How do you clean your saw blades?

Simple Green

Or ... that pink stuff woodcraft sells.

I'm firmly against the advice of using oven cleaner. For ~$100 a blade, i'm not putting anything that MIGHT be harmful to it, especially if something else works fine. It just isn't worth the chance.
 
Simple Green

Or ... that pink stuff woodcraft sells.

I'm firmly against the advice of using oven cleaner. For ~$100 a blade, i'm not putting anything that MIGHT be harmful to it, especially if something else works fine. It just isn't worth the chance.

A word of caution comes from the Simple Green website itself for those that use Simple Green to clean their blades...

BLADES, CARBIDE & SAW BLADES
Simple Green has been successfully used by many woodworkers over many years as a good “spray – wipe – rinse” cleaner for saw blades. When pitch is fairly fresh (typically within a 12-hr period since deposit) it is fairly easily removed with Simple Green. Older, dried-out pitch is much more difficult to remove. We do not recommend long-term soaking of Carbide blades in Simple Green. Long-term exposure like this can possibly cause cobalt leaching that will, in turn, affect the integrity or carbide. Shorter term “spray/wipe/rinse” applications do not create that kind of problem.
It has been reported to us that long-term soaking of carbide blades covered with older, tougher buildup of pitch in strong, black coffee does a great job of removing pitch without harming the blade.
 
Ammonia and an old toothbrush for me. For all the hand wringing I've seen over the years about various chemicals potentially damaging blades, I've yet to see any documentation of the problem. I think its just manufacturer's lawyers wanting to avoid potential liability.

Unless you've got one of those red blades, acetone also works well, but though it won't hurt your carbide, it won't do you any good :D
 
How do you clean your sawblades

I use CMT orange. I place the sawblade in a five gallon bucket top, spray
both sides of the blade, and let it sit for ten or fifteen minutes. I then scrub
it with a stiff nylon bristle brush (from both sides of blade), rinse off blade
and dry. Works well for me.
 
Most kitchen degreasers work great...409, White Lightning, LA's Totally Awesome...($1), Simple Green, etc., all worked as well as my Boeshield Blade n Bit cleaner. Goo Gone citrus cleaner works really well too.

I spritz them, hit them lightly with toothbrush or brass brush, and am usually done in 3-4 minutes depending on how dirty the blade was.
 
For all the hand wringing I've seen over the years about various chemicals potentially damaging blades, I've yet to see any documentation of the problem.

I have. Some greatly magnified photos of the carbide and brazing from Frued, showing the carbide binders eaten away, leaving the whole thing looking like Swiss cheese. :eek:

Enough to make me a believer. :thumb:

FWIW :type:
 
A word of caution comes from the Simple Green website itself for those that use Simple Green to clean their blades...

BLADES, CARBIDE & SAW BLADES
Simple Green has been successfully used by many woodworkers over many years as a good “spray – wipe – rinse” cleaner for saw blades. When pitch is fairly fresh (typically within a 12-hr period since deposit) it is fairly easily removed with Simple Green. Older, dried-out pitch is much more difficult to remove. We do not recommend long-term soaking of Carbide blades in Simple Green. Long-term exposure like this can possibly cause cobalt leaching that will, in turn, affect the integrity or carbide. Shorter term “spray/wipe/rinse” applications do not create that kind of problem.
It has been reported to us that long-term soaking of carbide blades covered with older, tougher buildup of pitch in strong, black coffee does a great job of removing pitch without harming the blade.

:eek:

Well HECK. :doh: :(

Guess it's back to the pink stuff woodcraft sells, then. I've also heard Windex works well, too. I know i'm never gonna stay on top of it well enough NOT to have to soak 'em.

Thanks for the info, Travis. Very glad to have learned this.
 
Simple Green but, don't soak 'em long; spray and brush. Formula 409 works too. LA Awsome works well also. If you want to keep it simple, clean often. If you avoid dried build up, a spray and a wipe is usually all it takes.
 
I have a round tub just slightly larger than a saw blade in which I keep Formula 409. I put the blade in it for about ten minutes (while I clean the shop) and then gently brush the teeth with a brass brush. The 409 chemical does a real good job and as a byproduct my shop smells like it has been cleaned.
 
Thats interesting Carol, do you know if they soaked the blades, exposure times and concentrations? I'd be interested in seeing their work if its on their website or something like that.

Also sounds like Steve might have a good plan for soaking, I didn't know plain water would do it overnight. I wonder if a bit of alcohol would help too, though still couldn't do that with a coated blade as the solvent tends to attack the coating.
 
Sorry, John. It was a few years ago. I think the stuff used was oven cleaner. What I remember being explained to me was the carbide binder was the weak link. As you probably know, carbide is a powder mixed with other things to make a solid that stay sharper longer. That which holds the mixture together is called a binder.

Long and short for me was a switch to CMT cleaner. I have had the pint bottle for years so I consider it economical and it works in a few minutes. Fast enough for me. BTW, all my blades a Forrest's so I am particular about them. Too much money involved to take cheap risks.
 
Charles M of Freud says that the only cleaner they recommend is kerosene. Most other cleaners, including water, will attack the carbide and shorten the life of the teeth requiring more frequent sharpning.

Acutally, if I understood it correctly, a report from a guy that worked manufacturing high end carbide chisels said that the attack damaged the binders allowing small particles of carbide to brake off therefore dulling the blades or chisels prematurely.
 
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At onr time I chose to use Oven Cleaner as I thought it was the best. But it is so nasty and the fumes and the expense and the mess it makes. then I heard of Simple Green as a Everonmental safe solution, but then I heard that it was detromental to the blade and so then I was stymied. Then I heard of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda. Wow! it do work wonders, and cheap and safe and great sopurse of cleaning power.

That is my answer, Washing Soda soak and a slight scrub with an old tooth brush, rinse and dry. Ta Daaaa!!! Clean and shiny blades. Hands too....
 
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