Clean saw blade with wire brush on bench grinder?

[Adam Cavaliere]

Hello all,

I picked up a wire brush to put on the slow speed grinder I have from woodcraft. It was meant to help me clean up a plane (which it did), but I now am in need of cleaning up my saw blade. I got to thinking that it could be pretty fast to get out the bench grinder with the wire brush side and just clean up the teeth that way. Has anyone done it? Any reason not to?

Thanks!

[Van Huskey]

Not a great idea, the brush will beat up the faces of the carbide pretty quickly, it is very abrasion resistant but still. There are plenty of commercial and household cleaners that will get your blades shiny with less abuse! I use the CMT cleaner but many work just as well. I use a old toothbrush but some use a brass brush along with the cleaners.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I'm w/Van...
Sounds like a quick way to ruin the carbide teeth.

Plus, having just used a wire wheel the other day, I can't imagine how nasty it would feel to have one grab a saw blade and whisk it across my hands.
Those dumb things have a real annoying way of finding something to grab onto when you least expect it.

[Jeff Duncan]

Is it a carbide blade? If so I think I'd probably side with the others, though I've never tried it to say with any authority.

I do have a friend who used to have a shop in the neighboring town who swore by using a wire wheel to clean his blades. Apparently it worked fine for him....I'm still leery. If anything you could always test it on a cheap blade.....say a beat up 7-1/4" circular saw blade. I pretty much consider those disposable anyway, so no harm in trying.

good luck,
jeffD

[Adam Cavaliere]

After cleaning up some stuff with the wire brush this weekend and jamming my thumb (which still hurts when too much pressure is made), I appreciate the above comments. I will go the more manual labor way of cleaning with a brush :)

[Van Huskey]

After cleaning up some stuff with the wire brush this weekend and jamming my thumb (which still hurts when too much pressure is made), I appreciate the above comments. I will go the more manual labor way of cleaning with a brush :)

I can "feel" the pain just thinking about it. I have made the mistake of touching an angle grinder with a wire wheel in it more times than I would like to admit, it is an odd pain, hard to describe but man does it hurt!

[Jerrimy Snook]

Cleaning saw blades with a wire wheel can teach you some pretty nasty words. Care must be taken to prevent your hand slipping into the wheel or the blade catching and cutting you. I have used a wire wheel on only the most stubborn saw blade grime for 32 years. Nowadays the wire wheel is the final option following ultrasonic-chemical cleaning and sandblasting.

Jerrimy