The Forestry Forum

General Forestry => Sawmills and Milling => Topic started by: JWright on July 02, 2012, 11:10:02 PM

Title: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: JWright on July 02, 2012, 11:10:02 PM
I am curious as to the different variation ya'll use for blade lube/tar cutter. I was told by a more experienced sawyer to use liquid laundry detergent it's cheap readily available and that helps a lot. I have not had any issues yet cuts the tar like a charm. I'm just starting with my mill and mostly built it myself. I'm cutting pine for my personal projects but people are already askin for help or to by the lumber. I'm seriously thinking of part timing it to see if I can make a full time go of it. My idea is to let this mill and some other savings get me a good ole orange one or maybe a timber king. Just trying to get some input in different things now from people that have the experience here! I can see its hard work but I knew that before I built mine as I've been around mills before and helped out some for others. I still need a lot of equipment but I'm further alon than most thought I'd get. I've rigged a winch on an 8x8 post to load my logs and help turn em. I hope to get tractor, lift, or grapple of some kind here soon. This is the part where any body can help give suggestions or recommendations so I don't have to learn the hard way!!! I will add some photos of my small set up soon.
Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: JoeBrittany21 on July 02, 2012, 11:13:50 PM
Jwright,

I am a newbie, and I cant answer your questions. But I can tell you these guys on this site are fantastic when it comes to good info. Good Luck. Joe
Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: JWright on July 03, 2012, 01:15:40 AM
Yeah I've noticed that just scanning some post that's Why I joined and started asking. Maybe I'll stir some good comments/ advice.
Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: terrifictimbersllc on July 03, 2012, 04:47:47 AM
Hi JW, welcome to FF.  I and several others here use Cascade dishwashing gel in varying amounts in water.  Add enough to the water to keep the blade clean.  It works on pine, hickory, ash buildup.    I find it cheapest at Walmart and it isn't much of an expense.   If you use the search button and type in "blade lube" you'll find quite a bit of discussion with many options.   
Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: dgdrls on July 03, 2012, 05:47:53 AM
I just cut some Hickory and used a cap-full of Pinesol to the water in the lube tank.
worked well and the slabs are not stained,

DGDrls
Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: thecfarm on July 03, 2012, 06:19:19 AM
JWright,the blade lube is a good topic.It's right up there with grits.  ;D I only saw for mine own use. I use half diesel and half chainsaw oil,BUT only at a SLOW drip.like a drip every 2-3 seconds. Looking forward to the pictures. It great sawing. Good that you can build a mill.
Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: WDH on July 03, 2012, 07:12:21 AM
I do not cut as much pine as many others here do, but I use dishwashing soap and Pine-Sol.  I use about a quarter cup of Pine-Sol to 5 gallons of water, but that might be too much.  However, it works great.
Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: Tom the Sawyer on July 03, 2012, 10:21:11 AM
I started using Cascade or Dawn and it usually worked but I ran into some elm and a few pines where it couldn't touch it.  Matt @ TK suggested Zep Heavy Duty Citrus Degreaser at 6 oz. per gallon of water.  It has worked very well on everything I have sawn so far and blades seem to stay clean much longer.  It is about $11 per gallon at Home Depot. 
Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: POSTON WIDEHEAD on July 03, 2012, 10:50:22 AM
J, Every reply to your post is a good idea and they all work depnding on what you are sawing. I can only add that I keep a bottle of diesel fuel in a spray bottle. When I hear the blade start to chatter a little due to build up, I just spray my blade 2 or 3 times with diesel. You can hear the blade get quite as the build up goes away. But like the others have said, keep a good mixture in your lube tank and a spray of diesel on the side.  smiley_thumbsup
Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: WDH on July 03, 2012, 09:01:21 PM
David,

A little spray of diesel cures a lot of ills.  Your comment reminds me of my Dad.  Whenever I got cut when I was a kid, my Dad would always put a little diesel fuel on the cut.  He said that it would kill the infection :).  So, I have had a little diesel spray in my time  :-\.  We had a dog chasing a rabbit one day, and the rabbit ran between the upturned tines of a chisel plow.  The dog did not make it between the tines, and his head was split open.  My dad liberally applied diesel fuel.

