Ignorant question time! (using lube on Oak)

[JP135]

For the past few years, I've cut 99% cedar. I've milled a few Oak logs, but not enough to be an expert. I've milled both white and red oak in the past, but it was freshly cut and the wood had plenty of moisture in it.

I needed some oak for trailer flooring. I ran across a couple of good sized standing dead white oak trees that'd been killed by our drought. The wood is solid as a rock but also very dry. Growth rings are tightly spaced - effects of long term drought that eventually killed the tree. I tried to cut this oak on my LT15 with some 7 degree blades I recently had sharpened. Within 6" my blade had climbed over an inch. Tried another freshly sharpened 7 degree blade, same result. Got a couple of brand new 4 degree blades. Much better, but still wavy. My blade tension is set per factory spec.

When I bought my saw, I got the water/lube jug, but the mounting plate was MIA. The older man I bought the mill from said he'd tried water/lube and coulden't tell any difference. Based on that advice, I never hooked up the water jug.

Finally, my two ignorant questions:
Will water with a little Dawn make any difference cutting this dry white oak?

Is the fact that this wood is dead and very dry what's causing it to be so hard for my mill to cut?

[ely]

I say get the lube tank set up and use it. I hve been sawing older oak logs and they cut hard with water.cedar seems to cut well on my mill now matter what.

[backwoods sawyer]

I agree with setting up the lube tank. Some wood requires a bit more lubricant then others and it seems you have found some of those logs. Milled some logs like that and a little diesle helped as well.
I am adding a diesle drip system for when water alone is not enough. One more trip to the parts store and it should be operational.

[customsawyer]

Is your blade warm to the touch when you change it?  I am willing to bet that the blade is heating up and you are losing tension. You might try increasing your tension a fair amount.

[Magicman]

My lube runs on everything that I saw.  I use 2 oz. (one glug) of liquid Cascade per gallon of water which does not make suds.

[JP135]

Thanks everybody. I've got the guys in the ag shop at work making me a mount for my water bottle on their fancy-schmancy CNC plasma cutter.

Customsawyer: yes is it warm to hot when I change it. I'll add more tension and see if that helps.

[Brad_S.]

"Lube" is a misnomer. The purpose of "lube" is to keep the blade clean. If you don't have a build up of pitch/gunk on your blade, then "lube" is not needed and will not aid in cutting. It doesn't make the blade slice straighter in and of itself or coat the wood to make the blade slice any better...it only keeps buildup off the blade. If you do have a buildup on the blade, that will certainly cause it to wander and then "lube" is definately in order.

[JP135]

"Lube" is a misnomer. The purpose of "lube" is to keep the blade clean. If you don't have a build up of pitch/gunk on your blade, then "lube" is not needed and will not aid in cutting. It doesn't make the blade slice straighter in and of itself or coat the wood to make the blade slice any better...it only keeps buildup off the blade. If you do have a buildup on the blade, that will certainly cause it to wander and then "lube" is definately in order.

Duly "noted".

[Ljohnsaw]

But doesn't the "lube" also cool the blade, thereby lessening the chance of loosing tension as the blade "grows" from heat?

[dboyt]

I go along with Brad's posting.  I only use lube when there is a problem with pitch build-up.  It sure won't hurt to try the lube!  You could have a guide alignment issue that didn't show up when you were cutting the more forgiving cedar.  I'm also cutting drought-killed white oak, and it is slow going.

[Beavertooth]

Yes  the lube definitely keeps the blade cool and will keep you from loosing tension. All you have to do to see this actually happen is while you are cutting with your lube running is watch your tension gauge and turn your lube off while making the cut and you will instantly see your gauge start backing off and showing you that you are loosing tension. I had a LT40HD I bought in 2005 and now have a LT70 I bought in 2007 and have run them both to make my living for the most part since 2006 cutting many species of trees and have found it is better to just run your lube on everything all the time.

[backwoods sawyer]

Like Beavertooth I picked up the Lt-70 in 06 and been making a living with it since milling anything that is placed in front of the mill :

Its not so much a matter of weather to use lube but rather how much. A blade that has lube of any type runs quieter then a dry saw, that extra noise is coming from friction, and less friction is a good thing when it comes to keeping the blade cool.

If you start seeing sawdust caking up on the wheels you are using to much and the saw will float around on it, just as seeing pitch smashed to the belts indicates you are running to little. A clean blade and wheels indicates you right amount of lube.

[Magicman]

If nothing else the soap serves as a surfactant which allows the water to more easily coat the blade.  Kinda like making the water "wetter". 

[YellowHammer]

I use lube or blade cleaner every time I fire up the saw because a single wavy cut can ruin two very expensive boards and cost a lot of money.  Fuel, time, equipment, blades, logs and such are expensive; using blade lube is about the most inexpensive component of sawing, and pays significant dividends.
I'd use blade lube even if I was sawing up a watermelon. ;D
YH

[prittgers]

There are a couple things going on here: 1), water should be viewed as a 'coolant' which begs the question:  Why is the blade hot?.
2), you probably have a loose drive belt which is exacerbating the problem.  Here's why; a loose drive belt allows the blade horizontal speed to drop when cutting becomes difficult.  The engine continues to power the drive train at a higher speed than is being transmitted to the blade teeth.

Whichever side has a better set or, perhaps sharper teeth has an advantage.  The result is that hated wavy cut.

Use a soluble oil/silicone lube additive. The reason why is that is water with detergent doesn't remove pitch.  The silicone, however, bonds with the surface of the blade at the molecular level.  It makes the surface so slick that 99% of the sticky pitch that soaks up cutting horsepower cannot adhere to the blade.  Everything last longer.  Clean blades stay cooler.  Cool blades stay set longer and sharper. 

[kensfarm]

What product do you use for the soluble oil/lube?  Thankyou ken

[prittgers]

We are having excellent results using Wood-Mizer's ADD-1 additive.  There are similar products out there but I'm not familiar with them.  We saw a lot of spruce which can be 'pitchey'.  Even so, I use 1/2 of the amount recommended and only a single drop every few seconds.  very pleased with the result !! - Parker

[kensfarm]

Thankyou... Since you're in Alaska.. do you use something different when freezing?  Anyone else use WM additive?

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Freezing weather is coming....soon.....I use windshield washer fluid.

[mesquite buckeye]

When I cut dry mesquite my blade is done after one cut without water on the blade. You can see the smoke. That kind of heat will take the edge off a blade in a hurry. :(

Some of the dry oak would be almost as hard as mesquite.