# Best kept cleaning secret



## Dyidawg (Feb 24, 2010)

Sounds good…...maybe my wife could help me out with this.


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## NBeener (Sep 16, 2009)

At least one blade manufacturer-Freud-specifically recommends AGAINST using oven cleaner to clean table saw blades. IIRC, it slowly breaks down the brazing, leaving the carbide tips vulnerable to flying off-an unqualified Bad Thing.

I'll stick with WD40, simple green, citrus degreaser, Lestoil, or … almost anything else.

My $0.02.

YMMV…..


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## AaronK (Nov 30, 2008)

i used a short soak in *hot* water followed by barkeepers friend with nylon bristle brush and it got my gunked up junker looking good as new.


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## AaronK (Nov 30, 2008)

ie, the less skin removed the better! a general goal in woodworking and life


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## Tim_456 (Jul 22, 2008)

I used easy off once and it worked great, until I read about it breaking down the brazing and sending the carbide tips flying like shrapnel. I've since moved to simple green which works just as good enough

Beener's right, you probably want to avoid this. I don't have any data (such as shrapnel in my head) to back up that claim, but I prefer to be safer than sorry


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## Routerisstillmyname (Oct 16, 2008)

NBeener, That's good to know. thanks for the warning. what a shame. 
Oh well, back to hot water and soap and nylon bristle brush and wd40.


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## Routerisstillmyname (Oct 16, 2008)

I've heard bad things about simple green.


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## bigike (May 25, 2009)

sounds good but do u have proof like pics of before and after?


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## Routerisstillmyname (Oct 16, 2008)

proof like pics of before and after?

Before and after cleaning pics or carbide tip flying off ?


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## NBeener (Sep 16, 2009)

A little more info ….

http://www.woodbin.com/misc/sawblade_cleaning.htm

Simple Green-with a quick soak, scrub, and rinse, seems pretty darned okay.

I would recommend against long-term (let's say …. overnight, to be safe) soaking of blades in almost anything that might clean it.

Simple Green has a bit more info, here

Some have even recommended that you go right past the original Simple Green, and-instead-use their Extreme Simple Green® Aircraft & Precision Cleaner, but … not only have I never SEEN the stuff … I'm just not going to bother ;-)

I soak for a few minutes, in a dilute mixture of the original SG, and then scrub with a nylon or brass-bristle brush.

Works fine.

More info … INCLUDING word FROM the horse's (Freud rep) mouth … here


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## Routerisstillmyname (Oct 16, 2008)

Well, if it's not safe on saw blades and router bits, It's safe for table saw cleaning.


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## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

Easy-Off is just lye, isn't it?


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

*All*
The final word by the Freud rep was soak in kerosene, and scrub with a plastic bristle brush. I think the closest thing I have to kerosene is WD40. Haven't I heard that mineral spirits would do the trick too?


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## Routerisstillmyname (Oct 16, 2008)

lye is used in oven cleaner and drain openers..So I cant' use this for cleaning table saw either? I give up ;-(


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## Routerisstillmyname (Oct 16, 2008)

Ok, who and where is this Freud rep everyone's talking about. did they spray the saw blade and leave it set there over a month or something..heck, that would dissolve anything let alone brazing.


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## OttawaP (Mar 13, 2008)

Time again to pass this along. Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda is better than ANYTHING and I've tried them all. A spoon or so in some warm water, let the blades soak for 15 min or so and a gentle cleanse with a nylon brush….spotless mirror clean. Blade gunk just melts off as it sits.
Best part is a small box will last a lifetime, has no chemical nasties and is readily available and cheap. Forget the rest and buy the best…....


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## Dusty56 (Apr 20, 2008)

Link to A&H washing"soda".....which *is not* baking soda…...
I've used the oven cleaner in the past with excellent results , but I don't think it will be worth testing my luck in the future now that you folks have given me so many other safer choices ! Thank you for sharing : )


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## AaronK (Nov 30, 2008)

i'll have to try the washing soda - we use it to make our own laundry detergent, so we're always in stock. thanks for the tip.


