Saw blade cleaning

The latest post I found on Google was 2003 so, I'm wondering if there's any update to the saw blade cleaning process for blades used in general wood cutting in the shop. I generally use a Forrest Woodworker II and it can get really cruded up after a while. Most of what I cut is cherry and a variety of lubmer yard softwoods.

Many solvents (both petroleum based and "water" based) work but I'm wondering if there's one (or a technique) that works better than others.

Thanks

Reply to
greatviewcsc
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CMT Formula 2050 is about as easy as it gets. Environmentally safe also.

Reply to
Leon

RE: Subject

A soak blade in Simple Green using a plastic pan large enough to allow the blade to lay flat.

Soak blade overnight then scrub teeth with a tooth brush.

Blot dry with paper towels.

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

Yes, even right out of the spray bottle Simple Green is very effective and economical.

Tim

Reply to
Ellestad

I use an old plastic oil pan and a toothbrush. I have used oven cleaner, Simple Green, 409, and paint thinner. The oven cleaner seems to be the most effective, although the most caustic.

Reply to
Phisherman

blade to lay flat.

I find the lid of a 5 gallon bucket is just the right size for a 10" blade.

Joel

Reply to
joeljcarver

If soaking over night and still having to scrub with a tooth brush, I wonder if just soaking in water would have the same effect. CMT Formula 2050 needs a 15 second soak after spraying and a wipe with a paper towel.

Reply to
Leon

Great stuff, seriously...

I usually spray my regular blades when I remove them, say for ripping and dadoing, and they're spotless by the time I'm ready to reinstall them.

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Reply to
B A R R Y

Washing soda (not baking soda). Found in the laundry aisle of most grocery stores. Mix 1/4 cup in a quart of warm water in a shallow pan. Lay the blade down in it. Five minutes later, pick it up -- most of the crud will fall off by itself. What doesn't fall off, usually wipes or rinses off. Scrubbing is rarely necessary. Rinse blade clean, wipe dry, reinstall.

Quick, easy, cheap (3.5-lb box is less than $2.50), and environmentally benign -- what more can you ask?

Reply to
Doug Miller

snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com skreiv:

You can visit The Wood Whisperer and have a look at this podcast:

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Reply to
name

I tried washing soda (they call it Borax around here) and it works well. Got all the pitch off the sawblades and router bits.

David Starr

Reply to
David Starr

Washing soda and borax are not the same thing; whoever told you they were is mistaken. Washing soda is sodium carbonate; borax is sodium tetraborate; and if you think the borax worked well, just wait til you try washing soda. :-)

Reply to
Doug Miller

Dang! I just use a half teaspoon of lye and a drop of detergent in a quart of water. You shouldn't need two ounces of cleaner to get off a hundredth-ounce of gook.

After a few minutes soak, work the teeth with a toothbrush. Rinse, blot, and give the blade a few minutes on a stove or hotplate to be sure it won't rust.

Reply to
whit3rd

Get a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. If you've got a pool, and you happen to have one of those buckets that the 3" chlorine tablets come in--these work nicely too. Just be sure the bucket has been well rinsed out and there's no residual chlorine powder. The diameter of the bucket is just a bit bigger than a 10" saw blade. Having a lid on the bucket allows you to reuse the solution/cleaner without it getting contaminated with saw dust and other shop cruft.

Get one of the economy sized refills for a cleaner such as Simple Green or Formula 409. I've not used Simple Green myself, but others here have and like it. Formula 409 seems to work fine for me.

Get some marbles or maybe some of those decorative glass blobs at a store like Michael's.

Pour some (or all of it if you like) into the bucket enough to have a depth of at least two inches. Now put some marbles into the solution. These should sink and stay on the bottom. The idea here is that if you put a 10" saw blade into the solution, without the marbles, you'll find it's a bit tricky to get the saw blade back out. The marbles will hold the saw blade up off the bottom a bit thus insuring that side of the blade gets coated, but most importantly making it possible to stick your finger in the arbor hole of the blade to pull it back out of the solution.

Now let you blade soak for awhile. After it has soaked, pull it out and then brush the teeth with a tooth brush. :) Wipe off the remaining solution with a rag. As an added step, spray the blade down with something like WD40 if you like.

NOTE: If you leave a blade in for a long time, like overnight, you may find that the lettering or coating will come off when you scrub it down. I've done this a couple of times (forgot I put a blade in there) and then when I pulled the blade out the lettering came off. It hasn't affected the performance of the blade any that I can tell.

Another benefit of having this bucket of solution around is you can also soak router bits in it. Or just dip a toothbrush in there to brush off things. For example you can dip a toothbrush in the solution and then use that to clean up the gunk build-up on bandsaw blades.

Reply to
Michael Faurot

Suit yourself. Washing soda is cheaper than lye, and much more readily obtainable (I'm guessing you haven't tried to buy lye lately). And I have never needed to use a toothbrush on the saw blade when using washing soda. Of course, if you prefer to use a more expensive, more caustic alternative that's harder to find, and requires scrubbing afterward, be my guest. It's your time and your money. :-)

Reply to
Doug Miller

I've heard that it works but just FYI, borax and washing soda are NOT the same. Washing soda is sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) and the laundry additive commonly called borax (Who remembers Ronald Reagan pitching "20 Mule Team Borax" on "Death Valley Days"?) is IIRC sodium perborate, NaBO3. I'm not certain on that borax compund composition.

Reply to
Larry W

Never used anything but mineral spirits or turpentine........even denatured alchohol works fine.

Reply to
eekamouse

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