What's the best way to clean "gunk" off of blades?

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
The title pretty much says it all.
I was swapping out the Freud 80T blade on my CMS and noticed it had some hard "yellow stuff" on it that was/is like really baked on hard.
I wiped it down with some mineral spirits, but there's still some left.
Should I try something stonger, like lacquer thinner?

[Brian Hale]

A 5 minute soak in Simple Green and scrub it with a stiff bristle brush usually does it.

Brian :)

[Tim Morton]

Hello,
The title pretty much says it all.
I was swapping out the Freud 80T blade on my CMS and noticed it had some hard "yellow stuff" on it that was/is like really baked on hard.
I wiped it down with some mineral spirits, but there's still some left.
Should I try something stonger, like lacquer thinner?

I use simple green, and others use kerosene. Other than that i would not use anything else for fear of causing falure of the carbide tips. I would not want them coming off:eek:

[Larry Fox]

Oven cleaner here!

[Tim Morton]

Oven cleaner here!

thats a huge no-no according to charles from freud:eek:

“Quote”
“Definitely avoid oven cleaner and other caustics. They attack the cobalt binder in the carbide and can lead to carbide failure (translates to tiny missiles of carbide at 100+ mph). Also, Freud and some other brands of blades have a tri-metal brazing foil that uses copper alloy for a cushioning layer. The copper can also be affected by these cleaners (translates to larger missiles of carbide). We recommend soaking overnight in kerosene in a vented container and using a stiff nylon bristle brush to clean. Teflon coated plates will clean up with a soapy cloth (except for the teeth as mentioned earlier). There are commercial blade cleaning products that are not caustic but we don't officially sanction them. I've personally used Simple Green concentrate with good results.

Charles M
Freud, Inc

“End Quote”

[Thomas Williams]

A short soak in Mean Green and then a scrub with an old tooth brush seems to work for me. I do use Bioshield blade cleaner for the really tough build up. After the Mean Green cleaning, I will wipe the blade down with mineral spirits or denatured alcohol to remove any residual water that may be hiding.

[Jim Becker]

Simple Green is my choice, too...

[Larry Prince]

For something over a year now I've been using a product called "Fast Orange" hand cleaner, available at auto parts stores.

I simply smear the blade real good with it, and in about 60-90 seconds any foreign matter on the blade is released. A quick rinse and a GOOD dry and the blade is ready to return to service.

Fast Orange contains pumice but this doesnt come into play since you're not doing any scrubbing. The citrus component seems to be doing the work. (I think theres a joke in here somewhere about saw blades, breakfast and orange juice but I cant quite pull it together).

Seeing the above post about the inadvisability of caustic cleaners, and not being absolutely certain how that applies to Fast Orange, I've queried Freud for their thoughts. Is orange juice considered caustic? I'll post any info I get from them.

[Tim Morton]

Is orange juice considered caustic? I'll post any info I get from them.

I would say no.

http://www.answers.com/topic/caustic?cat=health

[Jack Briggs]

Acetone and brass wire brush.

[Matt Meiser]

Boeshield Bit and Blade cleaner. I just cleaned some blades yesterday. Usually you can just spray it on, let it sit a couple minutes and wipe the gunk off. One of my blades was really bad and I spent a minute or two with a brass bristled brush scrubbing it. All look like new.

[Gary Keedwell]

Like alot of WW's I used oven cleaner for years. For the last couple of years, I've been spraying Formula 409 ...wait a couple of minutes and scrub with a tooth brush. Works great.

Gary K.

[Randy Degen]

Boeshield Blade and bit resin,gum & pitch remover works Great!! and it is Non-toxic Biodegradable and non-flammable Randy

[Pat Germain]

I've used ammonia with good results, but is it caustic? Sure, it smells something fierce, but I use it outside and didn't think it was caustic. Live and learn.

[John Buzzurro]

I use CMT Formula 2050 (http://woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=5396)



(http://woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=5396)

[Mark Rios]

Simple Green here as well.

Actually, after reading info on this very subject quite some time ago here in the Creek I was a little hesitant and skeptical about Simple Green. But after reading that using it sparingly was okay, I've found it to be great and simple, just like all the REAL :D woodworkers here say it is.

I use it with the scrubby side of a scrubby sponge. After spraying the teeth, I scrub one side, then the other, then go back and scrub the first side again and the back to the second side. I don't wait or soak for any amoount of time really. I had one blade to do yesterday and it took all of 4 or 5 minutes from tablesaw to rinse and back to saw.

