Ping: Snake Oil Recipients

Didj'all git yer dang snake earl er what?

Frosty wrote:
Didj'all git yer dang snake earl er what?


Yep, I did. In a small plastic container, with a secure screw top.

Haven't had much of a chance to use it yet. Only once, on my gravers
while making bright cuts for flush set stones. Material I was cutting,
titanium and 24K Gold.

So far, I see no difference with Wintergreen oil.

I'll report more later.

--
Abrasha
http://www.abrasha.com

On Tue, 06 Mar 2007 07:23:24 -0800, in rec.crafts.jewelry Frosty
wrote:

Didj'all git yer dang snake earl er what?

Yes, thank you very much.

Some observations on the stuff.

First, polymer or whatever, to the user, this is like grease, which liquifies
when it gets warm. Like grease, it generally resists water, and like grease,
gets your hands greasy. In short, it's messier to use than things like bur life
or other drier lubes. In particular, I usually use the dry bur life from Rio,
in a little block attached to the front of the bench. Similar to the old
traditional method of a blob of beeswax stuck to the edge of the bench or side
of the bench pin, you lube your sawblade just by drawing it through the stuff.
No hands or fingers involved. The snake oil, though, is soft enough that you
can't just stick a blob to the front of your bench, so lubing your blade
generally means a fingertip in the stuff to wipe the blade, or the work. So
now you've got greasy fingers. No harm done, but still a bit messy. And i'm
not sure how easily the stuff is gonna wash out of my clothing if it gets
fingerprinted thereon, or otherwise spread to the clothing. The jar says it can
be dissolved/removed with turpentine, a cleaner I generally don't use on my
laundry. Though normal hand cleaner seems to work. still...

On small drill bits, it's certainlly effective. Not sure it's all that much
better than the bur life or wintergreen oil, though for me, being sensative to
wintergreen oil, it's better on that count (pretty much odorless, at least as
compared to wintergreen) It may last a bit longer on the bit, requiring
reapplication less frequently. But I've not noticed myself breaker fewer drill
bits, or needing to resharpen bits significantly less often. Might be, but not
so much I've noticed it as an obvious trait.

On things like setting burs, though it certainly works to help the bur cut,
perhaps better than bur life (the solid at least, not the paste or liquids,
which seem a little better). But it's non volatile greasy nature does two
things. First, there's a tendancy to pick up a bit more of the stuff than I'd
like when touching the bur to the snake oil grease. Now that's fine for
cutting, but it then means I've got excess grease in and around the seat for the
stone I'm setting, and frankly, that doesn't help. I like a seat, especially
when doing things like pave setting tiny diamonds, to remain clean, not covered
with grease. makes it harder to fit the stones, and even harder to see whether
they fit.

On abrasives, like seperating disks, the fact that the stuff seems to stick more
tenaciously to the abrasive than bur life, and doesn't evaporate when hot like
some other lubes I might use, makes it superior for me. This is especially a
factor using the 3M diamond sanding drums I like. These are made from the 3m
diamond abrasive with all the little metal bond diamond impregnated dots all
over it, and the sanding drums, while wickedly effective working especially with
platinum, have a nasty tendacy to disintegrate, delaminate, loose their diamond
layer or dots, etc. Odd, since the material doesn't do this in it's flat forms
or larger disks and belts. Seems like curved into a small sanding drum, it's
just not strong enough to withstand the "drag" of sanding, especially with tough
resiliant platinum. Now, I know I'm supposed to use these with a lubricant.
Water works, but makes a mess of the workbench. Fine in wet grinding setups,
but not practical at my workbench. Oil works, but sprays all over, and still
doesn't fix the short life span of the drums. 3M said things like bur life
should work fine, and it certainly helps, but again, doesn't really stop the
problem. Well, guess what. The snake oil, while also not solving the problem,
does work clearly better than bur life, and doesn't so much spray all over the
place. I've not used it long enough, with new drums, to really know to what
extent it will prolong the life of the drums, but I'll bet it helps enough to
justify having some on the bench. As with other uses, it has the downside of
leaving the work covered with a bit of the grease, but in this case, I don't
mind at all.

