Why do we use oil when cleaning old saw blades

[Joe Tilson]

I have been cleaning up some of the old saws I have been collecting over the past year. I started putting oil on the blades from the get go and found all this did was cake up the sand paper. Then remembering, I believe it was Jim K., who talked of using a razor blade to scrape off the rust. Have tried several ways including orbital sander without oil, which got rust dust all over the shop, oops. Please direct me to the correct blog from SMC that would help.
Thanks,
Joe

[David Weaver]

If you're going to use oil or WD 40 once the rust that sticks up is cut off by a blade, you need to use enough oil so that the paper flushes. As in, just coating the rust with oil won't do anything, you need to have a flow going with wet and dry paper, same as oilstones when you want the swarf to move, there needs to be enough oil for it to be suspended in the swarf.

[Jim Koepke]

Rust dust suspended in oil will help prevent getting the rust dust all over the shop.

Someone else suggested using aluminum foil on a saw plate but it didn't do a lot for me.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

Please direct me to the correct blog from SMC that would help.

If you use the SMC search function for > saw cleaning < you will get a lot of information of how the power tool users approach this.

If you use the SMC search function for > hand saw cleaning < you will get more information from the Neanderthal Haven side of the Creek.

jtk

[Cody Kemble]

I use mineral spirits to keep things moving. I always scrape with a razor in a holder first.

[steven c newman]

would a LONG soak in Kerozene help out? Either straight from the put away Kerozene Heater's tank, or that blue can of WD40. The foil works a bit better with a coating ( spots, actually) of Autosol spread out on the blade.

super rusty plates, i will just chuck an 80 grit paper into a palm sander, and go to town on the rust. Rust leaves ( I use a saw bench outside on the back patio) and then the finer stuff comes out. Once the plate is all nice and shiny, a rub down with 3in1 oil on a rag, before they get hung up292198

[Bill Brush]

I started using "Evaporust" to clean up my old tools and I love it. Dunk the tool in the stuff, leave it there for a few hours, pull it out and it's clean. If you care, it's also environmentally friendly, safe for bare hands, and cleans up with water. Awesome stuff. If the saw is a collector piece I do not know what it would do to the etch, but I would not expect it to bother.

I bought my jug at the local auto-parts store.

[David Weaver]

How does the brightness of the plate come out from evaporust? Every chemical or electrical method I've tried etches the surface of the metal and makes it grayish. I'm not a big fan of that, but once a saw plate gets some pitting in it, it really doesn't matter - it's just preference.

[Joe Tilson]

Dave,
I agree on the evaporust. I used citric acid on one plate and it did just like you said. If there is something else we need to clean it up with Bill, please let us know what it might be. I do agree evaporust does get the rust off, but it's just not clean enough for me.

Thanks for all your feedback guys, it is appreciated.
Joe

[Bill Brush]

Nope it comes out dull gray, but from there I would think it would be simple to polish it up since you're not removing oxidation, just polishing the surface. I dipped a plane, and the sole went from dull gray to shiny with just a few passes on some sandpaper. If you want mirror finish, that might take a bit more.

[Mike Siemsen]

use water and a pumice stone or grill cleaning stone to remove a lot of rust (go outside, use the hose) polish with sandpaper and WD 40 or oil.

[Joe Tilson]

Mike,
Don't you have problems with flash rust after using water to clean a plate? I know in some cases I have used a hair drier to help keep said rust from forming after wiping off with paper towels.
Thanks for your response.

[David Weaver]

I do what mike says, and often use water or wd 40. If I've done a plate with water, I've never had trouble with it, but my plates see beeswax and oil mix soon after they are as clean as I want them to be. WD 40 would do the same thing and prevent any rust - that's probably what it was intended to do, anyway - displace water.

That's my experience across the board with planes, etc. Just dry them off well and leave them in an area where the humidity is below 60%, no need for a hair dryer.

[Mike Siemsen]

It doesn't rust that fast! dry it off and go to Wd 40 or some such and sandpaper to polish. Plus yopu are not using anything nasty to get the job done.

