I ran diesel in my blade lube drip today for the first time. Wow, I was shocked at the difference. Clean blade, less noise from blade guides and went through logs like a hot knife through butter. Maybe some of it was in my head but for now I'm sold. I also only drip 2 drops per second. Thoughts?
What ratio to water did you run?
I used to run water in the summer but have switched to diesel year around. Steve
I have always used diesel - just a few drops per second also. I give the sawdust to neighbors and use it myself on paths through the woods. I once gave it to a neighbor for use in his chicken coop but he said he couldn't use it because he could smell diesel in it. It surprised me he could detect it with all the pine, cedar and oak present. No one else has ever complained about it and I can't detect it either. He must have an incredible sense of smell.
I remember spraying a bit of diesel on the blade from a squirty bottle and being amazed... Built a dripper and have used diesel in it ever since.
I'm a big know-nothing on this topic but I'm surprised the diesel doesn't leave too much oil on the wood...
I've used diesel for years. I think a couple of drips per second might be a bit to much. My mill has the lubemizer and I use it at the slowest setting for most sawing. Heart pine and Liveoak get a little more.
I thought too much too. Don't take much to lube that blade with diesel.
I only saw for out buildings. No nice hard wood for furniture. I built a Women cave for the wife. If she could smell diesel, she would have told me. ;) ;D
Quote from: SETexan on October 08, 2021, 03:27:34 AM
What ratio to water did you run?
Not quite sure. I just squeezed the bottle until a couple times.
A drop per second is way plenty for diesel.(in the logs I saw... not a bunch of pine or other sappy stuff...) I try to set mine a little a little slower. I don't use any water.
Have any of you tried ATF?
Quote from: customsawyer on October 08, 2021, 06:57:23 AMHeart pine and Liveoak get a little more.
We use cotton picker spindle lube or diesel. When cutting hickory, live oak, heart pine or anything else that the cotton picker spindle lube does not readily keep off of the blades, we switch the valve to the diesel lube tank. If the blade starts to get a little pitch on it, we'll run the blade for a few extra seconds at the end of the cut or increase the diesel drip until the blade is clean throughout the cut.
As a benefit, the used blades are difficult to tell from new ones as they have no rust and are shiny.
I do not worry too much about shorter B57 life as they are relatively inexpensive compared to a ruined pair of live oak slabs or a longleaf pine beam caused by a gummy, diving, stretched out blade.
I would say a drop per second even is a lot. Sometimes I forget to turn it on and after some pitch build up it only takes a few drops to clean it. Back it off until you see build up then open it slightly you might even find you're down at one per 10 seconds for some woods.
It all somehow just dissapears in the sawdust. With black walnut I've been pressure washing everything before I stack it for drying so that there's no bits masking the oxidation/colour change. Anyway sometimes the tap is running a bit fast and Im too lazy to bother tweaking it, I've noticed when washing it the rainbow oil colours across the board, so there definitely is diesel residue but it doesn't seem to bother anything. Can't smell it once dry.
I use Dawn and water. Lots of Dawn, 1/2 to 3/4 a cup per lube jug full of water.
I have a 1 gallon sprayer that hangs on the control console, it has diesel in it. A shot with sprayer before entering the cut cleans up the blade. Prior to changing blades I give the blade a shot of diesel to clean it up and oil it.
So for me it's both not either or.
When I First moved to Idaho 3 years ago, I went to a mobile job in Lewiston and when I got there my lube system was frozen solid. After that I switched to diesel and have never looked back. Although it doesn't seem to work very well on the western larch sap.
I've been using diesel with a bit of bar oil in it. Works well but the smell is awful. And I hate the kids playing in the sawdust. So I switched to water and soap. I did add the squirt bottle with diesel to clean the blade like others said..also at the end of the day I turn the water off and soap the blade with diesel and manually spin the blades to coat all the parts. Think about it. We're essentially just pouring diesel out on the ground. Then it goes into our wells and poisons us. I can smell the fuel in the sawdust.
