Veggie oil for bar and chain?

[HolmenTree]

Well since you mentioned that ,fact being I once had the opportunity to go to the "tar sands " but declined .Oh another fact ,some of that oil was at one time intended to make it almost in my back yard at a local refinery .Still might because at this time that refinery is owned by Huskey which is Canadian .

Al I was just reading a story this morning about a Ohio congressmen Dennis Kucinich complaining about the Obama administration's plan for the proposed pipeline from the Alberta oilsands to Texas.
He calls the pipeline to Texas would turn the United States into a "sewer" for Canadian oil.
Can this guy be serious?

 

[bstewert]

Thanks everyone for the comments. I don't use enough to worry about the cost diff, and I'm not needing to make an environmental statement, altho I try to do every little bit I can. I was just wondering if it's OK for the saw.

That it's cleaner on my hands, clothes and nose is enough value for me to switch. In fact, whenever possible or practical, I bring out the Husky 316e before the gas saw. Cleaner on the ears, too.

 

[Al Smith]

Willard that tar sands deal has been going on so long it's a political football .

I'm not even sure who owns the Lima Ohio refinery now because it keeps changing ownership so often .When Husky owned it they had plans for a trans Canadian pipeline from the sands to Ohio and several other locations .

 

[Marc-Antoine]

I use rapeseed oil too. I'm not a big consumer, maybe 10-12 liters since I began a few months ago.
Different pros and cons for me, but my opinion isn't achieved.

One good point, this salad oil is better to breath or to pour on the skin.

It's merely the same price as a discount mineral bar oil, perhaps a little cheaper.

An other one, the filling of the chainsaw is much cleaner, without the long spills of the petroleum oil and much less over fillings.

A very good one, the Stihl's 1/4 turn cap is easy to lock in place.

Considering the gumming...
When I was young, I tried sun flower oil in an electrical chainsaw. Bad idea. It gummed up pretty well, and I had to completely tear down the shaw to clean it.
Now, no problem with the tank, pump and bar / chain. But actually there is some gumming in the hot places : just behind the sprocket, where hot and oily flying wood dust builds up, easy to remove, and around the cylinder's base, compact and hard to remove ( I found that because my 200T has an air leak).
-> Keep an eye on that, because it could prevent part of the engine's cooling. The compressed air can't do nothing, you have to take the engine out of the plastic body and scratch with a screw driver.

For the bar wear, not enough work on it to say something. Even for the chain loosening, it isn't obvious.
What I saw with the 200T, is it stops oiling time to time. The 200T has a poor oiler, not very effective. With this tiny oil, it seems that the oiler can't develop enough pressure to wash out the ships from the exit hole. I don't like to run my chainsaws at hight speed (perhaps the reason-why of the problem), but I have to put it at WOT 1 or 2 seconds when I notice the chain becomes dry: The chain blows out a pack of wood chips, then it works again. I suppose there's an added wear at those moments.

For me, the biggest concern is this oil seems too tiny. Easier to pump, but in the same time it reduces probably the pump efficiency by internal leak (no gasket there). I can't convince my self that it works good with long bars and large woods: some ripping chainsaws have an additional oil tank at the bar tip to give enough oiling in the huge wood, even with tacky mineral oil, so, what with this "hight fluidity" oil ?

I put salad oil too in my ms440 and 066 (50 and 55 cm bars).
But not in the 3120xp, because it doesn't run very often (fear of gumming during long term storage), it has 110 cm bar, it's costly, and ... it isn't mine.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Enlarging the oil hole in the bar is sometimes an effective way to get better flow.

 

[Magnus]

Especially on those hair pin holes there is on some Oregon and Husqvarna bars...

There is a bunch of different oils that are marketed as veg. oil.
It takes quite a bit research to get to know what is really used.

 

[Marc-Antoine]

I'll try that, thanks.

In reading some labels on salad oils, I found they are often a blend of different veggie oils. Perhaps good for cooking (I hope !), but could be annoying for mechanic (see the problem with sun flower oil).
One I found very effective (at first look), but a little costly, is the grape's seeds oil. It was my first try with veggie oils, 3 liters of old frying oil which my wife wanted to throw away. Old used oil but nice and almost clean.
I think this is a good start to look at if you search a new oil for the chain : try the frying oils. They have to be more stable at hight temp than salad oils, without gumming nor breaking, two main properties in chainsaw application with hight friction points, storage and foreign particles contamination (dust of metal, wood, soil ...).
I have to go on other food shops to see what's there. Hope to find a better oil than the current one.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Some oils will eventually dry and harden, some don't dry, or it takes almost forever. For chainsaw use, the ones that don't dry seem preferable, thinking what some people are saying about gumming up the works. The drying would be hastened by the heat. I have used a lot of different natural type oils for wood finishing purposes, some straight and some blends, always on the hunt for a good finish that gives the properties I like. For woodwork now, I have settled on Egoma oil, similar to sesame oil, really fantastic stuff and a drying type...expensive! Anyway, the 100% oils that dry, it seems to take about four days for them to set up, and then they eventually harden more over time. Some oils for finishing get a dryer additive mixed in with them, and they will harden much quicker. If you wanted to see if an oil hardens or not, an application on a piece of wood left exposed to air should tell you within a week. Don't be confused by it absorbing into the wood, even after a week if it doesn't dry, you should get an oily film on your finger when rubbing it across the wood. Thicker oil compared to applied and wiped off and only a residue left, will take longer to dry.

 

[stig]

Jay, in the part of the world that is outside of Japan, it would be called "Perilla oil".

Not obtainable here, but from what I've read about it, I can see why you like it.

I don't like linseed oil at all for turned objects, preferring a " Danish oil" variant made by a Chemist/woodturner here.

Before that, I used walnut oil. Dries/hardens slower than linseed, but has a nice lustre to it, very satiny.

It was actually used in paints before linseed oil was " invented". All the painting by the old masters are made with walnut oil based paints.

 

[kevin bingham]

Linseed is flax seed correct? there is boiled and unboiled. Boiled harde3ns for sure

 

[woodworkingboy]

Linseed really gets gummy if it remains in the thick state, like around container caps and such.

Right, Stig, Perilla oil. I believe that the only place that produces the Perilla seed, or whatever exactly they use to extract the oil, is China. I called up the fellow who markets it here to compliment him on his product, and to enquire why it took a big jump in price. I think he produces the oil as well. He said that there is worldwide increasing demand for it, and limited quantities. I also suggested that he make the oil available with a dryer in it, and he informed that he was just about to market it as an option. Subsequent to that, I did obtain some, and like it even better with the faster drying. Quite a bit quicker to use, and the sheen is greater with the dryer added type, and still quite attractive. It is just primo stuff, unlike anything that I have used previously, and I have used many types of oil. Oil finishing is a deep interest of mine. Surprising moisture durability for a natural oil as well.

I could call up the guy and enquire if he would be willing to send you some. There is no petroleum distillate in it to my knowledge, so it could conceivably go through the mail, say via surface shipment. I recommend thinning it, especially the initial applications, so it does go a long ways.