Better Cuts, Zero Mess | Why a Century-old Saw Blade Manufacturer Recommends Unist

“It’s easy to promote Unist because it’s a good product. We recommend it to anybody who will listen.”

-Troy Frame, Product Development Manager

For over a century, W.D. Quinn Saw Co. has been a trusted name in the saw blade industry. Since 1903, this fifth-generation, family-owned business has specialized in producing, resharpening, and servicing saw blades—all while maintaining their dedication to quality craftsmanship. While Quinn’s commitment to excellence remains constant, their customers’ needs have evolved.

In the early days, Quinn’s blades were handcrafted for furniture makers, where every cut was a testament to the skill and care of the craftsmen. As industries and technologies have advanced, Quinn has grown alongside them—now specializing in circular saws for metal, wood, and plastics to serve a diverse range of industries.

Recognizing a Problem

With the industry-wide adoption of cold saws by the late 20^th century, W.D. Quinn Saw Co. began receiving an abnormal increase in blade service requests. Many of these blades arrived in poor condition, showing signs of gumming, galling, and premature wear. Normally, the saw’s integrated flood coolant systems would prevent these issues.

Quinn found that the premature blade wear was often caused by customers cutting dry and without coolant. Sometimes coolant was prohibited due to contamination concerns, secondary operations, or supplier requirements; other times, it was avoided because of the mess and extra cleaning it caused. These challenges impacted blade longevity and led Quinn to seek a solution.

Industry Proven, Real-World Demo

After establishing the effectiveness of MQL through rigorous testing, W.D. Quinn Saw Co. was confident in recommending Unist as a solution to their customers. However, they wanted to showcase MQL’s performance in a more tangible way.

To demonstrate the capabilities of Unist, Troy, Product Development Manager at WD Quinn Saw Co., built a demo saw station to illustrate MQL’s performance in a typical operational setting. The demo unit served to highlight how MQL could consistently deliver extended blade life, eliminate flood coolant, and provide cleaner operations in a high-speed cutting environment.

Troy explained:

“The Unist MQL systems are great. Having no mess and very little daily cost goes a long way. I’ve installed many Unist systems using the bat type nozzle and running Unist oils on cold sawing applications. The Unist oils are light but adhere to the cutting edges, offering protection where it’s most critical. Even a blade that appears dry will perform well if it’s being run within its intended speed and feed parameters.”

The demo unit also served to showcase the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of MQL. The system was able to cut through 8620 steel with a carbide-tipped blade at an impressive cycle time of 6.5 seconds—a significant improvement over the 23.4-second cycle time with a high-speed steel blade. The system was filled to only 14 oz of oil, after 400+ cuts on the demo system, the Unist oil reservoir level had barely dropped. Troy explained further, “Most of the applications we support only use 2-3 oz of oil during an 8-hour shift of production sawing”.
 

Process Integration and MQL Education

Once customers realize their blade life is becoming a recurring issue, they begin to understand the true value Unist MQL provides. As Troy puts it, “Most customers don’t realize they have a problem until their blades start gumming up, wearing out prematurely, or needing excessive sharpening. Once they understand the cost and downtime this incurs, they start seeing the value in switching to MQL.”

Even after adoption, MQL education remains a key aspect of the process. Proper understanding and setup are critical to realizing the full benefits. Troy explains, “When tuned correctly, the MQL system dispenses so little lubricant that it’s almost invisible. There’s barely any visible lubricant on the machine or the material.” This minimal application often shocks customers used to seeing a pool of coolant and a cloud of fog around their machines. “They’re just so used to seeing coolant everywhere, and it takes time for them to realize that it (MQL) is actually more effective when we use less,” he says.

One of the most common mistakes customers make is switching to water-based fluids, often due to cost. However, this can create more issues than it solves. Troy notes, “I’ve seen them run other products that are inferior. They’re usually water-based products. I’ve had some headaches where customers want to save a few dollars and think that putting a water-based product into your lubricator is going to do the same thing. It doesn’t work out so well.”

Instead, Quinn recommends that MQL users stick with Unist’s high-quality Coolube lubricants. In Troy’s words: “Unist has three different oils for non-ferrous and ferrous materials, all well-suited for their intended purposes, with almost no detectable residue or staining on the machine, parts, or chips”.
 

Customer Feedback and Success

Troy shares that the feedback from users has been overwhelmingly positive. “It’s easy to promote Unist because it’s a good product. We recommend it to anybody who will listen.”

The key factors driving customer satisfaction are cleanliness and blade performance. Troy points out, “Cleanliness and blade performance are the two biggest selling points for me. I’ve walked into shops where they’ve had to use multiple fans just to blow coolant smog around the facility. That’s not an issue with the MQL system.”

Quinn notes that for customers seeking fast solutions, Unist systems are not only easy to retrofit but also deliver immediate, measurable improvements in blade performance and operational efficiency.