Maybe I'm to green for most but...I grew up on the fish river in northern maine. After I left and returned to where I grew up my neighbor with a trucking business bought an old potato barn to use as a garage. The ground all around his shop stinks of grease and fuel. In the summer it's all you can smell. All that crap running right down into the river now. Luckily he's old and will be done soon. Then I'll clean it up.
I think if you can smell it like that than you are using way to much. I've been using it for years and can't smell it around my mill. A 5 gallon jug will last 30K to 40K bf. Then again maybe I can't smell.
Dawn and pinesol, if needed. Sawing 30 inch White pine logs down 2 yrs. If i use any. Logs have dried out and no sap or sticky.
On or off road Diesel. There is a huge difference? Esp. the off road dye and smell.
I only saw a little. But no strong smell around my mill.
Don't take much to lube that blade.
If there is a concoction I have tried it. For Maple, Walnut, etc I will use soapy water, but for pine it's diesel. Lube mizer on the lowest setting and you don't notice it at all. Like Custom Sawyer said, the tank lasts a long time.
Our off road diesel is ULSD so there is no smell or chemical difference between it and on road aside from the dye.
I've tried diesel in mine, and I can't turn the Lubemizer down enough. It smells like an old spill. I'm going to try some smaller diameter spray nozzles.
Quote from: YellowHammer on October 12, 2021, 02:01:23 PM
I've tried diesel in mine, and I can't turn the Lubemizer down enough. It smells like an old spill. I'm going to try some smaller diameter spray nozzles.
I certainly am not an expert on my own mill , much less a WM, but I think the Cook's felt rub pads work very well for using diesel. I have about 470 hours on my mill and probably have used about 8 or 9 gallons of fuel for lube and the blades stay clean. Since there are no belts on the wheels there is no down side. I have never smelled diesel on the lumber or in the sawdust.
I have a WM LT35, with the standard gravity fed lube tank. I would like to try diesel, but I doubt I can regulate it properly with the water jug lube system. It seems to be very inconsistent. Any recommendations on an upgrade?
I switched from the pvc valve to a hose bib on the lube tank outlet. It allows better adjustments and stays set. Once I set it to the flow rate I want a quarter of a turn shuts it off.
Mix the three!
half pint of diesel, pint of washing up liquid, an imperial gallon of water. That's what works best for me.
Quote from: KWood255 on October 17, 2021, 07:18:59 AM
I have a WM LT35, with the standard gravity fed lube tank. I would like to try diesel, but I doubt I can regulate it properly with the water jug lube system. It seems to be very inconsistent. Any recommendations on an upgrade?
I added the drip valve that I purchased from cooks on my LT 35. works great.. just replaced the clear line from the water jug to a rubber fuel line from napa and I love it. 1 drip per second when I mill fresh cut white pine full of sap and the band stays clean.. sometimes I run it with hemlock, sometimes I cut it dry.
I just added lazer to my LT 35 also to speed up my first cut on logs with some taper and to resaw my first few cut offs that I can turn into usable lumber. lazer is sweet!
Durf,
Not meaning to change the direction of this thread but the laser interests me. Do you saw indoors or out? I heard outside they are hard to see. Do you see the full length of the log or just the start? I'd be more interested in seeing where the blade will be exiting the end rather than starting which is not a big problem for me. Was it a factory/WM laser or an engineered special?
Quote from: WV Sawmiller on October 17, 2021, 11:57:25 AM
Durf,
Not meaning to change the direction of this thread but the laser interests me. Do you saw indoors or out? I heard outside they are hard to see. Do you see the full length of the log or just the start? I'd be more interested in seeing where the blade will be exiting the end rather than starting which is not a big problem for me. Was it a factory/WM laser or an engineered special?
I mill inside my building. the laser I purchased is exactly the same as what I saw on youtube channel "sawing with sandy". he installed laser on his woodland mills sawmill about a month ago. he has all the links in the video description. I mounted my laser right by the sawdust shoot on my LT 35 along with the on off switch. my band wheel door can open without hitting the laser where I mounted it. I can see the laser around half my pole barn I mill in! it should pay for its self on 1 load of logs by getting an extra board or 2 since I can now see exactly where my blade will be cutting at the far end of the log. I can quickly raise up a toe board and know where I will end up at the far end. the cut offs are much easier to re saw now as well and know on the 1st cut where you will be at the far end.
not sure how great they will work outside in the sun but I am very happy with my set up in my building.
