Pitch Remover?

[David Starr]

What does everyone use to get pitch off sawblades and router bits? How well does it work? TIA

David Starr

[Doug Miller]

Not baking soda. Washing soda. You can find it in the laundry aisle of most grocery stores. It's easy, fast, cheap (three and a half pound box costs less than US $2.50), environmentally benign, and reasonably safe (but keep it out of your eyes).

Dissolve 1/4 cup in a quart of warm water in a dishpan. Lay your sawblade down in the water and watch the pitch dissolve. I mean that literally. You will see pitch dissolving in the water before the blade has even hit the bottom of the pan.

Let it soak for five or ten minutes, and most of the crud will rinse right off. If any remains, it can easily be removed with an old toothbrush, or even by simply wiping with a rag dipped in the washing soda solution.

The stuff is also great for cleaning up in the kitchen. Have a pot or pan that something got burned in? No problem. Mix it up a little stronger (one cup per quart) and soak it for an hour or two, overnight in really bad cases. Most of the crud will come out easily, without vigorous scrubbing.

[whit3rd]

Yep, that works. It's the active ingredient in dishwasher detergent, or in OxyClean.

But I use another alkali, lye; about half a teaspoon in a pint of water makes a good soak, takes off all manner of gunk. No need to make up a concentrated solution, just let it set ten minutes to an hour. And don't get in on your fingers, or let it sit on aluminum.

Anything left after the lye (sometimes soot remains), I can polish off with a buffing wheel and some emery or rouge. It's very satisfying seeing the clean surface of the carbide teeth again.

[J. Clarke]

Rockler Pitch Remover works fine for me--I suspect that any similar product works as well.

[Una]

I use anhydrous isopropyl alcohol to get pitch and tar off anything.

Una

[Phisherman]

Oven cleaner, rubber gloves, toothbrush. Rinse well. I've heard Simple Green works, although with a bit more scrubbing.

[HappyGilmore]

[Doug Miller]

a pint...

[B A R R Y]

Way better than washing soda, WD-40, kerosene, Simple Green, Goo Gone, brake cleaner, lacquer thinner, naptha, and mineral spirits. Oven cleaner works as well as 2050, but is way nastier to be around.

I haven't tried anything not listed above.

[RayV]

I have used brakekleen in the past with good results because it was what I had. After reading this thread I'll try the washing soda since I have some that I bought for rust removal.

[Leon]

There are probably a hundred solutions. CMT "the router bit company", manufactures and or sells Formula 2050, specifically made for this purpose. A little goes a long way. It works quickly and in most cases a paper towel removes the build up. You can get it on your hands. You do not have to rinse it off. It leaves a protective coating to help prevent rust. It is environmentally friendly.

[the_tool_man]

Hi David:

I've tried several of the other things mentioned in this thread, but the best thing I've found is called Super Clean (it used to be sold by Castrol, but that name has recently been dropped). It's sold in 1 gallon purple plastic jugs, like antifreeze. I think it cost something like $5 per gallon at Wal-Mart. It's a great degreaser, cleaner, pitch remover, and mild paint stripper. It's the best thing in the world for stripping paint from plastic without harming the plastic. Wear gloves and eye protection, though.

Regards, John.

[George]

Solvent versus surfactant. I like the surfactants. Most of the "phosphate-free" cleaners are based on sodium metasilicate, so a quick look at active ingredient percentages will let you know where you stand.

I use "TSP-90" which has no TSP, sadly. That was a great pitch and char remover.

[George Max]

I used to use oven cleaner. Very nasty, requires that you wear rubber gloves when using.

Now I use the bottle of pitch remover that came with a can of Boeshield I got not long ago.

If I were to buy a product just for the purpose I'd buy the CMT stuff sold for this.

[HappyGilmore]

True :) But I find I dont need to use very much. Lasts a while. Guess it depends how often you clean your blades :)

Dean

[David Starr]

OK, I tried it. Around here the supermarkets don't carry "washing soda" by that name. But they do have "borax" (20 Mule Team Borax) and a couple of competitors. I sprang for a smallest box (20oz) of "Snowy Color Safe Bleach". Ingredients are sodium perborate, sodium carbonate, and sodium silicate. Plus a lot of other good sounding stuff that probably doesn't do a thing for pitch. Mixed it with hot water, 1/8 cup borax to 2 cups hot water, about the strength you recommended. Dropped in 6 black and sticky router bits and voila, I could see the black coming off and making the water go dark. Not bad at all. Let them soak for an hour and then did a bit of scrubbing. All the sticky clots of pitch are gone, and the black stain on the metal is much lighter, although not completely gone. Works a lot better than any of the solvents (alcohol, mineral spirits, lacquer thinner) that I tried earlier.

David Starr

[Doug Miller]

Sodium carbonate is the chemical name for washing soda.

Yep, that stuff goes to work pretty quickly, doesn't it?

If you can get some pure washing soda, it will work even faster. Want me to send you some? Let me know... my real email address is in my sig, just below.

[Lew Hodgett]

Soak in Simple Green.

Lew