Lapidaryforum.net
Gadgets, Gizmos, and Dohickeys => Cutting, Grinding, Polishing => Topic started by: 55fossil on December 30, 2016, 07:28:29 AM
-
I was reading posts about saws misting and thought this would be a good topic.
My saws seem to mist worse with machine oils. I rarely have any mist with the mineral oil. The hotter it is the more the oil misted.
Two easy things I found were to make sure my blade was sharp and the saw running smooth. This kept the saw oil cooler and the misting down. Also, make sure your saw lid fits on properly. You can get a pretty good seal on the saw lid so the mist will stay in the saw.
Has anyone else noticed they get very little if any mist with the mineral oil? I buy mine from an oil distributor so it may be different than the animal laxative oil.
more suggestions please.......... neal
-
Good points all. Just one comment, Drop Saws have no lid. :azn:
Drop Saw owner.... old Lortone LS14
-
We have an LS14 also. There are some pics in this thread of Vince's solution to the mist problem:
http://lapidaryforum.net/group/index.php?topic=2085.msg16309#msg16309
-
I like your solution. But do you get misting with different types of oil?
-
I had been using Chevron Superla mineral oil from a local rock shop and it sure did mist. When I filled up my new 18" saw I purchased some animal laxative here:
https://www.scahealth.com/scah/product/mineral-oil-light
Its great...no misting....
-
55fossil, I'll let Vince answer that one when he gets home. He's the slabbing king and the saw shop is his domain. I'm not fond of smelling like oil and he's happiest slabbing. It works well. :LOLOL:
-
Bardahl no smoke engine additive. It's magic. I use about half a bottle in 5 gallons mineral oil .
-
Sorry, but I can't really answer about other types of oils. Have only used mineral oils.
Somewhere in the forum there's a thread about different oils, and I saw Bardahl mentioned there. Can't recall what the details were, but it was a thread where all different sorts of oils were discussed. Here's the link to that thread:
http://lapidaryforum.net/group/index.php?topic=2138.0
We chose one of the supposedly less-toxic oils, and since we have a dedicated saw space I just live with the misting.
-
Misting is definitely related to temperature in my saw. If I'm cutting a big rock or particularly hard one, I get more mist (with horse laxative type mineral oil). I also note that it is increased with the depth of the oil (too much oil depth on the blade carries more oil up against the rock and is aerosolized. I agree that No Smoke (or the Napa equivalent product) does reduce the mist, but I don't use it very often, as I really don't have a mist problem. My lid has a countersunk edge to reduce mist escaping when the lid is closed and a few seconds delay before opening the lid results in most mist settled out to my satisfaction. I suspect most who have mist problems could reduce that mist by using less oil (obviously paying attention to keeping adequate oil on the work surface.
I did recently switch my work lights that are near my saw to led bulbs to reduce heat because the bulbs do accumulate a bit of an oil haze and I worried about fire hazard with hotter incandescent bulbs or even the florescent replacements. LEDs are wonderful light and cooler.
-
I was using Shell Diala AX which is a transformer oil and never had misting in the Lortone ST-10 Lortone LS-12 and Highland Lapidary 18 and since switching to Mineral (baby) Oil I have a terrible misting problem. Same Oil level, same clearances from blade etc. Simply draining oil and putting in the other type caused the problem. I have since added a Anti Smoking additive it has abated almost entirely but the is some small residual mist but acceptable. I have just gotten some Horse Laxative mineral oil from a company in San Jose that sells it fro $12 per gallon if you buy 4 or more gallons and free shipping so very affordable. I will see if this grade of mineral oil is the same viscosity as the baby oil and if it has fewer misting issues. In regards to the amount of oil in the cut causing more misting, I have noticed, if using a segmented blade in the 18 inch it does mist more than if I am using a continuous rim blade.
-
For those of you using horse laxative mineral oils in your saws: I have found that human mineral oil bought from Walmart has a higher viscosity and hence less misting than the horse laxative. It also works out to be cheaper, at least here in Southeastern Arizona. The horse oil from Tractor Supply costs about $18/gallon while at the local Walmart, the human mineral oil is $1.98/pint which works out to $15.84/gallon. Also I can keep just a pint or two around to top off the saw as needed. The wife just buys it when she goes grocery shopping. It helps that I have a 10" Raytech which takes less than a pint in the reservoir. Those of you that have saws that require gallons of oil may have to clean out 4 or 5 Walmarts to get enough for your saws.
Right now in the colder weather (my saw is outside) I am using up the remainder of the horse oil and will just use all human mineral oil once that is gone.
Jerry
-
I had just posted above I found it at 12 per gallon if you buy four or more gallons at a time and they include free shipping. As I said I still haven't tested the laxative oil vs the baby. Below is a link to the low cost oil that I bought.
https://www.scahealth.com/scah/product/ultracruz-mineral-oil-light