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Post by icancarryonemorerock on Sept 15, 2020 21:17:26 GMT -5
My husband just finished a 32 x 14 leanto on his pole barn for me to set up my rock shop/ jewelry studio. I have a Hi-Tech Diamond 6 inch trim saw and a slanted flat lap. Now I really want a 12” saw for cutting slabs. What I’m really not sure about is water cooling vs oil and power feed vs weight or gravity. I am new to slabbing and would certainly not be cutting everyday as this is a passion not a career. Would the water need to be drained after every use? How often would I need to change oil? And can you use water in any saw if you add something like Gem Lube or only in aluminum saws? Are more expensive saws really better? I know I should invest in the best blade, but is Lortone as good as Covington or Barranca? Feeling overwhelmed by this high dollar decision, but really anxious to start cutting - especially after spending a week hunting rocks at Lake Superior!! 😆 any and all advise would be greatly appreciated!
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Post by Mel on Oct 9, 2020 15:11:45 GMT -5
I had similar questions, so here is what I've found out.
Oil lasts longer than water (obviously) and doesn't cause as much blade wear, but you spend time cleaning up oil off everything, and filtering the oil.
Water cools less effectively (it's all relative). Personally, I just change it when the water is murky or I'm sick of cutting. Reasoning is that sediment can drag back up onto the blade and make a real mess, and also causes the blade to dull quicker. I don't use any kind of lube in mine, but I'm also not buying expensive blades, just diamond cutting blades off Amazon. Personal choice I think, based on my bit of research.
Someone else with more experience will chime in.
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Post by pauls on Oct 9, 2020 16:34:44 GMT -5
If you use water in your saw you will need to drain it after every use and spray everything with WD40 to stop rust, Your blade will last a fraction of the time in water compared to oil, even with a soluble oil in the water.
Oil, when you have cut your rock just close the lid and walk away. When you have a new rock to cut it's ready to go, all (most of) the muck will have settled, everything will be coated in oil and rock scum but who cares. When the scum builds up to be a brand new geological strata and you have a bit of spare time you can drain it and scrape the scum out. Strain the oil and scum through an old pillowcase to reclaim most of the oil. Baby oil is a good oil to use, the same stuff can be bought at horsey feed stores as mineral oil, horse laxative. Where I am generic baby oil from the supermarket works out marginally cheaper than the horse stuff, and smells like roses.
Weight feed versus gravity feed, personal preference. I like gravity feed myself as it cuts soft rocks quickly and hard rocks slower. Power feed is one speed (basically) fits all.
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SirRoxalot
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 790
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Post by SirRoxalot on Nov 16, 2020 12:33:47 GMT -5
Oil is just so messy. It makes a stinking mess of everything it touches. Vaporized oil travels! Oil is not cheap! Small saws do just fine with water.
There are trim saws, and there are slab saws; I’d suggest a 12” is sort of a happy medium. Remember that you do not get anywhere near the depth of cut you would think you do. Eg: to cut a 9” rock would take a 24” blade, or thereabouts. That makes anything under a 12” blade not terribly useful, though even a 4” blade can provide decades of fun with small stuff. No matter how big your saw is... it is always too small.
As for blades... well, that’s a rabbit hole. Dishing and dulling are inevitable nuisances you’ll find yourself dealing with. I’d strongly suggest finding a local club, there’s surely one in your area. Bear in mind that lapidaries are mostly old and crotchety, myself included. They are seldom found on modern evils like Facebook. So if you want to make learning lapidary easy, you’ll have to join a club and make friends.
Hope this helps. Get to cutting, it is utterly addictive, one of the greatest pleasures of lapidary.
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Post by rmf on Nov 16, 2020 16:28:47 GMT -5
I run my slab saw in oil, tried water once and most Iron saws are not built out of stainless. I have and 18" Lortone and I am not a fan of their vice setup. You have to get thing just so or the rock is not solid. I have a whole bunch of little shims and wedges to keep the rocks tight. I have not used HP, Barranca or Covington but if the vice is not good the saw is at best annoying. I clean my saw when the muck builds up 3" to 4" on the bottom. I skim off the clear oil from the top put in 5 gal bucket. I take the muck and murky oil and place in brown paper grocery bags and let the bags filter out the slime and it drains into a container. Once the bags are about 1/2 full I let them stand a month or so to get as much oil out as possible and then take the muck put it in a pan and add some diesel then burn off the existing oil. This leaves dry rock dust I put in the garbage.
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gregniel
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2020
Posts: 24
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Post by gregniel on Dec 11, 2020 16:27:23 GMT -5
I've been using various inexpensive saws for over two years and recently picked up a used 10 " MK-101 for $200. Mind you, it was not in very good shape but I took a week to restore it and I absolutely love it. It is able to cut through anything I throw at it. The thing that makes this saw difficult is the rate at which it goes through saw blades due to it being a water only saw. I've tried many different blades and unfortunately the best blades cost over $50.
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Post by manofglass on Dec 11, 2020 17:34:54 GMT -5
Oil gets dirty fast I use the tile saw more It is Easier to clean but makes a water mess on the floor
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