Canola Oil

[thewoodlands]

Thistle, one of the best purchases I made was that pancake air compressor.



zap

 

[firefighterjake]

Just a stupid question but why Canola oil? Cheap? Enviromental reasons?

Zap I have used Stihl's Arctic oil (Blue Jug) but once the saw is warmed up I noticed regular bar oil flows just fine. Trouble is getting it to flow out of the bottle at 10 degrees.

1.Safer for me
2.Environmental
3. Less Expensive

When I started milling the change was made to Canola Oil.

zap

4. No staining of wood.
5. flows better in cold temps.
6. Better than stihl eco blend doesnt gel.
7. Much easier to keep saw clean!
8. Easy to tell if your push the saw to hard. (smells like french frys)

9. You can fry up a TURKEY!


zap

10. filter it afterwards and run it through the saw!

11. You can use your saw to carve up said turkey . . . or deer . . . or any other critter . . . heck, some of the guys up here run veggie oil or similar oil through their chainsaws to cut up their moose into portions that can be more easily moved.

 

[Battenkiller]

That saw is the worst maintain saw I have ever seen. Even over one that set in a barn over 50 years right next to the west coast salt air. Shame on that guy! It would appear that its time he look at a maintaining a saw thread and not what oil to use...lmao!

No doubt about that, most of these guys are idiots with their equipment. That doesn't change what more cautious workers are discovering, and that it that canola and other veggie oils oxidize and harden when in a thin film. I'm extremely fastidious with my equipment and blow it out with 150 PSI every time I use a saw, even if for only 5 minutes. Despite doing that religiously, I still found the chains stiff and stuck in the bar groove from hardened canola. It has me concerned because that has never happened to me, even after years of a saw sitting on the shelf. I'm not about to disassemble the entire saw every time I use it just to clean it out. If 150 PSI of air can't reach it, it stays until the saw needs more serious attention.

Another plus I didn't see mentioned is that you can turn your oiler way down and still get good lubrication. Canola oil (known as "rapeseed oil" back in the day) used to be a premium machine lubricant before petrol-based products hit the scene. I imagine that's why folks started to experiment with it over other veggie oils. Even in thin films it is very slippery stuff.

 

[smokinj]

That saw is the worst maintain saw I have ever seen. Even over one that set in a barn over 50 years right next to the west coast salt air. Shame on that guy! It would appear that its time he look at a maintaining a saw thread and not what oil to use...lmao!

No doubt about that, most of these guys are idiots with their equipment. That doesn't change what more cautious workers are discovering, and that it that canola and other veggie oils oxidize and harden when in a thin film. I'm extremely fastidious with my equipment and blow it out with 150 PSI every time I use a saw, even if for only 5 minutes. Despite doing that religiously, I still found the chains stiff and stuck in the bar groove from hardened canola. It has me concerned because that has never happened to me, even after years of a saw sitting on the shelf. I'm not about to disassemble the entire saw every time I use it just to clean it out. If 150 PSI of air can't reach it, it stays until the saw needs more serious attention.

Another plus I didn't see mentioned is that you can turn your oiler way down and still get good lubrication. Canola oil (known as "rapeseed oil" back in the day) used to be a premium machine lubricant before petrol-based products hit the scene. I imagine that's why folks started to experiment with it over other veggie oils. Even in thin films it is very slippery stuff.

Milling is even tougher on the bars. I would not even give it a second thought. Chains can stick to the bar with any kind of oil. Its the pack in saw dust with the style of cutting your doing! Its not always a cross cut chip its more like milling and can become very fine. Mix with any type of oil and setting for a few days its going to stick. Some of my chain left on for a few weeks will need to be wd-40 sprayed and left to soaked over night. This is why I have a rotation.

Fine sawdust cause's the issue. Oil of any kind is the binder. Finner the dust the worst it can be. (Same issue with bar oil) Dont forget the air-fliter....My 880 can plug up in one run!

 

[Battenkiller]

Milling is even tougher on the bars. I would not even give it a second thought. Chains can stick to the bar with any kind of oil. Its the pack in saw dust with the style of cutting your doing! Its not always a cross cut chip its more like milling and can become very fine. Mix with any type of oil and setting for a few days its going to stick. Some of my chain left on for a few weeks will need to be wd-40 sprayed and left to soaked over night. This is why I have a rotation.

Fine sawdust cause's the issue. Oil of any kind is the binder. Finner the dust the worst it can be. (Same issue with bar oil) Dont forget the air-fliter....My 880 can plug up in one run!

Ain't much difference between milling and carving 'cept for the width of the cut, and some pros use 90cc saws to do the big blocking cuts on huge (WRC 4-6' across) logs, so it is a milling cut... done freehand.