[Kim Malmberg]

You don't need to use any oil at all. In fact avoid it. It is environmentally harmful, it smells and the funds aren't exactly good for you either.
If your saw is very dirty, then start by cleaning off any swarf and saw dust with warm water and a rug.
Then if the saw is very rusty a window scraper or a razor blade might be helpful for removing the large portion of rust.
Alternatively a good soak in citric acid will also help. This method doesn't harm the environment and has the advantage of a lot of rust being removed without you doing anything which again means that you don't need to abrade as much which again saves you some money.
After this you can follow with window cleaning agent and medium fine sandpaper followed by more window cleaner and finer paper.
Aluminium foil won't do a thing alone but combined with Autosol paste it will work very well on very lightly rusted tool or as a final polishing method. I use this method on almost every tool I clean up. Sometimes it is the only treatment the tool receives.
If you don't trust me on the window cleaner then trust Matt Cianci who uses the same method. See here:

http://www.wkfinetools.com/contrib/ciantim/cleanSawPlate/cleanSawPlate-01.asp

[Ryan Griffey]

You don't need to use any oil at all. In fact avoid it. It is environmentally harmful, it smells and the funds aren't exactly good for you either.
If your saw is very dirty, then start by cleaning off any swarf and saw dust with warm water and a rug.
Then if the saw is very rusty a window scraper or a razor blade might be helpful for removing the large portion of rust.
Alternatively a good soak in citric acid will also help. This method doesn't harm the environment and has the advantage of a lot of rust being removed without you doing anything which again means that you don't need to abrade as much which again saves you some money.
After this you can follow with window cleaning agent and medium fine sandpaper followed by more window cleaner and finer paper.
Aluminium foil won't do a thing alone but combined with Autosol paste it will work very well on very lightly rusted tool or as a final polishing method. I use this method on almost every tool I clean up. Sometimes it is the only treatment the tool receives.
If you don't trust me on the window cleaner then trust Matt Cianci who uses the same method. See here:

http://www.wkfinetools.com/contrib/ciantim/cleanSawPlate/cleanSawPlate-01.asp

That's a degreaser he is using not window cleaner. I also have to disagree and say that Simple Green does not smell good. The yellow lemon stuff is better than the green stuff though. I've used the simple green and 400 grit method before and it works but it is very labor intensive and extremely messy. I've done about 35 saws this way. It works great if there is only a small amount of rust or a semi darkened plate. I got into hand tools to get away from sanding for long periods of time.

I'm going to give the evaporust a shot on my next batch of saws. I've used vinegar and citric acid before. The vinegar works okay but it is slow and you have to keep an eye on it. It can be spotty as well.

I'm also not trying to shoot down any of the other ideas. I just think there has got to be an easier way.

[Kim Malmberg]

I might come across as very sure of myself. But I have cleaned up more than a hundred saws in the last three years. The only method I have never tried is electrolysis and although I do want to use environmentally sound methods in the first place I do think that window agent and sandpaper is the best method if you consider all other aspects. Window cleaner is cheap, it will bind rust which means less smear and lower risk of inhaling the rust and dirt and it is not slower than using cutting spirits or oil. And if you want to clean up a saw without being able to remove the handle then the last thing you want is to have oil anywhere near the handle. It will sick it up like a sponge forever leaving a ugly dark stain in the wood.

[bridger berdel]

I start with a razor blade. then wet or dry paper with either hot water (self drying) or alcohol. finish with steel wool with caranauba wax.

[Joe Tilson]

Kim,
After the citric bath, how do you get the dull gray finish to shine up. I cannot get the metal to clean past the dull finish. Maybe I am not going far enough with my cleaning.

[Dennis Aspö]

Perhaps autosol would be of use here?

[Jim Matthews]

Autosol or Flitz are good for the finishing step, but for knocking off a great deal of rust - very slow going.

I scrape with an old cabinet scraper (taking care around the etch) and use coarse automobile
"Rubbing compound" with steel wool. Once it's smooth, I stop.

I'm no longer picking up plates that have rust flaking off. I have no success with things so far gone.

