Saw Blade Cleaner?

[MikeC55]

What do you woodworkers use to clean your (carbide tip) saw blades? I was trying to cut some red oak on my chop saw and it was slow going, burning the wood, etc. It's a 60 tooth cross cut blade and still appears sharp to me, but it does have quite a bit of hard residue build up. I was thinking lacquer or paint thinner. I see there are some commercial products for this purpose but I don't feel like waiting a week for delivery (even on Amazon, boy I'm spoiled)... Any good home brew for this?

 

[PCustoms]

Subscribed

 

[toolmiser]

Oven cleaner works good, but it can discolor the steel.

Lots of people like to use simple green.

 

[Rusted Nut]

If it’s burning the wood - it’s dull!

 

[RTM]

Simple green.

I heard that oven cleaner can attack something, the attachments to the carbide? Don’t recall.

This person apparently heard the same thing.

Cleaning table saw blades

I've been using oven cleaner spray to occasionally clean my carbide saw blades. I guess everyone has self-cleaning ovens, because cheap cans aren't in the supermarket anymore. What's an alternative that's just as cheap and easy?

sawmillcreek.org

Edit: that link is cautious on SG too. Of course I haven’t used my TS but once since that was written.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

I have always heard oven cleaner. But what if the wife wasn’t home and you just threw it in the oven and hit self clean. Would this do the trick?

 

[PCustoms]

I have always heard oven cleaner. But what if the wife wasn’t home and you just threw it in the oven and hit self clean. Would this do the trick?

I think that would ruin the heat treatment on the blade, possibly weaken the carbide attachment (brazed?) and burn/stink/smoke to high heavens.

Probably not a good idea.

 

[mike93lx]

Simple green and a stiff bristle brush. I don't soak blades, just spray, let it sit for a minute and scrub. Repeat as necessary and wash with soap and water when done.

I'd never put a saw blade in an oven at self clean temps.

 

[Evilunclegrimace]

I have been using LA Awesome to clean my blades. It cost around $1.25 at the Dollar stores.

 

[gungatim]

Supposedly oven cleaner and Simple green will soften the braze on the carbide and is dangerous. They are lye based. At least that was the common belief on the woodworking forums back when they were popular.

Boeshield makes a product called "Blade & Bit". It's a spray cleaner specifically for saw blades and router bits. It works great and a bottle will last a lifetime.

Pine-sol was considered the safe and cheap go-to to clean the pitch off if you don't want to spring for the Boeshield product (at the time, it cost as much as a new blade)

 

[crerus75]

I've used oven cleaner, Simple Green, Windex, dish soap and Purple Stuff pretty much interchangeably. This is on everything from plywood blades to coarse ripping and crosscut blades, from 7-1/4" to 10". The more aggressive cleaners may strip any paint and logos off the blade but that other than that I haven't noted any damage.

Windex will not remove really heavy deposits unless you soak for a while and/or really scrub. I prefer Simple Green because it works and there aren't any fumes to deal with, unlike with oven cleaner. For heavier deposits I will either switch to Purple Stuff or just soak longer. After letting the blade soak I scrub with either a brass brush or a stiff bristle toothbrush. For really heavy deposits I sometimes have to soak a blade twice. Then I rinse and dry thoroughly.

Lye can attack brass-based metals but I think you'd have to leave a blade submerged in over cleaner a fairly long time to compromise the integrity of any brazing. Maybe over repeated applications. I've cleaned 60T combination blades in oven cleaner after cutting red oak and never had a problem (and used the same blade many times after that) but YMMV. I still prefer Simple Green or Purple Stuff because I always have some and I don't have to worry about fumes.

 

[loganb]

Simple Green or the HD Purple variant is what I start with as it's cheaper and generally more available. I've got a CMT brand blade and bit cleaner that does well at anything step 1 doesn't get...which if I'm doing it on a decent frequency isn't required...but I've been guilty of running them too long.

 

[pcmeiners]

"I heard that oven cleaner can attack something, the attachments to the carbide?"

Another myth people start to believe...
Impossible unless you left the blade soak for a very long time, or if your oven cleaner is made from strong acid ; as is any oven cleaners I have used are made from strong alkali or weaker chemicals. The guy who started this myth likely left it soak for months. Lacquer cleaner should work well. Forget the oven idea completely.

 

[Nutria]

I've had good luck with 409. I spritz it on, let it soak for a few minutes, then use a stiff nylon brush. But I don't let the blades get too nasty, so there aren't geologic strata of crud to cut through.

 

[cablebandit]

I've always used Blade and Bit from the Boeshield T9 folks

 

[purplezr2]

CMT Bit and Blade Cleaner

 

[Renegade1LI]

I use brake cleaner followed by a quick buff with some brown ruse. Seems to work better than wax or other treatments, this is provided the blade is sharp. If the blade is burning the wood its probably dull unless it's really gummed up.

 

[SteveCh]

I use the same method we did in the furniture factory I worked in for ten years: I have a shallow, old aluminum frying pan wide enough to place the blade in the bottom, then pour in either lacquer thinner or acetone, whichever I have around. Let sit overnight, then use a stiff brush to clean off the deposits, when pretty much fall off.

 

[exmaxima1]

I stack the blades in a bucket and soak with ammonia. After a few hours, rinse with hot water. Rarely is a brush needed.

 

[tak1313]

When I clean mine, I use lacquer thinner - it smells really yummy.

 

[Steve from Socal]

I had a carbide saw sharping shop in the mid 1990's we used caustic soda and water to soak the blades. Some blade stayed in the soup for days. Never saw or heard of caustic effecting braze? We recomended over cleaner to our customers for cleaning.

 

[Jgaz]

I use washing soda and a stiff bristle, toothbrush sized brush.
I clean my 10” and smaller saw blades in a standard sized Frisbee.

 

[MikeC55]

Thanks guys. I tried some window cleaner (amonia-based) and let it soak several hours. Some of it came off with a soft brush but I'm gonna try the lacquer thinner next. Keep in mind, this blade has never been cleaned over the years and has some hard deposits. It may be my imagination, but it does feel sharper after this first cleaning.