Success Cleaning Saw Blade

[Chris Tsutsui]

I had success cleaning a saw blade that had terrible burn marks and the teeth were gummed up and dark. At first I couldn't find a tub that would be ideal for soaking a saw blade but I came up with an idea, here were my steps:

1. Place a belt (or use a hose or rope) in a circle on a flat surface.

2. place plastic bag on top or use a trash bag.

3. place a shim like a washer underneath blade so it won't lie flat and be hard to pick up.

4. Place saw blade in ring on top of bag, fill up with generic oven cleaner. (I bought a gallon at smart and final for like $14 or so)

5. let soak for about a minute, then light aggitation is all that's needed with a tooth brush and the burn marks and grime comes right off.

6. Results are super shiny and clean carbide teeth, no sticky burn marks on blade and the red permashield coating didn't come off at all. I also used hardly any oven cleaner, and cleanup was a breeze.

192430

AFTER:

192431

[Steve Schoene]

Freud spokesmen have indicated that oven cleaner should not be used on their blades and could damage the brazing the holds the carbine tips to the blade.

[Matt Day]

A frisbee works great as a soaking tray.

[george wilson]

The regular saw blade cleaner I have seen used is also a strong base solution. Maybe oven cleaner has other stuff in it too?

[Chris True]

Simple green works great and won't rot your hand off ;)

[Chris Tsutsui]

Simple green was too weak.

Oven cleaner worked very fast and I just rinsed it off and didn't have to soak for long.

Brazing of carbide probably is copper/zinc/nickel of some sort and 1-5 parts sodium hydroxide (base material for my oven cleaner) doesn't appear corrosive to the carbide or metals in the braze and saw blade. Perhaps Freud is just saying not to use oven cleaner for liability concerns because who knows what companys will use in their oven/grill cleaners?

I forgot that a frisbie might fit my saw blade well. Will have to see if they're at the 99 cent store next time I'm there.. heh

[Phil Thien]

How did the blade get like that to begin with?

[Chip Lindley]

Simple green was too weak.

Oven cleaner worked very fast and I just rinsed it off and didn't have to soak for long.

Brazing of carbide probably is copper/zinc/nickel of some sort and 1-5 parts sodium hydroxide (base material for my oven cleaner) doesn't appear corrosive to the carbide or metals in the braze and saw blade. Perhaps Freud is just saying not to use oven cleaner for liability concerns because who knows what companys will use in their oven/grill cleaners?


It's spray-on Easy-Off for me now for over 25 years! No flying carbide teeth...still have all my fingertips...and nice clean saw blades TOO! The blade cleaning process only takes a couple of minutes! As seldom as this process happens, there is no need to over-react here!

[Julian Tracy]

Quit using your blade's middle surface to crown your bandsaw tires and you'd never have to clean the blades. What the heck were you doing to get such a burn mark on it in the first place?

JT

[Carl Civitella]

Baking Soda works too

[Ryan Fee]

I've found that a cheap plastic oil pan works great for cleaning saw blades up to 12" and is deep enough to do multiple blades if you're so inclined. A one gallon jug of ZEP citrus cleaner purchased at the BORG is still going strong after two years of cleaning blades, though more black than orange now from all the pitch.

[scott spencer]

Chris - The lid to a 5 gallon pail works pretty nicely too.

I've used oven cleaner with some success, but have had equal success with common cleaners like 409, Fantastic, Greased Lightning, LA's Totally Awesome ($1!), Goo Gone, Simple Green, Dawn/water, Boeshield Blade n Bit cleaner. Since there's some controversy about oven cleaner effecting the brazing, plus the fact that it's a little messier, and it took off lettering on some of the blades, and wasn't noticeably better than other methods, I've opted not to bother with it anymore....lots of other excellent choices.

Freud suggests a kerosene soak, claiming it's pH neutral. I've read that wash soda and TSP work well too, but I haven't tried them.

[Steve Ryan]

How did the blade get like that to begin with?
Most likely slow feed ripping of hardwood on a low HP machine would be my guess. Never had to clean a blade.

[Steve Griffin]

"Reuzit" and pizza pan.

Spray on. Wait a minute or so and wipe clean with shop towel.

Not wicked toxic--I sometimes don't use gloves.
No odor
Super fast
Super cheap per use.

-STeve

[Phil Thien]

Most likely slow feed ripping of hardwood on a low HP machine would be my guess. Never had to clean a blade.

Judging from the # of teeth, it is a blade for cross-cutting, or for melamine or something.

[Chris Fournier]

I've used oven cleaner to clean three 10" Freud blades for over 15 years - no problems. I just spray on the cleaner let it sit and wash it off. Done.

[Neil Brooks]

Definitely a thousand ways to do this.

My take -- and that's ALL it is -- is that the blade shouldn't soak for any real length of time, in WHATEVER your drug of choice is.

Mine's a 50/50 mix of Simple Green (not the one the mfgr recommends for ts blades, incidentally) and water, in my parts washer.