The dog did not make it.  Well, at least it killed the infection before it got started  :).  Moral of the story:  Confine the diesel fuel spray to your saw blades.....

Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: POSTON WIDEHEAD on July 03, 2012, 09:19:20 PM
Quote from: WDH on July 03, 2012, 09:01:21 PM
David,

A little spray of diesel cures a lot of ills.  Your comment reminds me of my Dad.  Whenever I got cut when I was a kid, my Dad would always put a little diesel fuel on the cut.  He said that it would kill the infection :).  So, I have had a little diesel spray in my time  :-\.  We had a dog chasing a rabbit one day, and the rabbit ran between the upturned tines of a chisel plow.  The dog did not make it between the tines, and his head was split open.  My dad liberally applied diesel fuel.

The dog did not make it.  Well, at least it killed the infection before it got started  :).  Moral of the story:  Confine the diesel fuel spray to your saw blades.....

WOW Danny....good story. I expect some of the old remides are true. I'm like you, if its good enough for my Dad....its good enough for me.

My Dad once had to drain the Diesel fuel from his old tractor. He had cut an old milk jug in two for the Diesel to drain in. There was about a half of a gallon of fuel in the jug that was cut off.  It set it down beside the well.
My dog had been out chasing bugs or whatever. It was hot and in the high 90's that day.
The dog ran up to the well, hot and thirsty and began lapping up that diesel like it was going out of style.
The dog made a strange looking face and took off running around the well house 8 times and fell over.

Poor Spot......he didn't die......HE JUST RAN OUT OF FUEL!  :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: MHineman on July 04, 2012, 02:20:28 PM
  I've got WM LT40.  I call WM and they have different recommendations for different situations and species of wood.

  I generally use about 1 cup of dishsoap and 1 to 2 cups vegetable oil in 5 gallons water when sawing hardwoods.

  I use the same plus about 2 cups Pine-Sol when sawing utility poles.

  We don't have many conifers here large enough to saw.  I used the Pine-Sol when I did saw them and it seemed to work OK.

  I start out using little or no lube then turn on the lube as I start to get buildup on the blade.  Sometimes a little all the time works, but more often a surge of liquid works best to loosen and remove the gunk.

Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: Sixacresand on July 04, 2012, 10:49:28 PM
My dad's remedy for every thing was terpentine or chewing tobacco, depending what ailed you. 

I was using pinesol but  Lately I found the cheap dish washing soap from the dollar general works pretty good too.  i haven't tried diesel yet.   Don't ususally get blade buildup unless I get into some fat lighter pine. 

On the WM LT10 the band runs on top of belts and that is where I get build up of sawdust between the blade and belts.  Seems like it should have some kind of scraper to keep it clean. 
Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: POSTON WIDEHEAD on July 04, 2012, 10:56:00 PM
Quote from: Sixacresand on July 04, 2012, 10:49:28 PM
My dad's remedy for every thing was terpentine or chewing tobacco, depending what ailed you. 

I was using pinesol but  Lately I found the cheap dish washing soap from the dollar general works pretty good too.  i haven't tried diesel yet.   Don't ususally get blade buildup unless I get into some fat lighter pine. 

On the WM LT10 the band runs on top of belts and that is where I get build up of sawdust between the blade and belts.  Seems like it should have some kind of scraper to keep it clean.

