Cleaning Bandsaw Blades?

[Mark Kelly]

Recently I had to cut some pine with my bandsaw and wouldnt you know it, resin galore. Needless to say, it gunked up the bandsaw blade so much so that I cannot cut oak anymore without the blade drifting horribly. At first I thought it was dull, but I have barely used the blade and I doubt it would dull that fast.

So, is there a way to clean up resin on this blade? What is the best cleaning fluid for resin?

[Alan Turner]

My choice is OxySolv, from Woodworker's Supply. About $28/gal. Nontoxic. Share it with friends and you will be popular. Spray it on, wait about 30 sec, and use a regular or brass tooth brush, wipe clean. I just did the same thing to my 14' Lennox carbide. I cleaned it in place (put a towel on the table), and did it a foot at a time, while I was on the phone. Heart pine is pretty, but a PITA!
Alan

[Brad Schmid]

Simple Green has proven to work quite well. Coil, put in bucket, soak, rinse, dry. Sometimes I have to brush a little with a tooth brush. Putting it back on the saw and running some dry wood through usually will make sure the blade is nice and dry.

Regards,
Brad

[Mark Singer]

My choice is OxySolv, from Woodworker's Supply. About $28/gal. Nontoxic. Share it with friends and you will be popular. Spray it on, wait about 30 sec, and use a regular or brass tooth brush, wipe clean. I just did the same thing to my 14' Lennox carbide. I cleaned it in place (put a towel on the table), and did it a foot at a time, while I was on the phone. Heart pine is pretty, but a PITA!
Alan
I suspected you were doing something....

[Mark Kelly]

Since I have this already, I think I'll give it a try. Do you use simple green at full strength or do you dilute it?

How long do you soak it?

[Alan Turner]

Yup. A box for block from my great nephew, whom I will see in late July. Seems to em that every kid ought to have a box, lightweight, of old wood, to hold his blocks.
Alan

[Alan Turner]

Mark --
Yup. A box for blocks for my great nephew, whom I will see in late July. Seems to me that every kid ought to have a box, lightweight, of old wood, to hold his blocks. The sides of mine are about 3/8", dovetail corners, the usual.
Alan

[Mark Singer]

Alan,
I am probably an architect today because someone was thoughtful enough to give me a box of blocks when I took my first steps....I still haven't stopped playing with them!A box to keep them in is great...add a few special blocks of strange shapes....from Uncle Alan

[Brad Schmid]

Since I have this already, I think I'll give it a try. Do you use simple green at full strength or do you dilute it?

How long do you soak it?


Mark,
You can dilute it but it may take a little longer. At full strength it doesn't take much more than 10-15 minutes soak time & a little brushing with normal pitch buildup. Spray some full strength on a small section of the blade & give it a try first. That will give you an idea of the time it takes.

Brad

[Kent Cori]

Another vote for soaking in full strenth Simple Green in a 5 gallon bucket. Might as well throw your table saw blades in as well.

[Mark Kelly]

Soaked the blade in simple green for 15 minutes. When I pulled it out, most of the grim was already off without me having to wipe it off. After finishing wiping it off, I cleaned the bandsaw guides and tires. That was small work as I tend to keep these clean. Re-installed the blade and pulled out some scrape red oak for a test cut. Much to my dissappointment, the blade didn't track straight. So, maybe my first guess as to the blade being dull was correct. I am surprised as this is a timberwolfe blade and I thought they retain their edge longer than most bandsaw blades. But, then again, it could easily have been operator error.

Does suffolk resharpen their blades? Or is it best to buy a new blade?

[Brad Schmid]

Does it require excessive force to feed the stock through the blade? If so, it's probably dull. Otherwise, make sure the blade is tensioned correctly. And the guides are set correctly. Also, due to the way most bs blades are manufactured and the teeth are cut, they inherently track slightly at an angle. The best way to address this is draw a straight line on a squared pice of stock, freehand the cut following the line, and adjust the fence to that angle.

Regards,
Brad

[Mark Kelly]

I can cut 4/4 oak with a little drift. However, when I get up to 8/4 or thicker, then I can't even make a 1" cut without fear of using WAY too much force. It burns the wood immediately and the blade drifts to the left. I would think it would slice easily thru 8/4 unless the blade is dull. The blade is a 1/2" blade and when I put in my 3/8" blade it cuts through that same 8/4 oak like butter.

[Brad Schmid]

Excessive force and burning are almost sure signs of a dull blade. I not sure you can find anybody to do a decent job sharpening these blades cheaper than the cost of a new one.

Cheers