SYP Pitch and Pinesol

[homesteader1972]

Hello All,

I am milling some SYP this week. I normally use just cheap dish soap in my lube tank, but will Pinesol do a better job with keeping the blade clean? If so, what ratio do you use? I do keep a spray bottle with diesel in it to use from time to time too.

Thanks much

[4x4American]

I do 2.5 cups pinesol to 5 gal of water or washer fluid depending on weather.  I have had good luck in EWP with that.  I also add a squirt of dish soap to the 5 gal mixture.  Another thing that works great is a spray bottle mixed 70% diesel and 30% bar and chain oil.  When the blade starts talking out of the cut I give it a squirt and it clears right up.  Ive never sawed SYP though I mainly saw EWP.

[Magicman]

Since I am a "one glug per gallon" Cascade man, I have no idea how many glugs of Pinesol you would need.   ;D

[4x4American]

I've heard that degreaser works well too. 

Try adding some mayo as a tackifier  ;D

[fishfighter]

Come on guys, there has to be some kind of answer. I'm fixing to mix some pine and I sure as hell don't know.

[Joe Hillmann]

When I used pinesol in the past I just used it straight.  I put it in a oil can and give the blade one squirt before every cut.

[fishfighter]

Thanks Joe.

[customsawyer]

I use about a quart of pinesol to 5 gal of water.

[WDH]

Three or four hard squirts of Dawn dish detergent and three or four hard glugs of pinesol per 5 gallons. 

Squirts and glugs are a fine unit of measure.

[shakebone]

I use 1 cup per gallon and some laundry detergent ,I also keep a quart of tranny fluid with a small hole in the cap and give the blade a squirt . does any one have to scrape their blade from time to time if the pitch is really bad ?

[pineywoods]

. does any one have to scrape their blade from time to time if the pitch is really bad ?

Yup, sometimes have to scrape the bandwheel belts also.  :( A big old standing dead lightening killed pine loaded with pitch can be one of the toughest logs to saw.

[sandsawmill14]

does anyone use murphy oil soap (besides me). I use about 1oz to the gal of water. I  run about  1 gal per hr in syp but i dont have a lot of trouble with build up on blade but it does everywhere else.  I dont use near that much water on anything but pine. How much water do you all run hr or day?

[ncsawyer]

When it gets really bad, I've had to take the pressure washer to the blade while its running.

[Magicman]

As you can readily see, there is no "one size fits all" answer to any lube mix question and even after you develop a magic formula for yourself, you will still occasionally get pitch buildup.

[4x4American]

^ what he said

[YellowHammer]

If the mix ratio doesn't work, add more Pinesol, or whatever else you have handy, don't just turn up the water.  Too much water causes all sorts of sawing problems.  When everything's right, and the band slick and clean, it makes a sweet sound that is very recognizable.  That's when you've used the right amount of glugs and squirts.   :D
YH

[hacknchop]

I use pinsole at about 1  cup pr gallon and havent used anything else for yrs even used that ratio on the heartwood doublecut no problems dont be shy let it run as fast as you can without having the drops break into a stream,hardwood and wintertime use a little less, it seems that pitch sticks to warm blade, keep um sharp and cool and yes below freezing windsheild washer antifreeze same ratio works for me.

[drobertson]

Sawwing some pine here, and dealing with lots of sap, seems like every year once the logs thaw out the sap really gets to flowing. Lots of build up potential.  Been using bout a third of a bottle, the 3buck bottle of the blue pin-sol mixed with WW fluid, and two cascaded pouches.  And  you betcha I've had to scrap from time to time,

[fishfighter]

Thanks guys, just knew y'all would step up to the plate.

I picked up a couple loads of pine this weekend. They were fell about 3 months ago and all kinds of pitch running out the ends. Even a new chainsaw blade had a hard time bucking them due to the pitch.

[Chuck White]

I add about 2 cups of pinesol and 3-4 tablespoons of Dawn dish soap to the 5-gallon lube bottle.

If I get into some really pitchy pine, I will as some point need to scrape the buildup off of the blade!

[FeltzE]

Buy cheap dish soap and add 1-2 cups per 5 gallons of water, add windshield washer fluid for freeze protection as required.   Of all the things you may spend on sawmilling, don't be cheap on adding water and $2/bottle soap.  You will make that back in productivity...

Increase your tooth set a couple thousanths

Keep a 2 inchwood chisel on hand to scrape occasionally when you get uncontrollable build ups (not OSHA approved)

Keep sharp blades on hand, so you can keep your saw speed up and your blade heat down.

Box the heart so you can finish with smaller width boards in the hardest pitch area with the greatest saw speed.

Oh BTW, none of that will really work, but it will all help.

[redprospector]

I don't know that I've ever sawed any Southern Yellow Pine.
But I do know that I don't get the opportunity to cut much hardwood at all.
The majority of what I saw is Ponderosa Pine, Western White Pine, Douglas Fir, and White Fir...maybe a little bit of Spruce every now and then. Our pines have quite a bit of sap, or pitch in them. Like was said earlier, none of this stuff really works, but it will all help.
So I installed a "back up system" on my mill. I bought a universal coolant reservoir, a universal windshield washer pump, some hose and fittings, and a momentary push button switch at the auto parts store. I found places to install everything, and routed the hose to end up at the blade. I used a plastic barbed fitting mashed flat on one end (to make somewhat of a spray rather than a squirt), and filled the reservoir with diesel that can be sprayed on the blade when, and how much is needed. I built my rig with a "nozzle" to spray on the top and bottom of the blade, but I'm not sure if that's necessary as almost all of the pitch buildup is on the inside of the blade. I run my blades "dry" now, except for the occasional squirt of diesel and use less than 1/2 gallon a day to keep the blade clean and singing in Ponderosa, and White Pine.
That's my "magic bullet", and as said earlier it may not be what you want to do for various reasons...but it's something else to look at along with all the "laundry solutions", and it works for me. So I threw it in.  ;D

[Joe Hillmann]

For white pine I have found that not cutting them right away makes them less sticky.  Letting them lay for a few weeks makes them much easier to handle.  Of course then you have to worry about blue stain if you let them sit too long.

[DMcCoy]

This pinesol dawn combo is the best windshield cleaner I have ever used.

[caveman]

 

 
Slash Pine--one of the SYP's.  Can you tell where the heartwood and sapwood are?  We cheated and supplemented our Pinsol/laundry/dish soap concoction with a few squirts of diesel when sawing these.
Caveman