This isn't packing I'm talking about, it's after the saw is blown out clean of all sawdust and left for several weeks with just a thin film of canola left on the bar and chain. Chain gets stiff as a board and cemented in the bar groove even though the groove looks clear and clean. Never happened with regular bar oil, not to me anyway, nor has it happened on any other regularly oiled power tools I have. Plus, there is the issue of hardening in and around the oiler gear, etc. Not something you routinely take out and clean every time you put the saw away.

A test is this: take a piece of glass and rub a thin smear of canola and a thin smear of bar oil on it and let it set out of the way for a month or two. See which one gets tackiest. Bet the bar oil won't change at all in that time, but the canola will be hard or at least tacky to the touch. I'd do it myself but I'm already doing an MC assay of some Denniswood that Fireman Tony sent me, last thing I need right now its more experiments.

 

[thewoodlands]

Milling is even tougher on the bars. I would not even give it a second thought. Chains can stick to the bar with any kind of oil. Its the pack in saw dust with the style of cutting your doing! Its not always a cross cut chip its more like milling and can become very fine. Mix with any type of oil and setting for a few days its going to stick. Some of my chain left on for a few weeks will need to be wd-40 sprayed and left to soaked over night. This is why I have a rotation.

Fine sawdust cause's the issue. Oil of any kind is the binder. Finner the dust the worst it can be. (Same issue with bar oil) Dont forget the air-fliter....My 880 can plug up in one run!

Ain't much difference between milling and carving 'cept for the width of the cut, and some pros use 90cc saws to do the big blocking cuts on huge (WRC 4-6' across) logs, so it is a milling cut... done freehand.

This isn't packing I'm talking about, it's after the saw is blown out clean of all sawdust and left for several weeks with just a thin film of canola left on the bar and chain. Chain gets stiff as a board and cemented in the bar groove even though the groove looks clear and clean. Never happened with regular bar oil, not to me anyway, nor has it happened on any other regularly oiled power tools I have. Plus, there is the issue of hardening in and around the oiler gear, etc. Not something you routinely take out and clean every time you put the saw away.

A test is this: take a piece of glass and rub a thin smear of canola and a thin smear of bar oil on it and let it set out of the way for a month or two. See which one gets tackiest. Bet the bar oil won't change at all in that time, but the canola will be hard or at least tacky to the touch. I'd do it myself but I'm already doing an MC assay of some Denniswood that Fireman Tony sent me, last thing I need right now its more experiments.

I'm not sure what the difference is but my saws haven't seen those problems yet, Canola Oil is supposed to adhere better to the steel bar so you can actually turn down your oil setting on your chainsaw.

zap

 

[smokinj]

Milling is even tougher on the bars. I would not even give it a second thought. Chains can stick to the bar with any kind of oil. Its the pack in saw dust with the style of cutting your doing! Its not always a cross cut chip its more like milling and can become very fine. Mix with any type of oil and setting for a few days its going to stick. Some of my chain left on for a few weeks will need to be wd-40 sprayed and left to soaked over night. This is why I have a rotation.

Fine sawdust cause's the issue. Oil of any kind is the binder. Finner the dust the worst it can be. (Same issue with bar oil) Dont forget the air-fliter....My 880 can plug up in one run!

Ain't much difference between milling and carving 'cept for the width of the cut, and some pros use 90cc saws to do the big blocking cuts on huge (WRC 4-6' across) logs, so it is a milling cut... done freehand.

This isn't packing I'm talking about, it's after the saw is blown out clean of all sawdust and left for several weeks with just a thin film of canola left on the bar and chain. Chain gets stiff as a board and cemented in the bar groove even though the groove looks clear and clean. Never happened with regular bar oil, not to me anyway, nor has it happened on any other regularly oiled power tools I have. Plus, there is the issue of hardening in and around the oiler gear, etc. Not something you routinely take out and clean every time you put the saw away.

A test is this: take a piece of glass and rub a thin smear of canola and a thin smear of bar oil on it and let it set out of the way for a month or two. See which one gets tackiest. Bet the bar oil won't change at all in that time, but the canola will be hard or at least tacky to the touch. I'd do it myself but I'm already doing an MC assay of some Denniswood that Fireman Tony sent me, last thing I need right now its more experiments.

I would quit using it asap! lol Milling guys I have not heard this from. I seen some stiff chains, but nothing wd-40 didnt take care of. Maybe shot your bar with it. Dont really know never had it happen with a clean chain and bar. I been doing this for at-least a couple years and over 8000bf. The thread you posted and what you are saying here are two different things. If one of these where an issue would be enough for me.

