What should I use as blade lube? I have an ez boardwalk jr and will be cutting cedar, pine, red oak and white oak.
Thanks
Unless I ran into something I couldn't handle, I used water.
There are a lot of Lube threads on the forum throughout.
We have tried a variety of things. We always come back to diesel on the oak and a few other varieties. Some species you don't need anything. Technically as far as I have ever heard, its to keep the pitch buildup off the blade. But for reasons unknown, cutting through white oak goes easier with diesel as opposed to water and soap, even when both can keep the blade clean. We did use soydiesel for awhile. Problem with that is, it gels way too easy in the winter, and is expensive.
As Tom said, there are a lot of threads on it.
i use diesel as well . works well and it dont take very much to keep that blade clean. boardwalk mills are set up for diesel with a needle valve and shut off. pc
Thanks Paul. I was reading and others were using water and soap but I thought that they suggested diesel.
I use diesel or straight water....the soap mix stopped up the filters that the Cooks has just before the needle valve......If the mill is set up for it, very little diesel is required...Tim
When I ran the LT-70 we used no lube whatso and had no problems.With my own mill I use a wick and oil/ diesel mix,just a sheen on the band never seen a drop fall from the luber.Can't bring myself to put water on a polished steel band. Frank C.
Water in the summer, diesel in the winter. If diesel didn't stink I'd run it all year. Steve
Yea what steve said
I prefer to use what the sawmill manufacturer recommends because they spent the big bucks on R&D. In some cases, petroleum products will soften rubber belts, etc.
MM is right that diesel and such can eat certain things slowly. I use diesel/bar oil mix anyway with a wick and love it. Never have any buildup and only drips if I leave it on when I'm not sawing. With my homemade rig, I only have to change out the felt every few Mbt, with cheap stuff you buy at wally.
I like to use what works best for me, have no problems useing water in the summer and diesel in the winter. I don't even know what TK recomends, I think water but thats too much trouble in the winter. Steve
The guy I bought my mill from said that he used windshield washer fluid year round cuz he could get it cheap at Wally World. ;D
Water with a small amount of dish soap. Never had a buildup problem. It's better than straight water, the soap breaks the surface tension of the water ,helping it stay on the blade instead of beading up and bouncing off.
I use half bar and chain and diesel,but only a drop of two every few seconds or more time. Does not take much to keep the pitch off the blade.I doubt with the amount of mixture I'm using I'm causing any problems with the belts.It's not a steady stream like I've seen some run with water. But I'm not making furniture out of my lumber either. Some feel the diesel will cause trouble with finishing the wood off.
You guys might want to explore LubieLube (http://www.adhesives-equipment.com/lubielube/lubricants/index.php). They have a full range of woodworking lubricants to solve different problems. There literature says cheaper and better than diesel.
I have used Lubie #2 (http://www.adhesives-equipment.com/lubielube/lubricants/index.php) on my 20" Delta shop bandsaw using both Laguna 1" carbide and conventional carbon bands on the really hard (and dry) woods such as ebony/wenge. It that application it has worked great.
I've never used it on the sawmill cause I keep procrastinating. Thought maybe one of you guys would try it out and report back with all the details. Or maybe I can remember to order some for a sawmill trial.
On some mill,, mine included,, for economics, sealed bearings are used, sealed but exposed.
There life span will be greatly reduced if exposed to water.
And like the above mentioned, the wick/wiper I believe is truly the most efficient.
In most cases it is only necessary to apply the lube just once in a while.
A well set and sharpened blade should need even less,
Just before this video, I milled up a Pine, and thats why this one was done.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRQB-nL8D0w&feature=player_profilepage
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10034/2774/wsmurphyoilsoap20110803.JPG)
We have been using Murphy oil soap in our water/soap mix for the past couple of years. We mix 2-4 oz per 5 gallons depending on how much sap tends to build up. It does a pretty good job on most everything we saw and tends to leave a waxy feel to the blade.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10034/888/wsguiderepace20110331b.JPG)
As for water getting into the bearings, we've been using the above mix for a couple of years. This spring I changed out the roller guides (without grease zerks) that were more than worn out. But the bearings are still good. I don't know how much more you can expect.
your generally only worried about pitch buildup on the side of the blade that contacts the rubber tires on the wheels?
A search will produce several threads on blade lubricant. I use 10 oz. or Cascade per 5 gallons of water. This equals approximately 50ยข per fillup.
Here is one: https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,49402.msg714026.html#msg714026
Iam a big fan of magics formula works really good thanks MM!