Cleaning your table saw blade

nice

-- Jim, Kentucky

We’ve suggested that to customers for many years and it’s a heck of a lot less money that some of these “pitch & gum removers” that are pretty much oven cleaner with a floral scent. Spray oven cleaner on the blades…go to lunch…remove oven cleaner when you return.

To many folks try and turn in a blade for sharpening that they think is dull but just has pitch buid-up. Clean it and keep cutting!

Right on andyboy.

-- http://www.federalsaw.com

If it damages alloys, how can you be sure your blades aren’t made of one of them?

-- "some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence Wake Up America!! Please read; http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/01/26-0

Thanks for the tip.

-- Whether You Think You Can or You Think You Can't, YOU ARE RIGHT!!!

Hey guys, one of my student’s is an air craft mechanic and she wondered if it might even wreck the steel. She also agreed however, as long as the cleaner is neutralised with water and maybe lightly oiled, it would be sweet.

-- Andy Halewoodworker. You can't finish if you don't finish. So finish it, because finish is everything.

Simple Green is earth friendly and works VERY well.

-- Never board, always knotty, lots of growth rings

The bottom line is clean the blade and get it off, eh?

-- "some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence Wake Up America!! Please read; http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/01/26-0

goof off works well too

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

I have used both Simple Green and EasyOff Oven Cleaner. Just depends if I want to walk to the laundry room or to the kitchen to get the cleaner!

I must say that EasyOff does a better job on that really heavy buildup. I bought a couple of 10” blades at a garage sale once because they were so cheap. Very heavy buildup. After an overnight soak, they looked almost brand new!

Routine cleaning gets the Simple Green. Works very well.

As a hint, go to the dollar store and buy a metal pizza pan, the kind with the lip that’s about a half inch deep. I have one that’s 11 inches in diameter. Ten inch blades fit perfect. That way you can put a couple washers in the pan (I superglued mine in – it keeps anybody from thinking about using the pan to make pizza! ) that will hold the blade off the pan’s bottom. Pour in enough Simple Green or EasyOff to cover the blade and let it soak. (I also spray painted the outside of the pan RED in case they missed the washers!)

Cheers!

-- Dave; Lansing, Kansas

strong black coffee works to.

ive heard oven cleaner is not a very good idea to use

I think i have also heard about certain types of cleaners which might loosen the bond between the blade and the carbide on the teeth

not sure but…

-- BRODY. NSW AUSTRALIA -arguments with turnings are rarely productive-

Thanks for the tips guys.

-- Mc Bridge Cabinets, Iowa

Does it work on coated blades too or would it damage the coating? I use easy-off quite a bit to strip paint from plastic models and it removes acrylic/enamels/chrome plating very well. Not sure how much that will strip my freud blade’s chrome.

-- Ed

I’ve had good success cleaning blades with several methods, but I consider oven cleaner to be among the harshest and messiest…it works but no better than many other methods. IIRC, Freud warns against oven cleaners, and long term soaking in Simple Green due to possible damage to the binders.

Instead, I’d try 409, kerosene, Greased Lightning, LA’s Totally Awesome, Fantastic, Goo Gone, and even Windex….whatever you have available in the house. I spray, hit the blade with a toothbrush, rinse and wipe…it’s literally a 3-4 minute process. The important thing is to clean them often.

-- Happiness is like wetting your pants...everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth....

just whatever you do, DO NOT mix household cleaners! and never ever EVER mix bleach with ANYTHING!

bleach + ammonia (as found in windex) = chloramine gas
bleach + acids (vinegar, some rust removal products, toilet bowl cleaners) = chlorine gas

Chlorine gas and water combine to make hydrochloric and hypochlorous acids.