Welcome to permies Jason! I always enjoy hearing viewpoints and experiences of other bandsaw owners, especially if it’s woodmizer. Sounds like you have developed some practices that work well for your situation. I’m assuming you cut a lot of pine, or something with pitch, to need the diesel? That seems to be common with other mill owners I’ve talked with. I’ve never had to use it, and though I’m set up with a drip tank, I don’t even use water (and how is water supposed to mix with oil of any kind? WM actually said that??) or water/dawn detergent mix (which is what my woodmizer dealer suggests). But, I don’t mill ‘pitchy’ wood, as I cut my spruce this time of year, when it’s frozen. The birch and poplar don’t need lube at all, like most hardwoods. One thing you mentioned was a comparison to oil in chainsaws, but that’s to lube/cool the moving parts of the chain, not the teeth in the wood. If a band blade is getting hot, something else is wrong (feed rate, dull teeth, improper set, belt tension, blade tension, etc), as the water drip is not intended to cool the blade, only lubricate it to keep pitch from building up (which will also create friction and make it heat up). That’s why diesel works better, because it cuts the pitch, and you need less, vs water which needs to coat the blade to keep pitch from sticking.
I debark with a log wizard on a 45 cc saw. I not sure I understand how a water drip helps much with dirty bark, it seems like that would just make a muddy slurry? I do know any dirt is murder on a band blade, much worse than on a chainsaw chain. My $200 log wizard paid for itself quickly in longer blade life. Which model sharpener do you have?
I haven’t tried the turbo 747 blades yet but might next box. I’ve recently switched to 7 degree double hards for everything and am quite happy with those. I’d love to run 1.5s just to get the extra stiffness, but my little 15hp wouldn’t push those well I’m afraid. Good point about the deeper gullet though. Not many people consider that.
It’s a good time to be a mill owner. Sounds like lumber prices are headed up again this coming summer.