I usually run washer fluid and pine sol mix this seems to work real well for me but I cut mostly hardwoods it was also recommended to use cotton picker spindle lube it is also water based and works well cutting sappy wood like pine ,cedar etc I use the washer fluid mix all year but especially when freezing might be a issue in my books it is always recommended to use a new blade when making adjustments glad you are getting it together JB
Still getting set up but made a few cuts. Need to adjust my guides to keep the blade from climbing in the cut, especially on figured grain. Got 2 logs done...and one big one set on the mill for tomorrow.
Good luck setting up the mill. Looks like a nice setup you have there. Always liked the IH/CASE 2 wheel drive tractors. Spent many hours on them.
I'm still playing with my alignment. The factory said that I needed to adjust so that spinning it in BOTH directions 20+ wheel revolutions it doesn't walk . It seems that I can get it good, release the blade tension and come back to it the next day and it's "walking" . I guess all along I was cutting nice and straight-flat but up against the flange on the guide wheels, that they say is not right and will prematurely wear both the blades and guide wheels.
I have my fingers crossed after getting both big wheels in agreement 25 revs in each direction, previously I wasn't messing with the vertical (plumb) axis, that adds a bunch of new possibilities for screwing up. Dialed in the guide wheels on both axis and down pressure also. I'll see tomorrow. That B/W is beautiful