These folks here really do know what they're talking about (most of the time;) :D ).

[Bill Huber]

I use Castrol Super Clean and I use it for tons of other things also.
In reading over all the post I could not believe that no one was using it.

It is a lot like Simple Green but a little stronger, I use it to clean the BBQ grill, the tires on the car and the wife uses it to get the stains out of my close.
The last car engine I rebuilt I use it to clean up all the parts and never used any other solvents and it did a wonderful job.

Great Stuff !!!!

[Greg Crawford]

Hot tap water and a nylon brush. Takes a minute or two longer, but it's not caustic, is readily availabe in most locations and is (the best part for me) cheap.

[Mark Ball]

I also use the CMT, it really works well.

[Phil Clark]

For the past 40 years I have been using TSP (tri-sodium phosphate) in warm water. I am told by my saw blade supplier that it will not harm carbide. I've never been disappointed by this cheapest of all methods for keeping my blades clean. TSP is available in most hardware stores (loks like a milk container. Easily done over lunch or coffee break.

[Bob Noles]

Simple Green here and have been very happy with the results. Don't need any missles in my small shop.... no where to hide from them :D :eek:

[Luis Oliveira]

guys, simple green has many products
http://industrial.simplegreen.com/ind_prod_fam.php

which product do you actually use and where can you buy it?

[Brad Townsend]

Rockler sells a kit that includes a quart of bit and blade cleaner concentrate (dilute to make a gallon), a shallow pan for soaking blades, a small wide-mouth plastic jar for soaking router bits, and a brass brush. It runs about $15 for the works. You could probably find all the individual components slightly cheaper, but it's not worth the hassle. The tray has a spout lip on one side. After I've soaked the blade for a couple of minutes, I pour the cleaner dilution back into a plastic milk jug and use it again.

[Larry Fox]

thats a huge no-no according to charles from freud:eek:

“Quote”
“Definitely avoid oven cleaner and other caustics. They attack the cobalt binder in the carbide and can lead to carbide failure (translates to tiny missiles of carbide at 100+ mph). Also, Freud and some other brands of blades have a tri-metal brazing foil that uses copper alloy for a cushioning layer. The copper can also be affected by these cleaners (translates to larger missiles of carbide). We recommend soaking overnight in kerosene in a vented container and using a stiff nylon bristle brush to clean. Teflon coated plates will clean up with a soapy cloth (except for the teeth as mentioned earlier). There are commercial blade cleaning products that are not caustic but we don't officially sanction them. I've personally used Simple Green concentrate with good results.

Charles M
Freud, Inc

“End Quote”

Thanks Tim - Based on this I think that I will switch away from it.

[Bob Reda]

For the last year I've been using Dawn Power Dissolver. The gunt almost falls off the blade. You can pick it up at any food type store.

Bob

[Bill White]

Amonia is a base chemical therefore "caustic" (not acidic). Although not as strong as oven cleaner, the same effect is possible on the carbide welds.
The easiest and least expensive blade cleaner I've used is TSP or tri sodium phosphate or Arm & Hammer washing SODA. That's soda not detergent.
Bill

[Mack Cameron]

Amonia is a base chemical therefore "caustic" (not acidic). Although not as strong as oven cleaner, the same effect is possible on the carbide welds.
The easiest and least expensive blade cleaner I've used is TSP or tri sodium phosphate or [quote]Arm & Hammer washing SODA. As Bill says "washing" soda, not baking soda. The ladies use it for getting gunk out of work clothes. 1 tsp in a qt of warm water, it works in a flash! an old nylon toothbrush will brush off anything that doesn't fall off. and last but not least, no harm to the environment.:)

[Denise Palko]

I recently used Simple Green on a WW II. I just did a short soak of the teeth (rotated it around the basin every few minutes) and then scrubbed with a toothbrush. It worked great. :)

Then I decided to clean the Freud Dado (508). This time I let one outer blade submerge in the solution. I figured I'd have less to scrub it the solution did all of the work for me. I lost track of time and it had set for about 15 minutes or so. In addition to all of the pitch it removed, it also disolved the writing / logo from the side of the blade. :(

[Jeff Raymond]

WD-40. That and duct tape will take you a long way.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
Thanks for all the replies!
Looks like I'll be picking up some Simple Green.

[Greg Narozniak]

I also use the CMT, it really works well.

Ditto to John and Mark, Cmt works very well and not stinkies :)