Abanaki Lil' Blue Skimmer - Did I just waste my money

ranchak · Dec 3, 2015

Enco had a 25$ off special for Cyber Monday so I have been needing an oil skimmer for my machines so I bought an Abanaki Lil' Blue Skimmer. It showed up today, I open the box and this thing is made of plastic! Did I just waste my money, I'm a little disappointed to see a $300 skimmer made of plastic. Before I decide to keep or return this is there a better model or brand to buy? I planned on moving this from machine to machine, one that uses the tube will not work in most of my machines.

bryan_machine · Dec 3, 2015

What did you expect it to be made out of? My Keller pump/filter device is about 9 kinds of plastic, cannot say I've ever had any inkling of anything breaking....

Try it and see how well it works....

ranchak · Dec 3, 2015

Powder coated steel. Your Keller is obviously plastic from the photos, not so apparent with the Abanaki. There are no bearings on the pulley, just seems like a piss poor design.

Perry Harrington · Dec 3, 2015

The only plastic I see in the picture is the belt and scrapers. And those have to be plastic, otherwise it wouldn't work well.

litlerob1 · Dec 3, 2015

Personally no problems so far, 10 years, but it's not the little one, maybe that makes a difference. It is mostly plastic meaning no rust, or when the disk sits in coolant over the weekend????

Robert

twabscs · Dec 3, 2015

I bought one a few months ago from Enco during a 20% off deal. I'm very happy with it as it seems to work great. However, I don't have anything else to compare it to. Just run it a few hours once a week and it takes all the oil right out of my pan.

Dave K · Dec 3, 2015

Personally, considering what it's used for, I wouldn't sweat the plastic. There are a lot of different types of skimmers out there, and many of them ( not all) are plastic.

ranchak · Dec 3, 2015

I just can't see this lasting for years. I think I'll get the better one that's made out of stainless or maybe make one.

Dave K · Dec 3, 2015

They do nothing but sit there are spin slowly. I don't see why it wouldn't last for years, to be honest. I've got that style, (different brand) on my Haas. Been there for at least 8 years now.

The Coolant Guy · Apr 28, 2020

Hi Ranchak. I am familiar with that Lil Blue product and am not too impressed. The Variaxe skimmer has so many more features to offer, including portability for multiple machines, never overflows on the floor, has superior access and economy for those features. Plus it is a three time patented product. Check it out at Real Coolant Solutions - Oil Skimmer, Metalworking Fluid, Coolant

TeachMePlease · Apr 29, 2020

The Coolant Guy said:
Hi Ranchak. I am familiar with that Lil Blue product and am not too impressed. The Variaxe skimmer has so many more features to offer, including portability for multiple machines, never overflows on the floor, has superior access and economy for those features. Plus it is a three time patented product. Check it out at Real Coolant Solutions - Oil Skimmer, Metalworking Fluid, Coolant

Hey, spammer... Nobody likes you.

The Coolant Guy · Apr 29, 2020

TeachMePlease said:
Hey, spammer... Nobody likes you.

I understand why you may see it that way. I am fairly new to these discussions, but not to the industry. I have been helping people for 23 years with their coolant products, process and programs.

Everyone that tries or buys these skimmers likes me, because we solve their problems.

It is hard not to be enthusiastic about a product that helps so many and it makes them happy. Here is just one guy I just met out of hundreds of others, with a pretty impressive example of what we can do besides just sump side skimming.

I understand why you don't believe me, but maybe you will believe him. YouTube

DDoug · Apr 29, 2020

The Coolant Guy said:
I understand why you may see it that way. I am fairly new to these discussions, but not to the industry. I have been helping people for 23 years with their coolant products, process and programs.

Everyone that tries or buys these skimmers likes me, because we solve their problems.

It is hard not to be enthusiastic about a product that helps so many and it makes them happy. Here is just one guy I just met out of hundreds of others, with a pretty impressive example of what we can do besides just sump side skimming.

I understand why you don't believe me, but maybe you will believe him. YouTube

We are not that dumb...we don't mis-understand you.

Your just too cheap to buy some ad space up top.

Shop Supply Guru · Apr 29, 2020

First rule of spamming on PM don't bring up a 5 year old post up out of nowhere. It would be better to start a post saying we have been in business for 400 years, we love dogs babies and saving you money! We got sooooo tired of our shops tramp oil problems so we designed this and it's SUPER MEGA AWESOME!

litlerob1 · Apr 29, 2020

Shop Supply Guru said:
First rule of spamming on PM don't bring up a 5 year old post up out of nowhere. It would be better to start a post saying we have been in business for 400 years, we love dogs babies and saving you money! We got sooooo tired of our shops tramp oil problems so we designed this and it's SUPER MEGA AWESOME!

But I thought someone was commenting on my 5 year old post.....

DDoug · Apr 29, 2020

Shop Supply Guru said:
First rule of spamming on PM don't bring up a 5 year old post up out of nowhere. It would be better to start a post saying we have been in business for 400 years, we love dogs babies and saving you money! We got sooooo tired of our shops tramp oil problems so we designed this and it's SUPER MEGA AWESOME!

And then run a bidding war/auction on the tooling for sale section.....

Ox · May 1, 2020

The Coolant Guy said:
I understand why you may see it that way. I am fairly new to these discussions, but not to the industry. I have been helping people for 23 years with their coolant products, process and programs.

Everyone that tries or buys these skimmers likes me, because we solve their problems.

It is hard not to be enthusiastic about a product that helps so many and it makes them happy. Here is just one guy I just met out of hundreds of others, with a pretty impressive example of what we can do besides just sump side skimming.

I understand why you don't believe me, but maybe you will believe him. YouTube

If you posted that on one of my boards, I would have at least deleted it, and possibly deleted you, at least for a short time.

Digging up old bones to advertise is not allowed, but there doesn't seem to be a mod on this board, so you can git away with a bit more I guess.

As a mod, I AM open to someone like you following along daily, and piping up when you have something constructive to add to a current thread/problem.
But if you start a new thread, or dig up old ones for the porpoise of advertising - you will git deleted, permanently - since you have now been warned.

-----------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox

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