iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

I know nothing about lube?

Started by DPForumDog, February 21, 2021, 09:14:02 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

DPForumDog

I know nothing about lube. 

      Does lube make sawing easier?
      Does lube prevent marring and discoloration?
      Does lube prevent ripples?
      Does lube keep the blade cool? 
      Do you just add a teaspoon of dawn dishwashing liquid in your tank?
      Could too much lube cause your blade to pop off?     I ask because 5 years ago i used an old oil bucket and the residue (even though I had cleaned the bucket) caused the blade to pop off.  Since then I have stuck to plain water.   

I am not sure why folks use lube and how it would help me.
     
Thanks,
Granny DP
DPForumDog 

lumber pro hd 36
Granny DP
DP Forum Dog
lumber pro hd 36

DPForumDog

Do some mills have both a water tank and a separate lube tank?  Or do most people just add lube to their water tank.  
Thanks,
Granny DP
lumber pro hd 36

Granny DP
DP Forum Dog
lumber pro hd 36

terrifictimbersllc

Lube as used here means what's being put on the blade to keep it clean.  Usually from a 5 gal container.   Lube additives are what people are talking about mixing with the water in this container.  
DJ Hoover, Terrific Timbers LLC,  Mystic CT Woodmizer Million Board Foot Club member. 2019 LT70 Super Wide 55 Yanmar,  LogRite fetching arch, WM BMS250 sharpener/BMT250 setter.  2001 F350 7.3L PSD 6 spd manual ZF 4x4 Crew Cab Long Bed

Brad_bb

Blade lube has 1 job - to keep sawdust or pitch from building up on the blade.  Building up on one side of the blade will lead to waves as it will make the band wider on one side and push the band down.

Some run straight water.  Some run water with Pinesol (if you're cutting pine or spruce, woods with sticky pitch.  Some run water with dawn dish soap.  I run water with 1/4 cup of dawn/5 gal water roughly to prevent build up on one side of the band when cutting Ash.  Some guys run diesel fuel, but I've never and don't plan to. Some with Windshield washer fluid in winter to keep from freezing.  Seems kind of expensive to me though.

Lube is not to cool a band.  If your band is getting hot, then you have another problem.
Anything someone can design, I can sure figure out how to fix!
If I say it\\\\\\\'s going to take so long, multiply that by at least 3!

slider

i cut mostly pine and i have found after 20 years
 that diesel is the best. I have sawed hardwoods but not fine hard wood stock . i put my lube on one squirt per 5 seconds and it works well in pine,
al glenn

Patrick NC

Everyone has their own recipe, but I use 2 gallons of water and enough Dawn to turn the water light blue along with a cup of pinesol. Keeps the tannin off the blade in oak and the pitch off in pine. I cut cedar dry and don't have any problems. 
Norwood HD36, Husky 372xp xtorq, 550xp mk2 , 460 rancher, Kubota l2501, Case 1845 skid steer,

driftlessinwi

I add dawn dishsoap and pyrtherin concentrate to mine.  I think it helps with bugs but haven't done a full test.  I haven't had any bug issues since using it.  Maybe someday I will make a video on it :)

trimguy

I would like to know more about the pyrtherin concentrate.  :P

Brad_bb

@driftlessinwi , I'd be careful with that.  I've had lube get me wet by accidentally turning on too high.  You don't want that stuff on you.  Can be hazardous wet.  Please be careful.  You are the only person I've hear of doing that.  

Permethrin, the synthetic version of pyrethrin is what most commercial insecticides have.  The stuff once dry is supposed to be harmless to humans.  Wet, esp in concentrate, is harmful.  It's also very poisonous to cats.

I do have a small garden sprayer with mixed Permethrin in case I hit an ant nest in a log to give them a quick dowsing.  You're the only person I've heard of mixing that in your lube.  Most treat boards with Timbor or Solubor after milling.
Anything someone can design, I can sure figure out how to fix!
If I say it\\\\\\\'s going to take so long, multiply that by at least 3!

driftlessinwi

I hear you,  it isn't concentrated in my water tank for my mill... very diluted,  maybe an ounce per 4 gallons. I use it more for a deterrent.  All the wood coming off mill is stacked right away and air dried for a year before touched again.  I would put the risk to my health lower than breathing saw dust or chainsawing :) But it is always good to be careful...

Thanks for the heads up @Brad_bb I think I will just spray it on my stacks going forward, no need to add another inhalation factor. Inhalation risk probably applies to everything one puts in their lube. I wear mask when I mill because I primarily mill black walnut, but it is hard to control who is around the mill and down wind.  Stay safe out there everyone!


kantuckid

This whole subject of blade lube tthreads tends to go the same directions as this one has, so far. 
I see Dawn mentioned often, but truth is it's one of many dish soaps out there and there are far cheaper dish soaps available. FWIW, when i worked in a tire factory for some years, most of us showered using dish soaps and a towel as the washcloth. My point is that we found the cheap crap to be unworthy of our bodies and not a real saving as most are sort of wimpy soap wise. But times have changed and there are more choices now days in off brands such as Walmart, etc.. 
Cute story: There was this one old electrician who used the soap from the dispensers that Goodyear provided-it was that greenish yellow crap you see in rest areas-a cheapo institutional soap. Things is it turned his hair a greenish cast and he used it every shift! I never knew if it reacted to him dyeing his hair or what but we all hee hawed his sopa choice. 
I've been using Dollar General Pinesol-same as real- for lube. It is an acid, whereas soap is not and of course diesel entirely different from either of those. Not to refute anyone's experience here, but I'd like to read some that is what we can call definitive on blade lubes? The choices seem to say they are far from the same yet there are very experienced folks who saw far more than myself who swear by this, that and the other lube goop.
 My btl of DG pinesol is in my MULE right now and I can attest that it's mostly water as it's been frozen solid for weeks now. The acid is like less than 2% as I recall- it's on the label. Pinesol had pine oil in the formula until 2014 but no longer does, so if you've been using it a long time it's changed from back then. WIKI says the original pine oil came only from dead pine trees so hard to come by stuff.
Is there such a thing as a true expert on blade lube? ???  
 
