One thing too, you'll notice, is how long the blade keeps turning after you disengage it. It's a great lubricant, but stinks things up a little.

Been using diesel for many years. Have also used water and various mixtures of dawn, pine sol, windshield washer fluid and there is no comparison. One drop every 5 seconds or so. Occasionally the band gets a little extra by accident or when running out of the cut. If anything, I think blades run cooler and those that have excessive heat are usually dull, not enough set, PITCH BUILD UP! (which you eliminate with diesel. ) or too much time in the cut. The odor and contamination is not a problem because even when I'm sawing guitar material, the rough sawn material gets aged, re sawn on a shop bandsaw several years later, then thicknessed , surfaced, and any diesel is long gone.

Hey, I enjoy your videos. I have had a HD36 for seven years. I saw mostly long leaf pine. Old growth, pitchy, sappy lighter wood pine trees. After about a year of pulling what little hair I have out running everything but diesel fuel with poor results I switched to diesel fuel. I don’t have anywhere near the problems with pitch sticking to the blade or wheels and belts as I did before. It makes cleaning the blade much easier when I take it off also. Some people are afraid that the diesel fuel will destroy the belts. I have replaced the belts one time in seven years. That was about two years ago. Even if I had to replace the belts once a year because of diesel fuel I would still use it. It made that much of a difference for me. There is actually a belt on the market made for the HD36 that is made to withstand diesel fuel. I don’t remember the name of it though. I think it is made of neoprene. I have just used standard Norwood belts so far.

@Plankmills

Жыл бұрын

Hey there! I really appreciate you sharing your experience! Thankyou so much!

Great experiment! I’ve only ever used diesel fuel for the blade. As far as your rubber wheel surface, yes that did wear out for me so I created a steel strap metal ring to fit around the wheel in place of the rubber. I sized it a little too tight and then I heated it up and placed it on the wheel. As it cooled off it got tight.

@Plankmills

Жыл бұрын

Interesting, Thankyou for sharing your experience!

I was told that it makes the blade slip and wears them out faster. Interesting to see how it works over time.

@Plankmills

Жыл бұрын

Interesting, thanks. It sure makes everything nice and lubricated though, And I can imagine it would make it more prone to skip beings it’s more, “slippery.”

@Plankmills

Жыл бұрын

So far I haven’t had a problem. I should do an update on a week or two and let you all know how it’s treating me.

Since you use Cook's blades you might want to check out their felt wiper system of applying the diesel to the blade. Ihave a Cook's mill and only use about a quart of diesel a day to keep the blades clean- sawing pine.

@Plankmills

7 ай бұрын

Wow! Impressive! I’d kinda like to get. A Cook’s mill someday.

I always use windshield washer fluid and a small amount of diesel fuel and it works great.

@Plankmills

Жыл бұрын

Interesting, Thanks.

this summer iam going to try bug and tar window wash

@Plankmills

Жыл бұрын

Diesel is the best solution I’ve used so far. Unless you use a lot of washer fluid with soap. I think I’ll need to add something to it though to get more fluid on the blade to help it run cooler.

Hey buddy how are ya? Thanks for trying # 2 for the rest of us. Cooks recommends it for cutting pine and other really sappy woods. Please let us know if it affects blade life and cut quality. How do ya like the rollers compared to the ceramics? I’m thinking of adding rollers to my mill. Thanks for sharing and God bless you and yours

@Plankmills

Жыл бұрын

Hey! Yeah! I’m doing good! And your welcome! I will try to do that… I like the rollers better so far, and I’ve had better cut quality with them, less wavy cuts. God bless you and yours as well.

I dump diesel fuel on a pitched up blade, immediately trashed my belts and my saw come off when it started riding on the metal. I would use diesel if It didn’t trash my belts.

@Plankmills

Жыл бұрын

That’s interesting, I know some people have used diesel and it doesn’t seem to affect the belts. I know mine haven’t been affected very much I don’t think. You don’t want to use a lot. Just a slow drip about once per second or so.

Your gonna have to mix it with other liquids and put a higher flow on that blade or it will get too hot and you'll have premature blade failures.

@Plankmills

Жыл бұрын

Ok, thanks for the advice, I run Cook’s blades and this is what they do in their saws, slow drip diesel, Now I don’t know if they add anything to it or not…

have you tried emulsifying diesel (hydro diesel) or even emulsified oil?

@Plankmills

7 ай бұрын

No I have not, Is that better than Regular diesel? I’m using Off-Road Diesel here.

@wheelsandstuff

7 ай бұрын

@@Plankmills is the off road diesel red? ive not tried diesel as we pay around £1.70 a litre in the UK. ive emulsified vegetable oil with water with a small amount of detergent and also used the soluble cutting oil, i drop a 3 tablespoons of oil in the 5ltr tank, and mix it with 2 tablespoons of liquid hand soap/dish soap - it thins out the oil and still keeps blade clean. good video though, ive not tried diesel - always thought it may cause the wood to smell, ill try it and see how it performs

@Plankmills

7 ай бұрын

Sorry I misunderstood what you meant about emulsifying it. I have tried mixing it with water, or windshield washer fluid I don’t remember, But it did not mix And yes the off-road diesel is red Here it is made specially for things like farm equipment and tractors and such… And we don’t pay tax on it like highway diesel. I’ve found that diesel worked the best for me.

It sounds like the diesel fuel makes a great blade lube and a brush on the blade will keep the blade cleaner. I am wondering if the diesel harms the wood that you cut. Can you smell the diesel on the wood after you used diesel as a lube?

@Plankmills

Жыл бұрын

It really does! I don’t know, that’s a good question. I can smell it from the general area where it’s applied but haven’t tried the wood.

@Desert_Hobo

Жыл бұрын

It won't affect the wood, you'd have to soak it before you noticed anything. The sawdust pile will have a fair bit in it, even still not really enough to do anything.

@Plankmills

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the intel.

@ricks8158

Жыл бұрын

I've heard / read if you can smell the diesel you are using to much.. maybe try to slow the application down on. I have not tried it yet.. Maybe this spring when I pull the mill out of hibernation.

@Plankmills

Жыл бұрын

Interesting,