Green lasers are much more visible in sunlight and are readily available also.
Thanks for the response.
It would take me a while to get used to sighting down that side of the mill as I have always been used to checking with the debarker and blade height on the right-hand side.
I use Dawn/water cutting hardwood. What are you cutting? Maybe Diesel works better for pine pitch?
I use Simple Green for hardwood and Pine Sol for Pine. I still get a little pitch from the pine, maybe I need to up the concentrate a little?
Quote from: Brad_bb on October 18, 2021, 12:35:53 AM
I use Dawn/water cutting hardwood. What are you cutting? Maybe Diesel works better for pine pitch?
I was using Dawn/water. Now I have the diesel dripping about 1 drip every 3 seconds. Blade is clean and everything is running great. So far I am happy. Time will tell as far as drive belt, feed hose and anything else that it makes contact with. So far, I noticed that the sawdust build-up on the blade guides is less since the switch. I am really liking it. Wish I switched earlier.
After 3 years, the clear hose has gotten hard, but it still functioning. I did replace my lube tank at around 1100 hours, the cap stretched and would come off the threads. Not 100% sure that had anything to do with the diesel or not, but that's what I blamed it on.
I really think it just depends on where you are and what you're sawing.
If you're up north and the pitchy-est wood you saw is white pine then water and dawn will probably do you just fine.
If you're in the Deep South and saw a bunch of SYP then you've got to use a diesel drip.
Water and dawn, or pinesol, just won't cut the pitch from SYP
Quote from: Mlanier on October 20, 2021, 06:49:47 AM
I really think it just depends on where you are and what you're sawing.
If you're up north and the pitchy-est wood you saw is white pine then water and dawn will probably do you just fine.
If you're in the Deep South and saw a bunch of SYP then you've got to use a diesel drip.
Water and dawn, or pinesol, just won't cut the pitch from SYP
I saw almost entirely SYP. I use dawn and water and when the blade sound changes from sap buildup, I open my valve and flood the blade. When the sap disappears, the sound quiets down, then I close the valve back to drip.
Before I change blades, I open the valve up and clean the blade of sap. Dawn and water works. Sounds like you are not using enough.
I can't wait until I get my Lubemizer kit installed. Then I won't have to manually adjust that darn valve again.
hugs, Brandi
Hey Brandi!
I tried every amount of water with dawn that you can think of, would just let the blade run and just dump the water on it but nothing works as well as a diesel drip.
All I need is about one drop every couple of seconds and there's no pitch build up on the blades or guides, the saw runs so much quieter, and I'm getting more life out of my blades.
I really didn't want to put a diesel drip on my mill and talked myself out of it more times than I can count, but since I put it on I'll never again saw pine without it.
I still use the water and dawn for hardwoods like oak or hickory, but if I'm sawing pine (which is what we saw 80% of the time) the diesel tank goes right back on the mill.
Quote from: KWood255 on October 17, 2021, 07:18:59 AM
I have a WM LT35, with the standard gravity fed lube tank. I would like to try diesel, but I doubt I can regulate it properly with the water jug lube system. It seems to be very inconsistent. Any recommendations on an upgrade?
You are correct you can not regulate it properly with the standard valve from wood mizer. you need a Sight Feed Needle Valve, Brass put it in the middle of your old water line and fill the tank with straight diesel. I use one drip every 2-3 seconds on hard wood. If i am sawing pine with a lot of sap i will turn it up to one drip every second.
If we are taking a vote i would vote diesel. Everyone has already talked about how well it cleans and cools the blade, but another benefit of diesel is it makes the daily mill clean up very easy. When i ran water there was always big globs of wet sawdust, almost like mud, every where on the roller guide, the blade belts and the sawdust shoot. With one drop of diesel every 2 seconds there is only DRY sawdust coming off the log so the clean up is real easy.