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## LakelandDave (Dec 25, 2009)

NBeener mentioned Lestoil - something I've used and like very much. If you'd like more information about it, see the blog I wrote about a month ago - "Works for me #6 Blade Cleaner".


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## jcees (Dec 31, 2007)

I've been using what my local sharpener uses, *Red Devil* lye. I hardly even have to use a brush, the pitch just floats off. Rinse and *VOILA!* Been doing that for years now and have not had a tooth come off yet. Blade reps are all about *SELLING * blades and supporting all of those wonderful products made *JUST *for their precious products. Yada, yada, yada…

Cleaning pitch off a saw blade ain't rocket science and anyone that *BUYS *pitch remover should call me, I have some property down here in FL that they might be interested in… heh, heh…

always,
J.C.


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## jerryz (Jun 4, 2009)

Well, I like to add my $0.02 worth of informations as there is an axion that the truth shall set you free.
Also I find that sometimes misinformation gets spread faster and better than the real thing.

Check out this website, it contains some pretty valuable information from people that deal with the process of soldering the Tungsten Carbide (the material the teeth and cutting elements in our saw blades and router bits are made of) to the Steel. The process is as somebody noted above called "Brazing" 
It is also important to know what the materials or metals the Brazing is made of.

http://www.carbideprocessors.com/pages/Brazing-Tungsten-Carbide.html

By the way not all Tungsten-Carbides are the same. They come in several different qualities most important is the size of the granules that make up the chip, the smaller the grain size the better it will resist against chipping, large grain tends to be more brittle.

I like the part in that article I pointed to, that deals with the cleaning the parts prior to be able to succesfully braze them.

The final analisys is that if the process was done properly with the best and most idoneous brazing mixture the joint will be pretty much impervious to anything.
Also if the brazing alloy used is not the recommended one then the joint can fail on it's own. Hopefully the more reputable manufacturers use only the best brazing alloys for their products.

Also important to note, is that Tungsten Carbide is pretty inert chemically ie is very stable.
This was taken from the wikipedia on tungsten carbide: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tungsten_carbide

Oxidation of WC (Tungsten-Carbide) starts at 500-600 °C.[3] It is resistant to acids and is only attacked by hydrofluoric acid/nitric acid (HF/HNO3) mixtures above room temperature.[3] It reacts with fluorine gas at room temperature and chlorine above 400 °C (752 °F) and is unreactive to dry H2 up to its melting point.[3]

Soo don't use hydrofluoric acid/nitric acid (HF/HNO3) mixtures above room temperature or fluorine gas at room temperature and chlorine above 400 °C (752 °F) and you should be pretty much safe.

Also I concurr with J.C. the people that sell all those fancy snake oils for the caring of our tools are the ones that will spread the most misinformation. As they are the ones that stand to loose the most.

Hope nobody dies of an information overdose…...


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## Newton (Jun 29, 2008)

Used to use Easy-Off all the time until they changed the formula and took the lye out. The new stuff didn't work so good. Now I use heavy duty floor cleaner and it works better than Easy-Off ever did.


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## Routerisstillmyname (Oct 16, 2008)

It looks like we're going to have to do a vote all in favor and all against and tally up the votes.


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## mnguy (Feb 4, 2009)

I use Rockler's cleaning concentrate diluted with water per instructions. Leave it in the covered cleaning tub and reuse it multiple times. A soak of 30 - 60 minutes and a scrub with a brass bristle brush gets the pitch right off. The face of the tips can be a little tough to get clean. This keeps the cost reasonable, and it's easy on my hands, too.

In general, I'd stay away from anything like Easy-Off with a really high pH. These are hard on the skin and can be very, very hard on the eyes (who wears splash goggles when they clean blades? I didn't think so  ). But, as long as you don't let a blade soak for hours and hours, I suspect almost anything is safe for the blade body, carbide, etc.


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