If the preliminary "flex test" has rust popping off - I won't buy the saw.

http://www.grainger.com/product/1UER5?gclid=CIHegarBpr8CFW4Q7Aod-BcAwA&cm_mmc=PPC:GooglePLA-_-Fleet%20and%20Vehicle%20Maintenance-_-Automotive%20Cleaning/Appearance-_-1UER5&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=1UER5&ef_id=U6uO1AAABdHBk4Je:20140702112043:s

[Kim Malmberg]

I don't use citric acid every time. I do it only on bad saws. But the steel doesn't go grey on you if you keep the solution weak enough, alternatively baby watch your strong brew. Sometimes I have made a strong solution and then worked the tool with scotch brite every few minutes.
But as Dennis points out Autosol and aluminium foil will polish a dull looking tool. Still you need to be wary of not letting the steel go too grey.
As mentioned before Autosol and aluminium foil is excellent for lightly rusty surfaces or just plain finishing but it's not a method for removing heavy rust.

[Winton Applegate]

Why do we use oil when cleaning old saw blades

Because dog urine is too hard to come by.
Though there are those here, and you know who you are, who have mapped out a strategy to acquire the rare and legendary elixir.

[Joe Tilson]

Winton,
Have you considered going on the Last Comic Standing? You would probably win. I do enjoy your comments, and the little digs you get in. Thanks for just being you.
Joe

[Chris Fournier]

Oil carries away the sanding swarf, that's it.

[Tony Zaffuto]

Because dog urine is too hard to come by.
Though there are those here, and you know who you are, who have mapped out a strategy to acquire the rare and legendary elixir.

My deceased beagle, twice removed (he died two beagles ago), was trained to pee on saws to be cleansed very easily. Mac loved hide glue, bit detest salt. So I would lean the saw I wanted cleansed against the wall, paint some hide glue on the saw, with a tad of salt at the tallest portion. Mac would lick the saw clean until he came to saw, at which point he would become pizzed and then pizz on the saw.

I've since changed my habits on saws: instead of taking old and making new, I get new saws and restore them to old!

[Moses Yoder]

Because dog urine is too hard to come by.
Though there are those here, and you know who you are, who have mapped out a strategy to acquire the rare and legendary elixir.

I resemble that remark. The block & tackle looks historically correct, is hanging in the place of honor in my shop. I am onto shaving now, and old lanterns.

[Winton Applegate]

Ha, ha,

I had a beagle when I was a kid. Ricky.
Great dogs.
If I had asked him to clean a saw though he would probably have just bit me in the crotch, really hard, and then went and took a nap.
:p

[Stanley Covington]

I have cleaned and restored a lot of old saws and tried several methods. Here are the steps that have worked best for me. Having had cancer once, I don't like strong chemicals.

1. Water and razor blade.
2. Electrolysis (Washing soda, water, battery charger)
3. Light oil and WD sandpaper (3 grits).

Chris Vandiver showed me an old D7 he had done with Autosol and aluminum foil. Very impressive and much less work, I suspect, so I will try it next.

Stan

[Winton Applegate]

Autosol and aluminum foil. Very impressive

Hey that brings back memories, (good and bad).
When I was in High School I was holding down two jobs. I don't know what "holding down" means but it sounded good so I decided to put that in there.

Anyway after a day of wasting my precious time at HS I would go work in the Robinson & Gardner hardware store (I was a factory trained Schwinn bicycle mechanic in their bike shop area; the store paid to send me off to be factory trained ! ! ! ). I did every thing else around there too from selling nails by the pound and making deliveries in the co. truck . . .
anyway . . .
after the HW store closed for the day I would bicycle over to the Village Inn pancake house and work as a dish washer till the wee hours (open 24 hrs).

where is this going you may ask
has the old barker finally lost his mind ?
has he gone insane ? Again ?

noooooo

. . . in the dish washing room we had a stainless steel pitcher.
In the bottom of that stainless steel pitcher was a wad of aluminum foil.
Poured in on top of the tin foil was some liquid. I never found out what but it was obviously made with fairy dust and puppy dogs tails (hey, it is a witches brew)( how they pulverized those fairies into dust I never found out 'neether) . . .

. . . so when ever I came across a tarnished looking piece of silver ware (real silver plated apparently) I was to poke the tarnished end of this silver ware against the aluminum foil in the pitcher with the witches brew.

It was MAGIC ! The tarnish seemed to just fall off and the silver ware came out like new.
Must have been that whatcha a maddingy you mentioned.

[Christian Castillo]

I never used oil, I just created a new thread that details a process that you might consider if you want to forgo harsh abrasives all together but you will have to invest in getting the set up going.