Squirt extra bar oil on chain when cutting?

[sixdogs]

For decades, I squirt extra bar oil on my chain and bar when the saw's working hard on bigger wood. I have an oil can with me and squirt some on every now and then. It's not that I cut a lot of wood it's just that I that I thought it helps the chain.

Is adding oil a good idea or am I wasting my time?

 

[4570Man]

Wasting time.

 

[RickB]

Not something I would ever do. If the Oiler is not keeping the bar and chain lubed properly I fix it.
If you have been doing it for decades and do not find it inefficient and wasteful you probably care very little what I do.

 

[grsthegreat]

i kind of think its waste of time....but thats my opinion. before use i always run my saw full out next to something just to check oiler, and i always see a streak of oil off the chain. leaves a trail.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I have done that too if I have a high quality spray lubricant handy. It can't hurt. Maybe it leaves a higher quality film than just bar oil. I don't use any of my saws heavily, so it probably helps wear in the long run.

 

[ericm979]

Back in the day many saws came with manual auxiliary oil pumps so you could give the chain a shot when cutting something tough.

If you're adding light oil or oil/solvent (like WD40) you're making things worse because you're diluting the bar oil.

Oil that comes up into the bar slot is going to be better than oil sprayed on top. Most of that will fling off without helping anything.

If you are running a long bar the saw might not put out enough oil, especially with modern saws. I modified my MS460's pump to put out more oil because I sometimes use a 32" bar on it. I turn the adjuster down for shorter bars.

 

[oosik]

I run my saw, full out, and ensure it leaves an oil streak on the dry boards of my cabin deck. If I thought it needs more - there is an adjustment on the saw to do just that.

 

[deserteagle71]

I have an old Professional model Homelite I bought 40 years ago. In addition to the automatic chain oiler it also has a manual oiler, thumb operated, for those times when the automatic oiling system is not enough to keep the chain cool. In the mountains around here we have ricks of juniper that were cut by Chinese woodcutters back in the late 1800s for use in ore smelters. They would pack the firewood down to the smelters on donkeys and mules. Apparently some of the smelters closed down before all the juniper was used. Some of these ricks measure 4'x4'x50' long (the juniper is cut into 4' lengths). In years past, if I could get my old International to those ricks I would load them up, take them home and cut them into stove lengths. After so many years the juniper was so hard that cutting it up was an experience - the chain would make only fine sawdust instead of the long curly shavings it did when cutting green wood. I would pump extra oil constantly - otherwise the chain would get really hot and stretch out. But I loved burning this old juniper - not just the cedar smoke smell but the wood put out so much heat! Almost like burning anthracite coal.

This is a collapsed dugout in a known Chinese woodcutters camp in central Nevada:

A couple ancient charcoal kilns in the central Nevada mountains where juniper was turned into charcoal for smelters:

 

[sixdogs]

deserteagle71--Absolutely fascinating.

 

[grsthegreat]

Those are nuclear silos