So preliminarily, the stuff has a place on my bench next to the bur life. It
will get used for drilling, and with abrasives including sepearting disks and my
diamond abrasives. Haven't tried it with gravers yet. Much of my use of
gravers is with carbide gravers, which I prefer not to use a lube with, but I
expect the stuff will work nicely there too when i need it to.

Peter

On Wed, 07 Mar 2007 03:46:57 GMT in rec.crafts.jewelry "Peter W..
Rowe," , intended to write something
intelligible, but instead wrote :

On Tue, 06 Mar 2007 07:23:24 -0800, in rec.crafts.jewelry Frosty
wrote:

Didj'all git yer dang snake earl er what?

Yes, thank you very much.

Some observations on the stuff.

First, polymer or whatever, to the user, this is like grease, which liquifies
when it gets warm. Like grease, it generally resists water, and like grease,
gets your hands greasy. In short, it's messier to use than things like bur life
or other drier lubes. In particular, I usually use the dry bur life from Rio,
in a little block attached to the front of the bench. Similar to the old
traditional method of a blob of beeswax stuck to the edge of the bench or side
of the bench pin, you lube your sawblade just by drawing it through the stuff.
No hands or fingers involved. The snake oil, though, is soft enough that you
can't just stick a blob to the front of your bench, so lubing your blade
generally means a fingertip in the stuff to wipe the blade, or the work. So
now you've got greasy fingers. No harm done, but still a bit messy. And i'm
not sure how easily the stuff is gonna wash out of my clothing if it gets
fingerprinted thereon, or otherwise spread to the clothing. The jar says it can
be dissolved/removed with turpentine, a cleaner I generally don't use on my
laundry. Though normal hand cleaner seems to work. still...

On small drill bits, it's certainlly effective. Not sure it's all that much
better than the bur life or wintergreen oil, though for me, being sensative to
wintergreen oil, it's better on that count (pretty much odorless, at least as
compared to wintergreen) It may last a bit longer on the bit, requiring
reapplication less frequently. But I've not noticed myself breaker fewer drill
bits, or needing to resharpen bits significantly less often. Might be, but not
so much I've noticed it as an obvious trait.

On things like setting burs, though it certainly works to help the bur cut,
perhaps better than bur life (the solid at least, not the paste or liquids,
which seem a little better). But it's non volatile greasy nature does two
things. First, there's a tendancy to pick up a bit more of the stuff than I'd
like when touching the bur to the snake oil grease. Now that's fine for
cutting, but it then means I've got excess grease in and around the seat for the
stone I'm setting, and frankly, that doesn't help. I like a seat, especially
when doing things like pave setting tiny diamonds, to remain clean, not covered
with grease. makes it harder to fit the stones, and even harder to see whether
they fit.

On abrasives, like seperating disks, the fact that the stuff seems to stick more
tenaciously to the abrasive than bur life, and doesn't evaporate when hot like
some other lubes I might use, makes it superior for me. This is especially a
factor using the 3M diamond sanding drums I like. These are made from the 3m
diamond abrasive with all the little metal bond diamond impregnated dots all
over it, and the sanding drums, while wickedly effective working especially with
platinum, have a nasty tendacy to disintegrate, delaminate, loose their diamond
layer or dots, etc. Odd, since the material doesn't do this in it's flat forms
or larger disks and belts. Seems like curved into a small sanding drum, it's
just not strong enough to withstand the "drag" of sanding, especially with tough
resiliant platinum. Now, I know I'm supposed to use these with a lubricant.
Water works, but makes a mess of the workbench. Fine in wet grinding setups,
but not practical at my workbench. Oil works, but sprays all over, and still
doesn't fix the short life span of the drums. 3M said things like bur life
should work fine, and it certainly helps, but again, doesn't really stop the
problem. Well, guess what. The snake oil, while also not solving the problem,
does work clearly better than bur life, and doesn't so much spray all over the
place. I've not used it long enough, with new drums, to really know to what
extent it will prolong the life of the drums, but I'll bet it helps enough to
justify having some on the bench. As with other uses, it has the downside of
leaving the work covered with a bit of the grease, but in this case, I don't
mind at all.

