as far as mess and clean up goes from the spill off. The other guys that have complained and this say they'll never buy another one because of that. I'm hoping with as much as I'll use it that water will work out for me. Again thank you for all the info. You could adhere/attach something to the side of the deck to permanently fix that issue. Basically make a rim where it is missing |
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 1, 2020 11:44:45 GMT -5
The guys in the Covington support are very helpful. They interact with the Covington users. They may be able to recommend a work around.
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casey
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Post by casey on Aug 1, 2020 12:05:30 GMT -5
The guys in the Covington support are very helpful. They interact with the Covington users. They may be able to recommend a work around. Thanks for the heads up. I was planning on calling and talking to them about possibly using water and any problems or drawbacks with that. In the threads I have read the others have said that the people at Covington are great and always do their best to help but so far have not came up with a good/viable workaround. Who knows, some of those were a couple of years ago. Maybe they've come up with something since. |
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cman60
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Post by cman60 on Dec 30, 2020 20:24:55 GMT -5
I just ordered a Covington 10" power feed and I'm curious if you found out anything from Covington. I am new to the hobby and wanting to learn.
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wyocon
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Post by wyocon on Oct 15, 2022 9:35:30 GMT -5
Just in case anyone is still asking this question…I have been using my new Covington 10” trim saw with water and an additive successfully for several days and hours of cutting with the power feed. No water spills over the edge, with one exception caused by operator error. I do not leave the power feed unattended, which by the way, works at a nice slow speed to allow the blade to do the work. However, at another task in my little shop I caught the blade getting hot and the motor sounding differently just in time to stop the machine. Instead of looking carefully, I assumed it needed more coolant and refilled. When I turned the machine back on I did get a water bath over the side of the saw. I had apparently overfilled the reservoir and I then belatedly realized the problem had not been a shortage of coolant but that I had failed to tighten down the vise so the rock in the vise was lifting up off the table enough to bind on blade a bit. Now I know to always double check my steps before starting the saw, and it is running fine with any water coolant accumulating on the table recycling back into the reservoir as designed. It would be neat to have a way to see the level of the water/ additive coolant in the rear port, but as a beginner I am very happy with this saw and the water option is so much easier to wipe down after every use than oil would be. I am lucky that I can keep my saw in a heated space and I live in a dry climate so I am not worried about rust.
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Post by Peruano on Oct 15, 2022 11:38:31 GMT -5
In most instances the proper coolant level can be assessed by looking at the trail of coolant thrown out in front of the blade. The blade is rotating toward the front of the saw and flings coolant visible on the saw table. If the trail of coolant is out in front of the blade but not thrown so far that it is over the front edge of the saw table or on the front shield, the level is probably adequate and not excessive. If there is not trail in front of the blade you are lower than necessary; if its wildly flung out in front you have too much. I adjust the coolant on my trim saw by pouring it slowing at the blade slot while the blade is running. With some compensation for coolant going directly on the blade this works for me. No dip stick necessary. Try if this seems relevant to your situation.
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