Do you use lube when sawing?

[Stuart Caruk]

I've recently started milling with a Woodmizer LT35Hyd mill. It's equipped with a 5 gallon supply of lube for the blade controlled by a manual valve that allows the lube to drip onto the blade. In class we were taught to use this all the time, and to increase the flow rate when cutting thicker planks. WM sells a commercial product that can be mixed with water, but I've been using a mixture consisting of 5 gallons of water mixed with 1/2 cup of pinesol and a couple tablespoons of dawn dish washing detergent. It seems to work just as well, but I need to stop every 2 or 3 hours to refill the container, and I just haven't yet got into the habit of turning the valve on and off when I start and stop the blade.
It would be trivial to mount a solenoid to control the flow, but most of them require some small pressure to open the diaphragm, which you won't get in a gravity feed system. This means adding a small pump to build pressure and a solenoid.
There's a guy running a commercial operation close by with a WM mill and he says he never uses any lube, unless the blade gets covered in pitch.
I'm mostly cutting Fir, Cedar, and some Alder, Maple, and Oak. DO I even need to use the lube for these woods?
I'd love to hear what the pro's use.

Thanks,

Stu

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Hi Stuart,
I always look at it as the water in the tank is to keep the blade cooler and the additive you put in in is to keep the pitch from building up on the blade.
I basically use water with a couple squirts of Dawn.....sometimes I use Cascade in the water.....it just depends on whats on hand. I have used Dawn, Cascade, Pinesol etc. I really can't tell the difference except dawn will foam when you get to much but thats no big deal to me.

The worst wood (for me)for pitch is Long Leaf Pine.....lots a sap.
I always keep a bottle of Diesel on hand and occasionally spray my blade whiles its running. It'll clean it slick as a whistle. I never, ever run plain Diesel but will spray a couple of sprays as needed.

My concern is you said you were using 5 gallons every 2 1/2 hours. IMO, sounds like a little to much. 5 gallons will last me 8 hours. But my lubemizer does spray...so this may make the difference.

****I use lube on everything I saw.****

[uler3161]

99% of what I cut is Ponderosa Pine and Red Fir. I can't see ever cutting without using lube, even in the best of situations. My old mill has a manual valve as well. It doesn't have a very fine adjust and I find myself using more than I need, but using too little is a much bigger problem.

I might use 5 gallons in 2 hours if I'm dealing with some real pitchy wood. If I was working an average 8 hour day with average logs I'd probably count on having to fill up lube 3 times. I use dish soap and give a good squeeze of the bottle every time I fill up. I'd guess a bit less than a quarter cup. I also keep a spray bottle of diesel on the mill. Really pitchy logs can get so bad I'll have to spray or two every few feet I cut. We never used to have to do this, but I'm thinking that's because of two reasons. One, the soap formula changes and doesn't work as well. Two, I'm running 1.5" blades on 1.25" rollers. It appears I get pitch buildup where the blade doesn't touch the roller. I suspect if I went to wider rollers I wouldn't have as much of a problem. However, I get quite a few sharpenings out of blades, so they get narrow enough to need the narrower rollers.

As for not running any lube unless the blade is covered in pitch, well... we've always taken the opinion that if you can start to see a line of buildup on the blade or if it starts making any extra noise, you need to increase lube. In other words, well before it's "covered in pitch"

We had a job awhile back cutting some large larch. Dad thought it was going to be a pitchy mess. I rigged up a windshield washer nozzle to an electric fuel pump and a toggle switch. Ran it through copper tubing around the exhaust and had hot water lube. I know a lot of people would probably disagree with me because they see the water as a way to keep the blade cool. But, for me, it cut like butter. Your mileage may vary.

[reswire]

I think you're not going to have any problems with a lt35, but I did own a commercially built mobile saw that used replacement bearings on the blade guides.  I started using Dawn for the blade lube, but soon realized the Dawn was "eating" all the grease out of the bearings, causing them to go bad very, very quickly.  If you use a lot of de-greaser, make sure it's not taking the grease out of bearings etc. that need lubrication.  I use de-greaser in my woodmizer, without any problems.  But the other mill was not really designed for a degreaser as a lubricant. 

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

ULER3161, Good info. This blade / pitch / lube thing is something to just try and see what works for you.
Like you said, Your milage may vary. 

[uler3161]

ULER3161, Good info. This blade / pitch / lube thing is something to just try and see what works for you.
Like you said, Your milage may vary. 

I intend to try it again on my current mill. The setup was on our old mill and the fuel pump wore out as I recall (it was used before I put it on the mill). I will likely try something other than a fuel pump. Would like to find something better than windshield washer nozzles. If I had some machining tools I might build something. Maybe someday.

I am rather curious as to what the hot water did to my blade tension. The older mill had the basic spring tensioner with no gauge so I didn't really know. I just cranked it in to the normal location we always used. But it cut fine.

[YellowHammer]

My concern is you said you were using 5 gallons every 2 1/2 hours. IMO, sounds like a little to much. 5 gallons will last me 8 hours. But my lubemizer does spray...so this may make the difference.

****I use lube on everything I saw.****

Ditto for me on both counts, except I use a drip system and still only use about 3 gallons of lube a day.  I use Cotton Picker Spindle oil, which mixes well with water, cleans the blades while providing rust protection and lubrication for any metal it comes in contact with.
YH