Wash Your Blade!!

Art Mulder

Member
Messages
3,383
Location
London, Ontario
I was cutting some thick stuff yesterday -- some glued up elm and beech scraps. Not sure which one was the culprit but boy the tablesaw blade started cutting slower and even smoking a bit.

Today I dismounted it and gave it a bath in this resin remover stuff from LVT ... pour it on full strength and scrub at it with an old toothbrush. Then rinse it with water and dry it carefully. The end result is a sharp clean blade. I've owned and used this for the past few years and I'm amazed every time.

I'm just totally impressed with this stuff.

Clean your blades! Maybe they aren't so dull after all!
 
Works on router bits as well. Also much cheaper than sending out for sharpening, or worse, screwing up the cutter by trying to do it myself.
 
I use Lestoil® to clean mine. I mix it about 2:1 with water, and put the blade(s) in a plastic pie carrier from Wally World, cover them with the Lestoil mix and then scrub after a fifteen or so minute soak. Sparklin' clean blades!
 
+1 on clean cutters. I still use L.A. Awesome from the dollar store. Squirt it on, wait a few minutes and gently scrub with a plastic bristle brush, rinse and dry. Its on the approved list of cleaners that don't foul your brazing like Easy-Off and Simple Green. Everybody has a favorite. The important thing is to use it.
 
believe it or not I have found commandeering the kitchen sink, filling it with straight hot water from the tap and letting the blade sit in it (kept up by an overturned pie plate) for several minutes is most often sufficient for releasing the pitch and gum deposits. then a quick scrub with a stiff brush and its good to go
 
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