Kan=Kansas;tuck=Kentucky;kid=what I'm not

Durf700

I just added a drip valve with site glass and am using 1 drip per second on the stock setup on my LT 35 HD.  I am running diesel as of now.  I run dry in the summer cutting hemlock, but noticed with freezing logs that the sawdust starts to stick to the band in the winter. 

I bought the setup from cooks but havent welded anything to the mill for the wiper pad.. just installed drip valve in line for now. seems to work well and hardly uses anything.


kantuckid

I am a lifetime motorcycle rider and have always wondered if one of the MC chain lube dispensers would work on a saw mill? Never have I tried one on chain drive bikes though. 
Kan=Kansas;tuck=Kentucky;kid=what I'm not

SawyerTed

Quote from: kantuckid on February 22, 2021, 09:20:36 AM
Is there such a thing as a true expert on blade lube? ???  

Probably not.  Each region of the country and species presents different challenges so lube recipes vary.  Dawn won't work for everyone everywhere and diesel isn't always necessary.  Same is true for the recipes that use bar oil, dishwasher detergent and other products. 
Ultimately it's like anything, the good information shared here gives sawyers food for thought and we have to figure out what works in our individual situations.  There's probably a dozen recipes that might work for my sawing.  I've not hit on one better than Dawn some have been as good but not as easy. 
With that said, I'm going to try some Pine-sol.  Has anyone used one of the citrus based cleaners?
Woodmizer LT50, WM BMS 250, WM BMT 250, Kubota MX5100, IH McCormick Farmall 140, Husqvarna 372XP, Husqvarna 455 Rancher

taylorsmissbeehaven

When I picked my mill up there was a demonstration going on with a big crotch being cut. We were all told to really turn the water up when cutting this kind of stuff to keep the band cool. Is that not true? I usually use water with a bit of dishwashing soap in it when cutting pine, but just water otherwise because I thought I was cooling the band!! Brian
Opportunity is missed by most because it shows up wearing bib overalls and looks like work.

kantuckid

DG sells that too. Some are far more concentrated than others.
I saw 30% vinegar, as used for custodial cleaning,etc., in the area near hardware in Walmart last Friday. That's acetic acid, I think and pinesol your paying far more for far less acid wise-the question becomes which acid works best. While I tend to agree with your post it is mostly anecdotal based (I agree experience counts) not like someone tested things on a blade scientifically speaking was my point.
Kan=Kansas;tuck=Kentucky;kid=what I'm not

Southside

It's in Beta testing now but there is a new product coming out soon. I am a bit biased but it works better than anything out there, is water soluble, and has rust inhibitors in it. 
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

kantuckid

that sounds like machine shop lube? 
Kan=Kansas;tuck=Kentucky;kid=what I'm not

Southside

Nope, taylor made for bandsaw mills by a sponsor of the Forum with sawyer input and real world testing. 
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

Tom the Sawyer

SawyerTed,

I used a citrus product for several years, one of the guys at Timberking recommended it, ZEP Heavy Duty Citrus Degreaser.  It worked fairly well, better than the soap products I had tried.  

Last time around I bought the AGSMART Spindle Lubricant and Detergent. Could have been 5 gallon pail of water as far as I could tell.  Had been using Super S Spindle Cleaner, which worked well but shipping was more than the product.  I rarely cut softwoods other than ERC, most everything is hardwoods.
07 TK B-20, Custom log arch, 20' trailer w/log loading arch, F350 flatbed dually dump.  Piggy-back forklift.  LS tractor w/FEL, Bobcat S250 w/grapple, Stihl 025C 16", Husky 372XP 24/30" bars, Grizzly 20" planer, Nyle L200M DH kiln.
If you call and my wife says, "He's sawin logs", I ain't snoring.

YellowHammer

Quote from: kantuckid on February 22, 2021, 09:20:36 AM
Is there such a thing as a true expert on blade lube? ???  

Yes.  Not me but I stayed in a Holiday Inn once.  The most knowledgeable people I have talked to (besides guys in this Forum) is the Lubie company.  They manufacture professional band lubes/cleaners and have about a half dozen different formulas based on the the customers situation.  They, at the time and still might be, the company who manufactures the lube Woodmizer used.  They have formulas for different species, saws, speeds, feeds, etc and reflects the diversity of people's choices of home brews.  For example their lube formula for hickory is different than for pine. 
I tried several of their formulas and found I liked their water based oil emulsion best which happens to be the same basic ingredients as my all time favorite, cotton picker spindle lube which is water soluble oil with heavy detergent in an odorless form.  
For any sawyer, I would advise to buy something known from professional sources to have something to compare with their personal pet formula.  
However, what I use here sawing Appalacian hardwood may be far from optimum to someone in another region sawing different species.  
Whatever the formula used, the goal is to have and maintain an almost perfectly clean band and roller guides at all times. 
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

Thank You Sponsors!