Blade Cleaner/Lube

[caveman]

I'll tell him the next time I see him.  He is quite the enabler.  Last time I talked to him about you, he referred to you affectionately as a "big ole galoot".

I would love for him to just do story time for us.  He has some good ones.  I recollect one about demonstrating an LT-70 somewhere in South America a long, long way from a spare blade guide arm and he had a wreck while sawing that bent the only one in captivity significantly.  He declared lunchtime and spent about an hour and a half manipulating that one back into conformity.

Looks like I may have to put the seat back on ours.  (this belongs in the stupid thread)  I think I tore my quadriceps in my right leg this afternoon playing kickball with the FFA students after school.   

[oldgraysawyer]

I must say I really had no intention of using it. I've been revamping my old B20 and what little I've sawn with it while tinkering on it the gulp or 2 of dawn and dash of pinesol has done fine...

however, when the neighbor across the ridge is an equipment mechanic and he kindly gifts you 25-30 gal from a machine he flushed the fuel system on I'd be a dummy at the least if I didn't try it when I get the mill fired back up.

[RetiredTech]

 My lube system for now is a spray bottle with diesel in it. (Subject to change without notice.) Of course I don't cut any where close to the amount others on here do. But, when I see a l things beginning stick to the blade I give a squirt or two on top of the moveable blade guide and it cleans right off. I have experimented with a drip system, but it's easy to get too much on the blade, then the blade squirts off the front of the wheels. I also put a squirt on the roller when I finish and let the band spin around a few times to help keep the rust down between sawing.
 It just seems wrong to me to dump water on a bare blade or bearing. But that seems to be the industry standard. I might be wrong but hey, ignorance is bliss.

[SawyerTed]

If my experience is like most beginners, I tended to use too much of a weak blade cleaning/lube recipe starting out.  Because I tended to saw slow as a beginner, heat caused buildup on the blade.  Buildup made me think I needed more weak cleaner.  It didn't work.  It just caused more buildup, wet wood and caked up sawdust. Worst case is detergents wash the grease out of guide roller bearings. Been there and done that.

Better to use very small amounts of a strong cleaner/lube.  That's why diesel works, it's a strong solvent as are methanol (windshield washer) and propylene glycol (RV Antifreeze) to lesser degrees.  Detergents work okay in enough quantity in the mixture.  I didn't start with enough in my recipe. 

All the additives for lube recipes cost something.  Given the small quantity of diesel necessary to keep blades clean, the costs are equal to or less than other products.  On 3 recent jobs of 4-5 hours each in white oak I may have used a quart of diesel.  

Last time I bought a big jug of Dawn, it was over $7.  A gallon of diesel is $3.90+/-