Water cooled chainsawmilling

billstuewe · Jun 24, 2009

I have searched a bit and can find no posts where anyone has use water to cool their chain. I know it sounds crazy but a number of us Logosol owners have been doing it for years and it really works and we find NO adverse effects that you would think might occur from wetting your chains and bars. I keep my oiler on the saw turned up and add a drip mechanism so that a small steady stream of water is deposited on the nose. The bar and chain stay very cool, dust is lowered some, in hard dry wood it seems to cut easier (probably psychological??), the chain and bar stay much cleaner (a little pine-sol or citrus can be added if pitch buildup is bad). The major thing is heat is greatly reduced. I always turn off the water for the last 6' of cut or so at the end of the day to make sure everything drys out good. I also grease the sprocket good before and after and remove the chain and clean the bar groove. I have never found any moisture remaining during this clean up. I have never used a secondary oiler but think this works much better because of the above listed effects.
Has anyone out there ever tried or heard of cutting with water before? The bandmills use it all the time.
Bill

ShoerFast · Jun 24, 2009

billstuewe said:
I have searched a bit and can find no posts where anyone has use water to cool their chain. I know it sounds crazy but a number of us Logosol owners have been doing it for years and it really works and we find NO adverse effects that you would think might occur from wetting your chains and bars. I keep my oiler on the saw turned up and add a drip mechanism so that a small steady stream of water is deposited on the nose. The bar and chain stay very cool, dust is lowered some, in hard dry wood it seems to cut easier (probably psychological??), the chain and bar stay much cleaner (a little pine-sol or citrus can be added if pitch buildup is bad). The major thing is heat is greatly reduced. I always turn off the water for the last 6' of cut or so at the end of the day to make sure everything drys out good. I also grease the sprocket good before and after and remove the chain and clean the bar groove. I have never found any moisture remaining during this clean up. I have never used a secondary oiler but think this works much better because of the above listed effects.
Has anyone out there ever tried or heard of cutting with water before? The bandmills use it all the time.
Bill

Good idea! :cheers:

As it makes sense that it would cool the bar and chain were it rides on the rails. But there made to run somewhat hot that I do not see a ware benefit?

For me, the cutters ware down from sharpening long before the heel of the chain wares off the bottom.

If it made bars last longer, I would shun the extra weight, would it be worth it?

The cutters and chain do get a good coating of grime, but it dose not seem to effect much?

But now mention dust! Your very on to something! :cheers:

mtngun · Jun 24, 2009

I believe Aggiewoodbutcher posted on using water long ago, and maybe BobL, too.

I tried using a water based machining lubricant on my Alaskan's drip oiler once. It seemed to work OK, but there was no particular advantage, and it was inconvenient to carry yet another bottle of fluid into the woods.

At first I was attracted to the cost savings, but the Alaskan drip oiler doesn't consume very much oil, so cost is not a big issue.

Since there is no concern with drip oil being flung off at the nose, there is no reason you must use bar oil for the dripper. Any lubricant should work satisfactorily, as long as it is thin enough to flow. At various times I've used hydraulic oil (used), used motor oil, and used gear oil. The gear oil was a little too thick, but the others worked fine.

BobL · Jun 24, 2009

billstuewe said:
I have searched a bit and can find no posts where anyone has use water to cool their chain.

Well you didn't search very hard because there are 23 threads in the milling section that come up when you search for water cooling.

The most extensive one is this one http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=54307

MatildasMate has a home made mill which he uses water on. I have also tried it. My setup uses a hose attached to a bolt with a hole thru it and it sprays or rather dribbles water across the chain. In my posts you will see it does keep the chain cool and the dust down but I have noticed over the long term that there is perhaps slightly more bar and chain wear when milling Aussie hardwoods which are much harder than anything you guys have to deal with. I don't know about anything soft.

The best thing I have found to reduce bar and chain wear and keep a cool chain in hard wood is to keep the chain sharp as and up the Aux oil. I usually touch up after every big slab or every two small ones. For Aux Oil I use canola which is relatively cheap.

carvinmark · Jun 25, 2009

I use soapy water on my mill too, sure keeps things nice and sap free.

Matildasmate · Jun 26, 2009

BobL said:
Well you didn't search very hard because there are 23 threads in the milling section that come up when you search for water cooling.

The most extensive one is this one http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=54307

MatildasMate has a home made mill which he uses water on. I have also tried it. My setup uses a hose attached to a bolt with a hole thru it and it sprays or rather dribbles water across the chain. In my posts you will see it does keep the chain cool and the dust down but I have noticed over the long term that there is perhaps slightly more bar and chain wear when milling Aussie hardwoods which are much harder than anything you guys have to deal with. I don't know about anything soft.

The best thing I have found to reduce bar and chain wear and keep a cool chain in hard wood is to keep the chain sharp as and up the Aux oil. I usually touch up after every big slab or every two small ones. For Aux Oil I use canola which is relatively cheap.

I agree Bob with you about the extra wear on the bar , water works well , but I dont like the extra wear on the bar though . Cheers MM