So preliminarily, the stuff has a place on my bench next to the bur life. It
will get used for drilling, and with abrasives including sepearting disks and my
diamond abrasives. Haven't tried it with gravers yet. Much of my use of
gravers is with carbide gravers, which I prefer not to use a lube with, but I
expect the stuff will work nicely there too when i need it to.

Peter

A couple of tips:
When using on burs when you don't want globs of crap everywhere, just
dip your bur then wipe it off. A clear, invisable coating will do ya.
I keep one of those small plastic jars of it on my desk unopened. The
stuff tends to dray out & stiffen up a bit. It also darkens, but it's
a little easier to work with and I usually dip my finger into it & run
the thin coating onto my not-running tools.
You need surprisingly little of the stuff.
BTW, I'm also trying it on my psoriasis...so far no changes, but with
a name like Snake Oil I had to try it.
It does a bang-up job as a coating for steel tools so they don't rust.

Thanx for trying it.
I've got 5 more little jars of it for those who might wanna give it a
go.
I'm not willing to mail it beyond the 50 states, but email me offlist
and I'll get your name & address to the guy who makes it. He'll send
you some.

Frosty

Frosty wrote:


A couple of tips:
When using on burs when you don't want globs of crap everywhere, just
dip your bur then wipe it off. A clear, invisable coating will do ya.
I keep one of those small plastic jars of it on my desk unopened. The
stuff tends to dray out & stiffen up a bit. It also darkens, but it's
a little easier to work with and I usually dip my finger into it & run
the thin coating onto my not-running tools.
You need surprisingly little of the stuff.
BTW, I'm also trying it on my psoriasis...so far no changes, but with
a name like Snake Oil I had to try it.
It does a bang-up job as a coating for steel tools so they don't rust.

Thanx for trying it.
I've got 5 more little jars of it for those who might wanna give it a
go.
I'm not willing to mail it beyond the 50 states, but email me offlist
and I'll get your name & address to the guy who makes it. He'll send
you some.

Frosty


Hey,

Today I received a second little jar. This one from Tennessee.

I know I won't use this stuff on my saw blade any time soon again. Too
clumsy. I can't just slide the blade through it, because it is in a
little jar. And the stuff is not rigid enough that I can stick it
against my bench, next to the bench pin. The only way to get it on the
saw blade is with a finger. So now I have to clean my finger every time
I want to saw after I lubed the blade.

I'm sticking with spit.

We'll see what it will do for drills later.
--
Abrasha
http://www.abrasha.com

When Frosty put fingers to keys it was 3/7/07 1:40 AM...

...
A couple of tips:
When using on burs when you don't want globs of crap everywhere, just
dip your bur then wipe it off. A clear, invisable coating will do ya.

Sounds like a variant on the watch-repairman's gasket greasing tool is
in order.
It's a bit of resiliant open-cell foam that's had the greasy material in
question mooshed into the foam, touch the tool to the foam, it has a
light coat. Cut up one of those cheap foam paintbrushes. Choose the foam
shape well and your greasy-finger days are done. Or maybe something like
one of those shoe-dye dauber bottles with the foam tip. Or maybe a
felt-tip pen.

- Carl West

On Wed, 07 Mar 2007 08:17:00 GMT in rec.crafts.jewelry Abrasha
, intended to write something intelligible, but
instead wrote :

Frosty wrote:


A couple of tips:
When using on burs when you don't want globs of crap everywhere, just
dip your bur then wipe it off. A clear, invisable coating will do ya.
I keep one of those small plastic jars of it on my desk unopened. The
stuff tends to dray out & stiffen up a bit. It also darkens, but it's
a little easier to work with and I usually dip my finger into it & run
the thin coating onto my not-running tools.
You need surprisingly little of the stuff.
BTW, I'm also trying it on my psoriasis...so far no changes, but with
a name like Snake Oil I had to try it.
It does a bang-up job as a coating for steel tools so they don't rust.

