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DIY auxiliary oiler

Dougbert

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I've been cogitatin' on an oiler setup for my Alaskan mill for some time. A fellow packrat type at work provided a few parts and I cobbled the rest from my stash and a couple of trips to Ye Olde Hardware House. It isn't done quite yet, but I have most of it together.

The reservoir is a 16oz nalgene water bottle that Mrs. Dougbert allowed me to use. Drilled and mounted a ball valve with a male-male adapter, two rubber washers, stainless washer and brass nut. That sounds kinky.

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Out of the valve into a spiffy plastic tubing compression elbow. Bottle is hose clamped to scrap length of 3/4" aluminum angle which fits nicely into the mill upright, thusly. I plan to fab a little shelf bracket to help support the bottle.

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The tricky bit is the end. I didn't want to drill the bar, so will drip feed the bottom of the bar just after the chain rounds the tip. First good idea was to use magnets to attach the drip to the steel clamp tee.

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JB weld and 1/4" neomagicum magnets like so:

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The idea being that during mill setup and adjustment the drip end can be quickly moved out of the way and if necessary the whole oiler removed with no tools needed. The magnet will stick well, but I believe vibration will cause it to walk around. Need to test.

Plan 9 is to use a second (free) valve-a needle type-for fine flow control and mount it with magnets similar to this:

tmp-cam-405574956.jpg

My packrat colleague had an excellent idea to eliminate vibration induced movement yet still retain the tool-less magnetic attachment. I'll have to fabricate a small part this weekend to try that idea.

Thanks to Arod for the pics of his setup. Helped get the noggin' coggin'. More later...
 
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Marshy

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Have you used it yet? My only concern would be that the bar groove where the drive link is not getting the oil. The oil drops on the chain but it's just going to sling off or oil the wood chips. The point is for the oil to enter the bar groove and lubricate the sliding interface in the groove. Otherwise I like it.
 

Dougbert

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Haven't used it yet. The pics of the drip end are just mock-ups. But you bring up something important. With a drip setup, where should it drip?

Assuming level milling you'd want the oil dropping right at the edge of the bar, I guess. If milling on a slight downhill slope, maybe just back onto the bar a bit is better. It would then run down into the bar to chain interface. Either way not much will end up deep in the guide groove.
 

Dougbert

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Hmmm. I guess the hole wouldn't need to be more than 1/8" and just intersect the bottom of the groove. This Cannon bar is hardened, but I have a carbide bit. Have any of you run a drip oiler like this?
 

Wonkydonkey

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On others I’ve seen small hole in the bar like the oem oiler hole, but on the cutting side of the tip return, so oil is fed into/onto the hole, it’s a bit like the train rawing past the station, if your close enough your get sucked into it.

But what flow rate is up to you. Remember the chain has been oiled up to the tip, then mostly flung off so just a little bit is better than none. ;)
 

Jimmy in NC

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I drip oiled mine with a piece of copper ground wire (like you attach an electrical pannel to a ground rod with) to just hold the tip of the vinyl hose just off the chain/bar interface on the tip. Keep the copper an inch or so back from the end and if the vinyl hose rubs the chain no biggie. You drip the oil on the chain after the tip.. it'll get where it needs. You do not need oil in the groove, you really need it on the bottom of the chain chassis between it and the top of the rails. If you want to drill it through, do it just after the sprocket nose in the bar tip. Easy enough to swap the tip out if you want to change it.

Just my $0.02
 

Dougbert

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I've got a bunch of projects for the weekend. Hope to get some time for this one so I can try it on my next log. Thanks for all of the ideas and encouragement.
 

mdavlee

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I just had one dripping at the top of the bar. I even run only that when the Oiler was out of my 088 one time just to see if it was enough oil. In big wide cuts the chain is dry by the time it makes it to the top of the bar almost on the cutters and tie straps. 50” and wider anyway. Or 36” on some Stihl’s with stingy oilers.
 

Dougbert

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Made my cheesy bracket yesterday. Tried it out dry on one cut today to see how it behaved. Magnets work well. Compression fitting out of the valve won't work with the thick walled tube I have. Need a 1/4 to 1/8 step down adapter so I can use a barbed connector.

The bracket rode on the saw for seven cuts and didn't budge. I'll epoxy the magnets onto it next.

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Moparmyway

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So .............. V2 happened
Had more oil flow and no more compression ferrule getting beat up. Once the ferrule got hammered, the tube would wander around, so it would oil the live tip, but get flung out (slow motion shows it actually flying through the air instead of hitting the chain/bar).

IMG_7301.JPG
This dropped oil right into the opening between the bar and tip where the drivers are exposed ..................... perfect !!!IMG_7302.JPG

You can see how the groove and tip stayed wet, this time I was able to get WAY more cuts without any chain stretch, and without having to sharpen the chain.IMG_7306.JPG

Wet sawdust after the bar clamp is proof of oiling where its needed !!!IMG_7307.JPG

Also drilled a hole in the front skid so I could get to the 3120 chain adjusterIMG_7309.JPG
 
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ucm931

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Just put a similar oiler together over the weekend. Took some ideas from a few different builds I found.
Besides not having to worry about chain pitch, being able to directly oil the drivers without drilling a hole is reason enough to get a roller tip.
 

Dougbert

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Looks good, mopar, but how do you deal with changing cut thickness? Does your bottle mount just adjust up/down to accommodate? I like the idea of copper line if height can be easily adjusted.
 

ucm931

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Looks good, mopar, but how do you deal with changing cut thickness? Does your bottle mount just adjust up/down to accommodate? I like the idea of copper line if height can be easily adjusted.
Being that the reservoir is mounted to the upright with just a hose clamp or two, I imagine it's just a matter of loosening the clamp(s) slightly and sliding the oiler up or down. That's the plan for mine anyway.
 
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