QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Aug 3, 2024 21:11:02 GMT -5
QuailRiver looks like citgo also sells a clarion 70 that is lower viscosity, the 90 is just above the top I would use. That said, any food grade, or medical, cosmetics, tech (veterinary) grade will not thicken over use as much as the old transformer oil did. Oh, but that price, and a whopping 22.12 discount to buy a 55 gallon drum, Kevin will sell me a drum for just a little over half that, delivered. I've been using the 90 viscosity for I believe about 12 years now with saws ranging in size from 10" to 20" and have no complaints. As mentioned in my previous post distributors' prices are all over the place so it pays to shop around. The last 55 gallon drum I purchased was from Hutchen's Petroleum out of Stuart, VA. The 55 gallon drum was $583.52 including sales tax, and delivery surcharge (80 miles). At the time they had by far the best price I could find in the mid-Atlantic states for any suitable white food grade oil. |
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Aug 1, 2024 23:01:10 GMT -5
OK. I'm back on this topic again. Had to clean out my saw and I've stretched the little bit of oil I had as far as it'll go. The oil I previously had was a proprietary blend from a rock shop. It has very little odor, fairly thin. Price has doubled since I bought it last. So.... back to deciding... mineral oil/horse laxative, food grade mineral oil, Bear Naked which says it's virgin white mineral oil, the orange scented Stellars (seems they don't have the non scented anymore), or Highland Parks Cool Cut. My saw is a gravity/drop style and it has one of those pumps that sits in the oil and spins and basically throws the oil up a tube to the top of the blade, so it can't be too thick. My concern is really with the type of pump I have and it being able to throw the oil. I'm planning to top it off with a little mineral oil just to get back up and running again and then see about buying a large quantity of something. Anyone have any changes to their thoughts since last year? Thank you! I use Citgo's "Duoprime 90" mineral oil (I believe now sold as CITGO Clarion 90). It is a food grade mineral oil which is commonly used to lubricate machinery in the food processing industries. I have been using it for many years in saws ranging in size from 10" to 20" and am very satisfied with it. When dirty it can be filtered and reused many times over. Any commercial/industrial petroleum products supplier that distributes CITGO's products should be able to get it for you. The distributor I get it from sales it in both 5 gallon and 55 gallon drums. Prices varied greatly from one distributor to another so I had to do a little shopping around to get the best price. Found a distributor 80 miles away from me that would deliver for only a modest fuel surcharge. www.docs.citgo.com/msds_pi/669348001.pdf |
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Jun 29, 2024 14:30:56 GMT -5
For my old HP cabbing machine I cut a one-piece splash curtain from a 1/16" thick sheet of neoprene rubber and extended it from the tops of the wheels to also down in between the sides of the wheels (see photo below). It works better than I had hoped for.  |
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Jun 22, 2024 22:58:29 GMT -5
With the two SC wheels (which aren't light), two 8x3" expanding drums and the two end plate discs that those machines originally came with new, they used to use a 1/3hp motor.
But with the weight of a 3x8" sintered wheel you'll probably want to move up to a 1/2hp which is what I use on my old Highland Park machine with two 1.5x8" steel core Han's sintered wheels, plus one aluminum core Inland sintered, one Crystalite Crystalring wheel and two NOVA wheels. IMO 3/4hp would not be necessary as long as everything is well balanced and running true.
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Jun 12, 2024 22:29:39 GMT -5
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
|
Post by QuailRiver on May 21, 2024 16:23:13 GMT -5
I have heard of people adding an auxiliary rheostat type speed control to the power feed motors on Raytech and Lortone saws that use Dayton gear motors to power the powerfeed system. Raytech has a 10" slab saw with the separate powerfeed motor and in the past used to make a 6" version which used the same Dayton gear motor for the powerfeed. The 6" ones show up from time to time on eBay and Facebook. This is what they look like:    And I believe that this is the Dayton gear motor that the Raytech 10" and 6" saws use as well as the Lortone 10" saws and maybe the Lorotne 12" saw also. www.amazon.com/Dayton-3M098-Gearmotor-AC-RPM/dp/B018A1IG1KIf you need faster feed speeds I see no reason why a fster rpm motor could not be substituted and a speed control unit added. |
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on May 15, 2024 15:21:17 GMT -5
Thanks everyone for your comments. And sorry I didn't specify it's a 6" machine. It sounds like a sintered wheel is going to be in my future. Also, thanks for mentioning dressing the wheel. I'll make sure I do that to see if I can squeeze some more life out of it. My fingers are crossed that the BAT textured wheel will be a pleasent surprise and I'll make sure to share here. When you do get a sintered wheel I would recommend getting one with an aluminum hub. On my 8" HP machine I have both aluminum and steel hub sintered wheels and much more prefer the aluminum hub. The aluminum hub wheels are much lighter weight than the steel hub wheels and no matter how long I spin-dry the steel hub wheels the steel hubs still rust. And I don't want to coat them with oil after each use. So from now on I will only buy aluminum hub sintered wheels. Inland, Johnson Brothers, BAT and I believe Covington all have aluminum hub sintered wheels available. |
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on May 15, 2024 10:58:36 GMT -5
No such thing as enough tools, Just need more shop  Once when my wife was railing allegations that I have too much stuff, I responded with "One can never have too much stuff - just not enough room". Her response was "Then I should buy her a bigger house"... okay, so she won that one. No she didn't get a bigger house but I did surrender the field and admitted that I do have too much stuff! While she seemed a little disappointed she wasn't going to get a bigger house, to this day she still cherishes that win.  |
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on May 10, 2024 14:03:50 GMT -5
Very nice work! Especially love the Rutilated Quartz!
