It has been many years since my Green Warrior activism, but I recall
that this oil is contaminated with PCB, a very serious carcinogen and
not to be messed with.
I am shocked that it would be sold. I have heard reports of
underhanded disposal companies in the eastern U.S. that will spray it
on roadsides for disposal rather than pay the high price for disposal
in the correct (and safe) hazardous materials facility. The penalty
is SEVERE as it should be. Any spills of the oil will result in a Haz
Mat team response and street closures.
Are you SURE you want to work with it just because it’s cheap?
Jeannie in Calif. with a heard of 40 dear in the front
yard… Did you know they are attracted to flute music? No kidding!
John… Dear John
What a relief to find someone else who has used transformer oil and
has not died of the ‘Dreaded lergy’
In my piece which really put the cat among the pigeons and did state
that there were different types of this oil.
Just a matter of knowing your oils, the one we used from burnt out
transformers was a mineral oil contaminated with carbon which though
a bit messy was pretty harmless
The other types ( synthetic ) are contaminated with the dreaded PCB’s
and obviously very toxic.
I have been intending to get in touch with an expert from one of the
oil companies re this to get some tech info re this subject, will let
the list know if I can get around to doing this.
I should add that I and my various companions in ‘grime’ have never
had any trouble cleaning the oil from agate etc.
Re the pump system of feeding water to a jade saw, it obviously
works, however when we considered the options we were concerned about
saw sludge getting into the pump so have always used a gravity feed
from a tank with a ball cock . A gravity feed has advantages in that
your water feed remains constant at whatever setting you make . We
also use this system as a feed to our jade carving benches.
Good luck everybody… Keith Torckler
Hello, I have seen the result of the use of the older transformer
oils. A fellow instructor thought he was getting a great deal and
got the oil very cheaply. He started breaking out in a rash on his
arms, neck, and face. He stopped using the oil and no further
problems occurred. He cleared up right away. This was almost 25
years ago. I understand that the power companies don’t use this oil
for transformers any more. It was hard for them to get rid of. I
can’t tell by looking or smelling if an oil is dangerous to use.
That is why it is better to spend the extra money and use products
that are recommended for the job.
Oil does have a scent. Actually I don’t mind it at all. If you want
to get rid of the scent you can first bury the rock in cat litter to
absorb the extra oil. Then you can rinse it carefully in a scented
soap. I use Wisk as a general soap around the shop. It also works
great for tumbling with steel shot. There are many others. If you
are worried about the oil getting into a porous stone when you cut
it, then soak the stone in water for several days. The oil can not
fill the space where the oil already is.
As far as using only water on a larger saw, you had better check with
the blade manufacturer. The blade will definitely wear much faster
especially when cutting harder materials. Steve Ramsdell Enjoy the
holiday season
Re the pump system of feeding water to a jade saw, it obviously
works, however when we considered the options we were concerned
about saw sludge getting into the pump so have always used a gravity
feed from a tank with a ball cock
G’day; my situation doubtless differs from many lapidary folk as my
house is not reticulated for town water supply. I live in a small
village with a 25 minute drive to either of the nearest small towns,
so the house was designed to use rain water collected from the roof
into a 6000 gallon tank under the patio. A 100 gallon tank in the roof
space has a float switch, which starts and stops a reciprocal pump in
the garage. Water is gravity fed from the roof tank to household
taps, water heater, etc. But as we have to conserve what water we get
(compensation for not paying water tax, he he!) I simply have a little
total immersion fountain pump (from a junk shop) in the 2 gallon tank
under the saw. As the fountain pump is a centrifugal pump, it careth
not for thee, oh sludge. Been there 17 years , and another 10 years
in my previous house. Which also had no town main. When I used to do
some distillations, I put the little pump in a bucket of water,
connected it to an old car heater (with a fan blowing on it) and
thence to a condenser. Worked fine.
A gravity feed has advantages in that your water feed remains
constant at whatever setting you make
Yes, and so does the water jetting both sides of my saw. Plenty of
cooling water. Why bother to change the flow whatever is being sawn?
Setting? I just hang a little plastic ice cream box with string on
the drop arm saw. I load it with an appropriate weight of stones
from the garden. Cheers – John Burgess; @John_Burgess2 from the
wilds of Mapua Nelson NZ