This question is for the lapidaries among us. I have to fire up my 14" saw to cut some larger rough. I haven’t used it in years and need to add some lubricant first. Back in the day we used kerosene. I have to think that there is a better way, especially since It will be another 20 years before I use it again. Do any of you have any suggestions starting with plain water since I will empty the sump as soon as I am done? Thanks for any help…Rob
Bill Gangi, a full-time lapidary artist, told me once to add a little bit of laundry detergent to my rock saw water to keep the blade from rusting. He said that it needs to be detergent and not soap. It works!
These days I use Rock Saw Lube from Rio Grande. It’s 100% mineral oil. It’s kind of messy, but I like it better than just water. But I just have a 6" trim saw. With your big 14" slab saw, that would be a lot of oil, especially just to use once or twice! So it sounds like you’re on the right track with water and detergent.
Cutting rocks is fun! Good luck!
Jeff
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Ditto on the Rio Grande saw lube, I use it in my 12" saw. A good tip for not having to use so much of the lub is to add some bricks to the area the lube is contained in, it will allow you to use less lubricant and won’t affect the performance of the saw. Really, anything that won’t float will work, old rough, containers filled with water, etc., you just need to take up some of that volume.
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Safety Data Sheet says its 70-99% mineral oil. That seems like quite a range.
So I thought of Johnson’s Baby Oil. It has a rather interesting Safety Data Sheet. It only says what it doesn’t contain(!):
“Mixture
The product contains no substances which at their given concentration, are considered to be hazardous to health.”
Janet in Jerusalem
In my 10" rock saw I use Gem Lube from Kingsley North.
I haven’t had any rust issues ( and my saw lives outside under a tarp) It’s water based, and it’s biodegradable.
Patty