Sappy wood - bandsaw cutting preparations?

[Bill in Buena Park]

I ordered these blades as discussed here, and they have arrived.

Partial reason behind the purchase was because I need to mill some extremely green wood, I believe its called "star pine", for a turning project. The logs, sitting on the floor, have yielded so much sap that it looks like puddles of melted wax pouring from each end - but wet and gummy, not dry.

I'm not sure what effect cutting this sappy wood will have on the blade (e.g., gumming) or the bandsaw table or innards, and I'm also concerned about sapping up the guide blocks and tires. To cut a bowl blank, I'm thinking of sitting a segment on wax paper to at least protect the table.

What other precautions would you take to keep blade and saw clean?

[chopnhack]

Bill, if that much sap is oozing out, there is bound to be a ton more still locked up in the wood and behind the bark. The blade will get gummed up. I don't know that you can prevent it entirely. You may have to just disassemble everything when done and give it a good cleaning. At the very least, the blade, the brushes if you have any, guide blocks/roller bearings, tires, the inner housings, table and probably the dust port. I would also double check the motor to see if any sappy material made its way there.

The only thing I can think of in ways of prevention is to coat your table with wax or other top protector. I am not sure if the blade can be treated with the spray that's used for tablesaw blades - not sure if it would cause slipping. HTH

[Bill in Buena Park]

Thanks C&H. I suspect as much, and hope that mainly the blade will sustain the worst of the mess.

My thought is that if the blade gets severe pitch buildup, I'll remove it after cutting the blank(s) and soak in turpentine. That's my first thought, anyway - unless someone sees any downside / negative impact to the blade resulting from such immersion? Is there a better product?

[chopnhack]

Mineral spirits should work fine. I don't think that there is much water content in mineral spirits if you are worried about rust. I would add that any of those commercial preps for bit and blade cleaning would probably work well too. WD-40 would probably work well in the hard to reach areas inside the bandsaw.

[Hoakie]

I tried turning some white pine (from old xmas tree) after "drying" 2 years. It was not a fun experience, my turning tools/lathe gummed up real quick and I was sticking to everything. I quickly gave up. Let me know if you find any tips/tricks that work for managing sap.

[Bill in Buena Park]

I sure will John. I haven't turned the star pine before, but it is noted for the knot pattern caused by the branches which grow around the trunk in the same plane, usually around five limbs in a plane, like this. Can't wait to see what it looks like inside.

All the sap which puddled out is finally starting to harden to a somewhat clear amber, which reminds me of the rosin blocks I used to use on my bow way back when I played fiddle.

[Bill in Buena Park]

Haven't gotten to the turning yet, but managed to cut a good size cylindrical blank out for the vessel - 5in round, 11in high.

What a chore for my 1hp Delta BS, even with the special blade. Cross-grain cuts went pretty well (had to make a new jig for log crosscutting - will post that tomorrow), but the 11in deep cylindrical cut was painful. Had to go slow, and the gullets clogged quickly with the wet pulpy fibers, which had to be clear after every 2in of kerf cut. Had to take a brass brush to the blade each time to clean it enough to cut again. The wax paper on the table really helped. Now to clean all the pulp out of the saw... Hope this ends up worthwhile!