Dunk. Scrub. Rinse. Dry.

I probably wouldn't leave it in the soup for more than 10-15 minutes.

And if that didn't work, I WOULD use oven cleaner, but .... OUTSIDE (Oh, the fumes !).

[Troy Turner]

Great idea if you don't have anything around. Don't know how many different things I tried before I found a 5 gallon bucket. Let 'em soak overnight in some kerosene. Man that stuff worked good. I've tried alot of different things though...over cleaner, purple power, and all that good stuff. I like your idea for a quick soak and get it cleaned and back to work.

[Trevor Walsh]

I also use Easy-Off on all gunked up tooling, it doesn't have to sit very long at all, and a scrub with a tooth brush. Haven't had any incidents in the year I've been using it. I'd be tempted to say that Freud guy want's you to ditch the blade and buy more, after all that's why you make disposable parts. Gillette built an empire with that philosophy and some help from Uncle Sam.

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

Super washing soda. It also cleans drains. It also won't kill brain cells.

[scott spencer]

...I'd be tempted to say that Freud guy want's you to ditch the blade and buy more, after all that's why you make disposable parts....

The Freud guy suggests a soak in kerosene...

[Bruce Wrenn]

The Freud guy suggests a soak in kerosene...Oven cleaner attacks the binder that holds the carbide together, not the brazing according to my blade salesman. He works for Freud.

[mreza Salav]

oven cleaners are very corrosive, I'd never let them close to blades.
Washing Soda is not harmful to either you or the blade and works fine.

[eugene thomas]

i took the simple method to clean my blades. ordered blade cleaning kit from rockler. works great. even came with small bowl for cleaning router bits...

[Chris Parks]

Anyone tried the dishwasher? Works great for motor bike motors so it might work on a blade.

[Larry Frank]

This topic concerning oven cleaner has come up a lot of times. The carbide expert on the forum has stated that the oven cleaner would not harm the carbide or the braze material. Like others, I have used oven cleaner for many years and have not had a problem and I do not expect to have one.

[Bill Clark De]

Remember, or the oven cleaner will remind you---GLOVES_GLOVES_GLOVES want to see the burns...

[Ron Conlon]

Anyone tried the dishwasher? Works great for motor bike motors so it might work on a blade.

Ha! I think I'd be looking for new living quarters if I tried that!

[John Nesmith]

For a soaker pan, I just bought one of these. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0032AM0S0 Works fine.

[Steve Griffin]

Remember, or the oven cleaner will remind you---GLOVES_GLOVES_GLOVES want to see the burns...

Ok, lets say it doesn't hurt the blade, why mess with such a nasty product when there are better and safer options? As I mentioned "Reuzit" is specifially designed for disolving pitch and resins and is water based. Other blade clean options are also available which don't involve worrying about getting a stray drop on your skin or eyes.

Here's what USHHS says about Oven Cleaner:

Warnings: Harmful if swallowed. Causes burns to skin and eyes on contact. Contents under pressure. Wear long rubber gloves. Do not get on skin, clothing or eyes. Contains sodium hydroxide. Keep out of reach of children. Avoid contact with skin, eyes, mucous membran
Acute Health Effects: From MSDS Inhalation: Not toxic by inhalation. Eye Contact: Corrosive to eyes. Skin Contact: Corrosive to skin. Signs and symptoms of overexposure include reddening of skin, tissue destruction, delayed pain.

If it was the only option, it's easy to take precautions and use it safely. But it's not the only option.

-Steve

[glenn bradley]

Simple green works great and won't rot your hand off ;)


Simple green was too weak.

Chris' blade was an extreme example of waiting too long ;). Glad that solution (no pun intended) worked out for him. This topic as been discussed at length here and on other forums.

Oven cleaner, Simple Green and other all have ingrediants that can damage things. Extreme Simple Green lacks whatever it is that can potentially cause problems. 'LA Awsome' from the 99cent store (they have shallow pans for a buck too) does a good job and many other products make the "good" lists.

And yes, I know we have lots of folks that have "been using EZ-Off for years without a problem" and that's fine. It is good to know,scientifically, that some products can hurt amd that some others can't.

I am not sure how long you would have to keep a blade and how frequently you would have to give it an oven cleaner bath to cause a tooth to launch into your face but, with known safe product cheap and readily available, I prefer to lessen the odds :D.

[Tom Ewell]

mud bucket lid works well as a container, too

[Neil Bosdet]

Rockler has a terrific solution for blade cleaning. I bought it and I'm glad I did.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=18197&filter=blade%20cleaning

[Mark P. Miller]

A creative idea, but I don't quite see how you handled cleanup of a flimsy plastic bag filled with oven cleaner when you were all done. Seems like it could get messy afterwards?

[scott spencer]

Anyone tried the dishwasher? Works great for motor bike motors so it might work on a blade.

Never tried the dishwasher (would love to explain that one to my wife and kids as they pull their bloody stumps from the dishwasher!), but I have tried Dawn degreasing dishwashing detergent and water on blades with excellent results...

