A Blade Cleaning Adventure

[HANK METZ]

Thanksgiving morning I finally got to a project been on the back burner for some time. I have a bunch of older blades that were included in a sale of a vintage DeWalt radial arm saw. All are H.S.S., set tooth, beautiful thick steel, not like the thin junk sold today holding up carbide tips.

I had a 5- gallon bucket with lid I salvaged from a roadside trash pile and used it as a work station. The well of the lid was perfect for use as a tub for blades up to 10”. I also put some rinse water in the bucket itself, so everything I needed was at hand.
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Using brake drum cleaner and wire brushes, they shined up like new. I got about 10 of ‘em done and that oughtta last me until I leave this world.
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- Beachside Hank
Improvise, adapt, overcome; the essence of true craftsmanship.

[Greg Sznajdruk]

I have a collection of these vintage blades that belonged to my father. They all have is name engraved on the side. That was the sharpening services way of tracking baldes in the day. My father had a lot of these blades because at any given time 30% or better were being sharpened. A lot of sharpening servises went away with the advent of carbide blades. Can't think of a good reason to use HSS blades.

Greg

[HANK METZ]

I have a collection of these vintage blades that belonged to my father. They all have is name engraved on the side. That was the sharpening services way of tracking baldes in the day. My father had a lot of these blades because at any given time 30% or better were being sharpened. A lot of sharpening servises went away with the advent of carbide blades. Can't think of a good reason to use HSS blades.

Greg

"Can't think of a good reason to use HSS blades."

They’re cheap and plentiful, but that’s not the whole story either. When you transition away from an established norm, you tend to lose something in the leaving. There was a time when just as hand- cutting a dovetail was second- nature to the craftsman, the file sharpening of his saws was also a simple matter of fact and pride. Text books and owner’s manuals always showed jigs, fixtures, and methodology to maintain and optimize these prime components of the shop- everybody could either do it themselves or knew somebody who would do it for a beer, and that was the socialization aspect of it.

Sure, carbide has been around a long time (Krupp, ca. 1920’s), but it took decades to knock steel blades off the top of the heap and even then it wasn’t a dominant material, being rationed during WWII when ubiquitous ol’ plain steel came to the rescue. Those who were in the trade when C.T. thin kerf blades were first being promoted may recall that along with the new wonder product, one was advised to buy a set of blade stabilizers as well to add the rigidity that was always present in the solid steel blades- this of course limited their depth of cut- what’s the word I’m trying to think of that describes this condition- ah yes, compromise; a trade off to get a more desirable benefit in a particular circumstance.

I’m not saying turn the clock back and return to the good ‘ol days, but I am saying let’s not be so quick to throw a stalwart asset under the bus either.


- Beachside Hank
Improvise, adapt, overcome; the essence of true craftsmanship.

[Greg Sznajdruk]

Hank:

I've kept all of my fathers hand tools, his brace and bits, his hand saws, his saw vise and saw set, hand planes, oil stones et al. He had something that I would love to have he had hand skill. He apprenticed in europe as a cabinet maker he spent years learning his trade and developing those skills. I on the other hand spent my life in the computer industry. Even though my dad was old school he took to carbide blades like a duck to water. He resented the time he spent after working all day to hand sharpen saws, chisels etc. I rely on the power tool with its inherent capability of accuracy, my motto is "If there is no power tool to do the job. You got no business starting."

Enjoy your HSS saw blades if you need more they are available at any flea market.

Cheers

Greg

[Lee Schierer]

I have a number of HSS blades, they main serve as decoration on my shop wall, since I have yet to find a high speed steel blade that can provide a glass smooth chip free cut in hardwood. I stick with my Freud carbide tipped blades.

[Rian de Bruyn]

I still use a HSS blade as a rip blade - 10" 18T and can't find a CT blade with same specs

[HANK METZ]

I have a number of HSS blades, they main serve as decoration on my shop wall, since I have yet to find a high speed steel blade that can provide a glass smooth chip free cut in hardwood. I stick with my Freud carbide tipped blades.

For those who have never tried one, a HSS hollow- ground blade (miter/ planer) will leave an unbelievably smooth cut, ready for gluing and a kerf only about 1/16”.
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The cleaning method I showed is suitable for all types of blades, carbide or otherwise and HSS in particular doesn’t care if you use oven cleaner or not, a practice discouraged by carbide tipped blade manufacturers as leading to the potential for tips to separate during use. I have never heard of a HSS tooth leaving a circular blade- being blunted yes, but never departing the mothership.

- Beachside Hank
Improvise, adapt, overcome; the essence of true craftsmanship.

[Tom Walz]

Freud tells people not to use Oven Cleaner on saw blades.

I actually tested this on Freud blades and I cannot figure why they say this unless it has to do with dissolving the plastic coating on some blades.

Actually Oven Cleaner and other strong caustics are very safe to use on every other carbide tipped saw blade.

Tips come off because the saw blade was made wrong in the first place. Tips break and pieces come off when the saw blade is grossly abused.

I have soaked saw blades, saw tips with braze alloy and just braze alloy in oven cleaner for a week without seeing any results.

What effects braze alloy are strong acids such as 50% Nitric acid. You can look this up in the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics or online. You can try it yourself.

When you put a carbide tipped saw blade into a strong caustic solution, such as oven cleaner, all the crud on the blade gets dissolved. If you put a clean blade, with no coating, in then nothing happens.

If you put a blade in acid then there is a lot of bubbling. The steel actually dissolves more readily than the carbide or the braze alloy.

Technical info on saw blades
http://www.carbideprocessors.com/pages/technical-info/saw-blades.html

Info on cleaning saw blades
http://www.carbideprocessors.com/pages/saw-blades/cleaning-saw-blades.html

[Cody Colston]

I have a few 10" HSS blades. Like Hank, they came with a RAS that I have since sold. I kept the blades, though. I even use them occassionally but A WWII stays on my saw most of the time.

I also clean my CT blades with oven cleaner because it works in a minute or two to loosen the gunk. I then brush with a brass-bristle brush, rinse and dry. Takes about 5 minutes total to clean a blade.

I've read all the arguments against using oven cleaner or actually, any cleaner that is slightly caustic. All I can say is it's my shop and I'll use my methods. YMMV of course.