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on May 10, 2024 8:51:37 GMT -5
Restarting doesn't help. And I delete the cookies cache daily. So it's something else. Like that image of the Laguna Lace Slab you posted a couple of weeks ago. I could not see it until you replaced the image with cloudinary instead of link. Maybe a windows, or firefox, or AVG update is causing problems with other programs. A few years ago Windows updates especially used to cause problems with other programs on my PC but I haven't had those issues in a long while. Is it still a problem? I can't really venture a guess, but AVG updates often cause problems. eta Maybe Tommy has an idea? No link or photo is showing for me on your original post from 5/3 but I can see the photo on your post from 5/8. |
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on May 9, 2024 0:03:29 GMT -5
Okay tonight I could see the boxes and got to vote. Not sure if the issue was with me or with my computer but nice work everyone!
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on May 8, 2024 23:53:31 GMT -5
Even the eBay link wasn't showing up on my end. But for some reason various images and links on this site haven't been showing up at times for me lately. I'm still using windows 7, I don't know 7 is getting too outdated or if I may have accidentally changed a setting. Sometimes, issues are sometimes cleared up simply by restarting your computer. I think Win7 should still show images. Try clearing your cache, too. It may be getting too big. Restarting doesn't help. And I delete the cookies cache daily. So it's something else. Like that image of the Laguna Lace Slab you posted a couple of weeks ago. I could not see it until you replaced the image with cloudinary instead of link. Maybe a windows, or firefox, or AVG update is causing problems with other programs. A few years ago Windows updates especially used to cause problems with other programs on my PC but I haven't had those issues in a long while. |
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on May 8, 2024 16:16:54 GMT -5
The voting buttons are not showing for me. Not sure if it's on my end or the site's? Is it by any chance that you have voted already? No I don't think I have voted yet this month. If I did I must be having an extended senior moment. |
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on May 8, 2024 16:13:06 GMT -5
Gorgeous Slab!!! Thank you for posting the image! |
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on May 8, 2024 16:11:44 GMT -5
The image isn't showing up for me on this one either. Is there a setting I can change on my end to make it visible in the format that is being used? That was a link from eBay. I'll follow with the downloaded pic.
Even the eBay link wasn't showing up on my end. But for some reason various images and links on this site haven't been showing up at times for me lately. I'm still using windows 7, I don't know 7 is getting too outdated or if I may have accidentally changed a setting. |
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on May 8, 2024 12:11:11 GMT -5
Had to have it. Should make some nice cabs. The image isn't showing up for me on this one either. Is there a setting I can change on my end to make it visible in the format that is being used? |
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on May 8, 2024 12:06:03 GMT -5
bump... lets see if we can get to 52 votes since there are 52 hours to go  The voting buttons are not showing for me. Not sure if it's on my end or the site's? |
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Apr 30, 2024 10:35:35 GMT -5
Happy lil accidents. Just lil triangular bubbles floating off into space  WOW!!! That is absolutely Stunning! It's pieces like that that keep slaboholics like me addicted to the search! Great find realrockhound - and Great cab! |
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Apr 24, 2024 13:31:03 GMT -5
I too live in an area where there isn't much in the way of large native cabbing rough. And have 10", 12" 14" 18" and 20" slab saws and cut mostly materials from the western U.S., Mexico and Australia that have been shipped into the eastern U.S. over the years. The 14" and 18" saws by far get the most use and IMO are the most practical for most average commercially available cabbing rough sizes. That said I still am always on the lookout for a screaming deal on a 24" saw. I have a few rocks worthy of slabbing that are too large for my 20" saw so have been squirreled away just waiting. But if I could only have one size slab saw, for my situation and for cutting slabs primarily for cabbing, I would choose the 14" over the others.
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Apr 16, 2024 20:11:20 GMT -5
Correct that traditional diamond paste (bort) is not water soluble. Some of the modern Gearloose brand diamond sticks now available are. But those were not around back when I was using diamond paste so I usually used the Crystalite brand paste on canvas resin pads/belts. And I too used the spray silicon for lubricant. The cigarette lighter fluid is basically the same thing as NAPTHA which is a mild petroleum based solvent. It also works well for dissolving some adhesives like the types used on price stickers.
I will use leather with aluminum oxide polishes for some of the softer stones like Howlite, Tiger Iron, Malachite, Chrysocolla, Turquoise, etc.. But leather with cerium doesn't polish as well in my opinion.
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