 

[Battenkiller]

I would quit using it asap! lol Milling guys I have not heard this from. I seen some stiff chains, but nothing wd-40 didnt take care of. Maybe shot your bar with it. Dont really know never had it happen with a clean chain and bar. I been doing this for at-least a couple years and over 8000bf. The thread you posted and what you are saying here are two different things. If one of these where an issue would be enough for me.

Nah, I'll probably still use it, just be more attentive is all.

You probably didn't read that whole thread. I know a lot of those guys and they are nuts, maybe from running saws right in their face for many years. I'm just starting, so I hope that doesn't happen to me. I use the canola mostly because I feel it is safer for me. Funny, these guys all wear chaps even with the tiny detail saws and the saw held way up in front of the face. How do you cut your leg carving that way? Face chaps would be more appropriate. And yet, most of them carve for 8-10 hours a day, breathing in both 2-stroke fumes and bar oil mist, all the while smoking up a storm and drinking like a fish at the end of the day. Seems they have their priorities crossed. That carver I mentioned from England told me he already has emphysema, so why he is more worried about the safety of his saw than the safety of his lungs is beyond me.

I feel safer using the canola, and since I do all my cutting in one spot, I feel my well is safer to drink from, too. I just thought I'd mention that maybe folks should consider stepping up their maintenance on their saws if they are using it because it is considered to be a semi-hardening oil (as opposed to linseed, walnut, and tung oils, which are fully hardening oils). Oils like this polymerize faster at higher temps, so keep that in mind is all I am saying. I've seen the evidence of a potential problem on my saws and on others, but if you aren't having any problems after all that cutting, why fix it if it ain't broke?

 

[smokinj]

I would quit using it asap! lol Milling guys I have not heard this from. I seen some stiff chains, but nothing wd-40 didnt take care of. Maybe shot your bar with it. Dont really know never had it happen with a clean chain and bar. I been doing this for at-least a couple years and over 8000bf. The thread you posted and what you are saying here are two different things. If one of these where an issue would be enough for me.

Nah, I'll probably still use it, just be more attentive is all.

You probably didn't read that whole thread. I know a lot of those guys and they are nuts, maybe from running saws right in their face for many years. I'm just starting, so I hope that doesn't happen to me. I use the canola mostly because I feel it is safer for me. Funny, these guys all wear chaps even with the tiny detail saws and the saw held way up in front of the face. How do you cut your leg carving that way? Face chaps would be more appropriate. And yet, most of them carve for 8-10 hours a day, breathing in both 2-stroke fumes and bar oil mist, all the while smoking up a storm and drinking like a fish at the end of the day. Seems they have their priorities crossed. That carver I mentioned from England told me he already has emphysema, so why he is more worried about the safety of his saw than the safety of his lungs is beyond me.

I feel safer using the canola, and since I do all my cutting in one spot, I feel my well is safer to drink from, too. I just thought I'd mention that maybe folks should consider stepping up their maintenance on their saws if they are using it because it is considered to be a semi-hardening oil (as opposed to linseed, walnut, and tung oils, which are fully hardening oils). Oils like this polymerize faster at higher temps, so keep that in mind is all I am saying. I've seen the evidence of a potential problem on my saws and on others, but if you aren't having any problems after all that cutting, why fix it if it ain't broke?

Could be because I keep my saws clean and use wd-40 on the chains and bars. Not afraid to pop the plastic top off and check the finns offten. Degrease evrything couple time a year. When I deep clean on it can set on the bench for a week. Going over every detail many times. So, someone who does not take extra care could be in for issues! Milling devil is in the details. 5-10 min runs can blow one quick.

 

[Battenkiller]

Could be because I keep my saws clean and use wd-40 on the chains and bars. Not afraid to pop the plastic top off and check the finns offten. Degrease evrything couple time a year. When I deep clean on it can set on the bench for a week. Going over every detail many times. So, someone who does not take extra care could be in for issues! Milling devil is in the details. 5-10 min runs can blow one quick.

Oh, I'm a clean freak, no worries about my saws. It's the oiler failures of other carvers that has me most alarmed. How often should you pull the inboard clutch to check and clean out the oiler gear? Daily? Not for me, I'd take something else up first. This gal has a brand 339XP, probably less than 40 hours on it. This is a little 39cc trim saw that she's not exactly pushing (new carver and all) with a 12" dime-tip bar that's barely in the wood 95% of the time. In other words... she ain't making a lot of chips. ;-) If her saw has an oiler failure after that short a time, you can hardly fault the operator.


There are hundreds of other carvers being a lot harder on their 200s, and running them for years using regular bar oil without doing anything more than blowing them out at the end of the day, if that. I've run a few of these guys' saws, and although they may look like total crap, they still run very strong.

Anyway, I'm sure you'll continue doing as you are doing, same as I will. Just thought I'd pass along what some others are finding with the canola, nothing wrong with doing that. :coolsmirk: