Chain Oil

Update 17th May 2021

I have just bought 25Lt 'SuperTacKBio oil from Clarks, Dumfries. £64.50 inc VAT : P&P. The products states (> 90% pressed rapeseed oil) & (< 10% natural rubber and vegetable oil preparation). I may and try and find out where and how the oils plants are grown.

Reason for buying
After a year I have noticed the organic rapeseed oil I have been using has dried on the outside of the chain, probably from heat. Further the chain bar has coloured blue, indicating excess heat, so maybe the oil wasn't getting to the bottom of the bar, which is more used, as it wasn't tacky enough. That the oil was unfiltered also may have added other matter to the chain?

Will use for a while to see if linseed oil reside dissolves, and use olive oil alternatively


Lubricating a chainsaw chain and bar: Use organic oils

Most bio-lubricants use rapeseed oil with some additive, but neither are likely to be organic :) Further the oil as in Cotswold Gold is cultivated using Glyphosate, and as there is no requirement to qualify a non-food product it may well be GM.

Rapeseed oil is better in the winter and some argue that is has better adhesion to the chain so a good all-round oil. Note: Rapeseed oil and Olive oil are referred to as a semi drying oil.

Olive oil may be a little better in summer but will solidify in the winter.

Chain oil, should not be a drying oil it should be high in oleic acid, the non drying fatty acid In the veggie world the best oils are olive (72%), and rapeseed oil (60%)

Do not use linseed, sunflower or soya oils, which are
drying oils, good for paint

.
Rapeseed oil is arguably a bit cheaper than olive oil and may be more local, however olive oil is a bit thicker and may cling to the the chain a bit better, although in winter it can solidify and be of no use for a chain saw. Could add a little saturated oil to either?

Lubricating cycle chains and cables

The best are highly saturated fats: cocoa (60%) and coconut (87%)

  • Clean the chain with old veggie oil, maybe from chip fat scrub and wash and dry.
  • Melt enough hard oil in a pan big enough to lay the chain in and warm to a non viscous liquid
  • Wiggle the chain around in the warm oil and once you think the links have been penetrated, hang the chain above the cooling pan to drip dry.

See fatty acids

A non-drying oil is an oil which does not harden when it is exposed to air. This is as opposed to a to drying oil, which hardens completely, or a semi-drying oil, which partially hardens. Oils with an iodine number of less than 115 are considered non-drying.
Examples in alphabetical order, Almond oil, Coconut oil, Cocoa butter, Macadamia oil, Olive oil. Peanut oil, . .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-drying_oil

and . . .
The iodine value (or "iodine adsorption value" or "iodine number" or "iodine index") in chemistry is the mass of iodine in grams that is consumed by 100 grams of a chemical substance. Iodine numbers are often used to determine the amount of unsaturation in fatty acids. This unsaturation is in the form of double bonds, which react with iodine compounds. The higher the iodine number, the more C=C bonds are present in the fat.[1] It can be seen from the table that coconut oil is very saturated, which means it is good for making soap. On the other hand, linseed oil is highly unsaturated, which makes it a drying oil, well suited for making oil paints.

Drying oils
(Polyunsaturates)
Semi and Non drying
(Monounsaturate)
Non drying
(Saturated)
Linseed oil136 – 178Rapeseed Oil94 – 106Palm oil44 – 51
Sunflower oil125 – 144Peanut oil84 – 105Cocoa butter35 – 40
Soybean oil120 – 136Nagkesar seed oil  65 – 95Babassu oil14 – 20
Wheatgerm oil115 – 134Olive oil  80 – 88Coconut oil  7 – 10
Corn oil109 – 133

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iodine_number

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