Thanx for trying it.
I've got 5 more little jars of it for those who might wanna give it a
go.
I'm not willing to mail it beyond the 50 states, but email me offlist
and I'll get your name & address to the guy who makes it. He'll send
you some.

Frosty


Hey,

Today I received a second little jar. This one from Tennessee.

Where'd the first one come from?


I know I won't use this stuff on my saw blade any time soon again. Too
clumsy. I can't just slide the blade through it, because it is in a
little jar.

Old dog, new tricks.
You're stuck in the mindset that you need a good THICK coating on yer
blade.
Try leaving the lid off, and glide your finger over the surface of the
stuff, then rub your finger (index) and thumb together like a fly,
then put a THIN coat on yer blade. OR run a thin coat on your piece
and cut thru it. You really don't need much at all.

And the stuff is not rigid enough that I can stick it
against my bench, next to the bench pin. The only way to get it on the
saw blade is with a finger. So now I have to clean my finger every time
I want to saw after I lubed the blade.

I'm sticking with spit.

We'll see what it will do for drills later.

On Wed, 07 Mar 2007 03:46:57 GMT, "Peter W.. Rowe,"
wrote:

Not sure it's all that much
better than the bur life or wintergreen oil, though for me, being sensative to
wintergreen oil, it's better on that count (pretty much odorless, at least as
compared to wintergreen)

So, do you gag when you smell wintergreen? I do. And if I've eaten
recently....

My mother had to switch to Juicy Fruit after I was born.
--
Marilee J. Layman
http://mjlayman.livejournal.com/

On Wed, 07 Mar 2007 18:44:12 -0800, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Marilee J. Layman"
wrote:

On Wed, 07 Mar 2007 03:46:57 GMT, "Peter W.. Rowe,"
wrote:

Not sure it's all that much
better than the bur life or wintergreen oil, though for me, being sensative to
wintergreen oil, it's better on that count (pretty much odorless, at least as
compared to wintergreen)

So, do you gag when you smell wintergreen? I do. And if I've eaten
recently....

My mother had to switch to Juicy Fruit after I was born.

I like the smell well enough, when brief or not too strong, or even strong as a
flavor, such as in Altoids mints. Unfortunately, keeping a little tin of the
"oil" open on my bench, such as I might do when using it as a lube for drills
or gravers, tends to give me an unpleasant headache. Easiest solution is to
simply use other lubes.

Peter

Frosty wrote:
On Wed, 07 Mar 2007 08:17:00 GMT in rec.crafts.jewelry Abrasha
, intended to write something intelligible, but
instead wrote :

Frosty wrote:

A couple of tips:
When using on burs when you don't want globs of crap everywhere, just
dip your bur then wipe it off. A clear, invisable coating will do ya.
I keep one of those small plastic jars of it on my desk unopened. The
stuff tends to dray out & stiffen up a bit. It also darkens, but it's
a little easier to work with and I usually dip my finger into it & run
the thin coating onto my not-running tools.
You need surprisingly little of the stuff.
BTW, I'm also trying it on my psoriasis...so far no changes, but with
a name like Snake Oil I had to try it.
It does a bang-up job as a coating for steel tools so they don't rust.

Thanx for trying it.
I've got 5 more little jars of it for those who might wanna give it a
go.
I'm not willing to mail it beyond the 50 states, but email me offlist
and I'll get your name & address to the guy who makes it. He'll send
you some.

Frosty

Hey,

Today I received a second little jar. This one from Tennessee.

Where'd the first one come from?

I think from the manufacturer.

Abrasha
http://www.abrasha.com