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Oh Noooo!! Not another Simple Green vs. Oven cleaner debate.

I recently tried Boeshield blade and bit cleaner. Came with T-9 and rust remover. The B&B cleaner works well, AND costs more to use, AND has a nice pretty lable! Can't beat that! Spray on, wipe off, no need to soak. Dunno if it's hazzardous to the blade. I used it because it came with the kit. I'm glad I did. Way faster and safer than the oven cleaner.

Just my $0.02.

[Tom Walz]

Some cleaners can affect the coatings

I have never seen anything caustic (basic) harm the tips or braze alloy.

A few articles on this
http://www.carbideprocessors.com/pages/Cleaning-Saw-Blades.html
http://www.carbideprocessors.com/pages/Can-cleaners-harm-saw-blades.html
http://www.carbideprocessors.com/pages/Saw-Tips-in-Oven-Cleaner.html

If you wish I will send you some tips with braze alloy on them and you can soak them yourself.

The longest I ever soaked any was a week and I saw no results. Maybe a few months will show a result but I doubt it.

Acids are an entirely different thing. They will attack the carbide, binder and the steel.

[Chris Tsutsui]

Let me answer some questions since my original post.

First, let me say that this blade was given to me free when I bought the cabinet saw it came in. The saw was a 3 HP Grizzly model. So it wasn't me that burned it so badly though I do have an idea of how the burn marks occured. The burn marks are not at all visible when the saw blade is at its highest point in the table saw. Therefore small pieces of wood must have fallen into the metal shield protecting the blade just under the table surface and rubbed against the blade. The teeth were also badly burned and it is my guess that the previous owner used this blade for everything with faster feed rates than he probably should have.

For cleanup of the saw blade couldn't be easier. I lifted up the bag and it held the fluid in there then I dumped it into the sink. No flimsy trays or cleanup of tubs as I just tossed the bag in the garbage afterwards. I wore nitrile gloves as I am aware that the oven cleaner is highly alkaline and feels very slippery. I also have adaquate ventilation in my garage, especially with the door open and fans blowing.

Whenever I wash dishes or oversize containers I somehow manage to splash on my shirt, and I definitely don't want oven cleaner splashed on my shirt, thus I like the idea of a disposable bag that gets discarded.

Anyways, I'm going to have to try a few solutions suggested here on this board for I am a believer that the weakest/safest solution to do the job is the best solution... Though I consider oven cleaner to be a flagship "burn" mark cleaner.

Thanks

[scott spencer]

... I wore nitrile gloves as I am aware that the oven cleaner is highly alkaline and feels very slippery. ...

We work with some caustics at work (primarily sodium hydroxide) ....someone happened to mention "how slippery it feels", one of the more credible chemists mentioned that the slippery feeling is from the oils in your skin dissolving in the caustic solution. :eek:

[David Hostetler]

Most likely slow feed ripping of hardwood on a low HP machine would be my guess. Never had to clean a blade.

That's an 80T Diablo blade, supposed to be a crosscutting blade. Hope he wasn't ripping with that...

[David Hostetler]

Rockler has a terrific solution for blade cleaning. I bought it and I'm glad I did.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=18197&filter=blade%20cleaning

I run the same one. VERY happy with it. It goes on sale even cheaper than what they list now every now and then. I got mine for $19.00, and if I recall, the sale I got it on came with 2 quarts of the cleaner concentrate...

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Anyone tried the dishwasher? Works great for motor bike motors so it might work on a blade.

I was told to never wash my knives in the dishwasher because:



Detergent contains Enzymes and chemicals which may stain the blade.
Abrasive action has a tendency to dull the blade.
If the blade is bounced around, it may damage the blade and it may damage the dishwasher.
Don't forget it is there or you may cut yourself when you reach into the dishwasher.

You can likely figure how many of these items are important for the saw blade.

[David Winer]

We work with some caustics at work (primarily sodium hydroxide) ....someone happened to mention "how slippery it feels", one of the more credible chemists mentioned that the slippery feeling is from the oils in your skin dissolving in the caustic solution.
_________________________________________

Good grief. And so another urban legend is born.

[Tom Walz]

I have to go with the chemist on this one. Caustic soda saponifies greases and fats which means it turns them into soaps. When you get caustic on your skin, your skin feels slippery because the caustic is eating the fats in your skin (and the oils and greases) and turning them into soaps.

Not an urban myth which is too bad because it would make a great one. “Lady dissolved by oven cleaner.” Blanche Dubois was a neat freak who liked a warm house. She used oven cleaner to clean everything. And she did it with the windows closed. One day the neighbors realized they hadn't seen Blanche in weeks. They called the police who broke into the house and there, in the middle of the kitchen floor, where the bones of poor Blanche surrounded by a pool of soap. Blanche didn't realize that oven cleaner dissolves the fat in the human body and her excessive use of it was her undoing.

When you see this on television, remember you read it here first.