National Hardwood Magazine - November 2016

Pictured is a pair of

Pictured is a pair of nozzles used to apply Biolube to the blades of a band saw blade. Biolube Inc.: Extending Tool Life For The Lumber Industry By Gary Miller Fort Wayne, IN–With no plan to expand out of the very specialized lubrication for wood tooling industry, Biolube Inc., headquartered here, is dedicated to providing the industry with trouble-free Lubie® spray application equipment and proven saw lubricants, moulder bed lubricants, grinding coolants, pitch cleaners and other specialty products. While Lubie products have been industry leaders in sawmill lubricants for over 20 years, Biolube Inc. is relatively new. Lubie products were originally introduced in 1993 under Barker Inc., a company started by George Barker who is now president and “chief gopher” of Biolube. Bob Pennycoff, executive vice president, spent 15 years with Barker managing the Lubie division and five years as the Lubrication Manager for another company. The two first met in 1990 when Pennycoff purchased Barker’s in-laws home, which was next to his. This ultimately led Pennycoff to start working at Barker Inc. “I got to know Bob over the back fence and after many years finally persuaded Bob to come to work for us,” Barker said. Barker Inc. was sold in 2007, and later the two men became partners in Biolube. The Lubie trademark had been abandoned, so Biolube bought the Lubie trademark and thus Lubie products are now sold under Biolube and Lubie is Biolube’s logo. Over the years, the Lubie product line evolved as a result of the demand for more cost efficient and ecologically friendly lubricants and coolants. Today, over 1,000 installations of Lubie saw lubrication systems have been installed on head rigs, line bars, edgers, pallet saws, gang rips, finger jointers and moulders. The installation of the Lubie LubeMaster spray system is simple and straightforward, generally taking less than one hour to install. Because the LubeMaster system is all pneumatic, only plant air is needed. The Lubie lubricant is easily applied using the low-maintenance Lubie LubeMaster Spray System, which uses all stainless steel and parts from Parker Hannifin. Biolube serves sawmills and the millwork, cabinet, flooring and moulding manufacturing industries. “If it’s made out of wood and they cut it, one way or another they have to find a way to keep their saws running long and getting the most production per hour or per shift, and that’s where we come 20 NOVEMBER 2016 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE

” We are a service oriented business. It is critical to ship our products in a timely manner, do what we say we are going to do and for our products to do what we say they are going to do. ” – Bob Pennycoff, executive vice president of Biolube Inc. Bob Pennycoff (left) is executive vice president and George Barker (right) is president of Biolube Inc., located in Fort Wayne, IN. Lubie Lube inventory is pictured above, ready for shipment. in,” Barker said. The company uses a network of about 50 distributors between 22 states in the U.S. and Canada to sell their products. Pennycoff said, “Almost all of our distributors are full service and not only sell equipment but sharpen tooling, service sawmill equipment and install new equipment…they are very experienced.” Barker added, “Our distributors are people that have hands-on experience in operating primary and secondary sawmill and manufacturing operations. We want our customers to deal with people who are experienced in the way their sawmill works. That way they get good, honest and straightforward recommendations. It is not someone sitting around with a tie on in an office somewhere, it is someone who knows the mill and who can walk in and know how to solve a problem on a Cleereman Carriage, or a McDonough Headrig or thin kerf gang.” Please turn to page 43 Harrigan Lumber, located in Monroeville, AL, uses LubeMaster on its McDonough Twin Resaw. The LubeMaster Biolube Spray System is shown here ready for installation. NOVEMBER 2016 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE 21