Each time I put on a new blade, I have a piece of sand paper that I use to just rub the build up ( of resin ) of the belts. It works quick and easy. I get clean belts and I'm back to sawing.
Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: Sixacresand on July 04, 2012, 11:11:36 PM
Thanks for the tip, POSTONLT40HD
Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: JWright on July 05, 2012, 12:14:02 AM
Was a good tip there POSTONLT40HD!
Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: bandmiller2 on July 05, 2012, 06:51:37 AM
Everything used for band lube is trying to approach the effectiveness of diesel fuel.If applied with a wick or very sparingly its cheap and effective.Theirs something inherently wrong with putting water on a steel cutting tool.Try different things and use what you like best. Frank C.
Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: trapper on July 05, 2012, 10:05:31 AM
Thanks for the tip, POSTONLT40HD.  Sounds like a better way than just my gloved hand.
Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: Dave VH on July 06, 2012, 12:35:29 PM
I usually only have time to mill when it's below freezing out.  a slow drip of diesel fuel works great for me.
Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: Migal on July 07, 2012, 06:30:11 PM
Im using off road diesle seems to be working so far.
Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: Solomon on August 10, 2012, 11:39:32 AM
I use off road diesel and have never had and pitch or buildup of any kind.  No problems cutting anything so far.   Even Peacan & Hickory.  One guy had a piece of Ebony  8x8x8' and it cut beutifully with a brand new blade.  Why do I see most of you saying you use some type of soap.  Is it an enviornmental thing or something?
Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: drobertson on August 10, 2012, 01:53:04 PM
Howdy folks, I use Pin-sol and water, 3 bucks will last 3-4 thousand feet range. Like said earlier might be to heavy but blades are nice and clean. You read about cleaning the wheels, no question there, the tricky part is to go fast as possible to keep that dust down and out.  Walmart is now selling a generic pin sol, 2 bucks for a bottle. Just finished for lunch today and have to say it works pretty good, fresh green syp no build up at all. I love cutting pine!
Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: Magicman on August 10, 2012, 01:59:28 PM
WM recommends soap for my sawmill.  I have never seen or had a reason to change to anything else.

I suspect that we all use what works best for us.
Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: Solomon on August 10, 2012, 03:08:02 PM
A friend here in my area, has an LT40 WM and as far as I know ,he uses straight water.  Perhaps I just havn't caught him adding the soap.
Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: Bandmill Bandit on August 10, 2012, 03:47:13 PM
i have my own recipe that resulted from a friend doing a couple of lab tests for me to find out what was in the stuff in the first place.

I alter based on what I am sawing at the time but the base is water fro the most part with soaps ranging from plain old ivory liquid to pinesol, super bug eraser concentrate, murphy's oil soap. Have a couple of gallons of a surfactant that is used in the drilling industry in the drilling mud but havent tried it yet.

if you go look in this thread you will find a lot of good information and a couple of posts from me with my recipe development.     https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,54975.msg793768.html#msg793768
Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: drobertson on August 10, 2012, 05:18:38 PM
there was a reply as to the negative results in adding water to steel in cutting operation, just have to say how do you think most of the machining gets done in all the machine shops?  The only issue with water as a coolant is when the cutter is extremely hot or, running carbide and using intermitant coolant, which shocks the cutter.
Soap water works best with most pump systems, diesel with gravity drip systems,  winter weather you need washer fluid with pumps and keep using the diesel with a drip system,  just my opinion.. David
Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: Greg Brown on August 10, 2012, 06:38:25 PM
Quote from: Sixacresand on July 04, 2012, 10:49:28 PM
My dad's remedy for every thing was terpentine or chewing tobacco, depending what ailed you. 

Ain't nothing better for a wasp sting than putting chewing tobacco on it.
Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: woodmills1 on August 10, 2012, 06:53:40 PM
I use 50/50 bar oil and diesel from a cheap spay bottle(too hard to find good metal repair shop spay cans any more)

will never go back to water that can freeze
Title: Re: Beginner Sawyer With Questions???
Post by: bandmiller2 on August 10, 2012, 08:27:46 PM
Has anyone here tried water soluable oil,common in the metal working industry,it has anti rust additives.The old time water pump lube you added to the cooling system,that turned it milky,is simular. Frank C.