blade cleaning question

[keith ouellette]

Is there another house hold product that will clean carbide blades other than simple green?
Cutting through the mdf zero clearance left a lot of brown pitch on the teeth.

[Sam Yerardi]

Easy-Off oven cleaner

[Tom Walz]

We supply saw shops and mills where blade cleaning is a big deal. I did some tests last year. I also went through the Internet looking for recommended blade cleaners. There was also a discussion on the tool discussion group. This is all at: http://cs4u.org/cleaningsawblades.htm (http://cs4u.org/cleaningsawblades.htm)

[Charles McCracken]

Keith,

You are likely to get a lot of responses to this inquiry, some good and some bad, so I suggest that you contact the manufacturer of the blade to see what they recommend.

[Jesse Cloud]

Keith,

You are likely to get a lot of responses to this inquiry, some good and some bad, so I suggest that you contact the manufacturer of the blade to see what they recommend.

OK, I'll bite, what should I do to clean my Freud blades?

[Sam Yerardi]

Freud blade cleaner I would guess

[Mark Blum]

Easy-Off oven cleaner
Ditto. Works like a charm and is cheap and readily available.

[Charles McCracken]

Freud blade cleaner I would guess

That would be ideal - if we offered one. The Freud recommended method is soaking overnight in a sealed container of kerosene then brushing with a stiff nylon bristle brush.

[Sam Yerardi]

Charles,

My apologies. I should have added a smiley face as I was making a joke so I didn't mean to offend if I did. Actually I've used the kerosene method and it does work. Thanks.

[keith ouellette]

I used a degreaser. It seems to have worked.

[Lee Schierer]

That would be ideal - if we offered one. The Freud recommended method is soaking overnight in a sealed container of kerosene then brushing with a stiff nylon bristle brush.

What about sudsy amonia? The kind you buy at the super market for cleaning floors and stuff? Does it have any effect on Freud blades??

[scott spencer]

I used a degreaser. It seems to have worked.

I've used 409, Simple Green, LA's Totally Awesome, Goo Gone, Dawn/water, Greased Lightning, WD40, Easy Off, and Boeshield cleaner...all worked great. The Easy Off was the messiest and is considered by some to be too caustic for the brazing, so I don't see an advantage with that over the others, and the Boeshield is about 4x the price of others...

[Charles McCracken]

Charles,

My apologies. I should have added a smiley face as I was making a joke so I didn't mean to offend if I did. Actually I've used the kerosene method and it does work. Thanks.

No offense taken. I meant my reply in a light-hearted spirit as well.

[Charles McCracken]

What about sudsy amonia? The kind you buy at the super market for cleaning floors and stuff? Does it have any effect on Freud blades??

Lee,

I guess that technically it would depend on the pH but I have always recommended not using ammonia.

[JayStPeter]

I use the Empire blade cleaner. It's fast. The overnight method sounds great in theory, but that would mean I'd use dirty blades more often. If I can clean the blade in a couple minutes it'll actually happen. Simple Green is too slow and requires too much scrubbing if you don't soak it for a while. The Empire stuff is a little nasty, but I'm done in just a few minutes.

[Gary Keedwell]

Formula 409. Spray it on blade...wait a minute....rub with toothbrush...wipe off with paper towel.

Gary

[Charles Wiggins]

Is there another house hold product that will clean carbide blades other than simple green?
Cutting through the mdf zero clearance left a lot of brown pitch on the teeth.

I've used warm water and ammonia (maybe 3:1 or 4:1 mix), and a toothbrush. Probably got 98% of the crud off in about 10 minutes of light scrubbing.

[Adam Grills]

Not my idea but another woodworkers. It works, doesn't smell bad or hazarous to health. Baking soda and water. I left mine in a cookie sheet for 20min. Pulled it out and the pitch came of in my finger tips. Dried off the blade and a quick spray to protect it.
Grillzy

[Lee Schierer]

Lee,

I guess that technically it would depend on the pH but I have always recommended not using ammonia.


I've used it on some older blades. They need to soak about an hour and the pitch brushes off with an old tooth brush.

[Eddie Darby]

Baking soda and a brush do a good job. Just make sure you dry the blade well after rinsing it off, to prevent rust.

[Bill Huber]

I have been using SuperClean Cleaner-Degreaser.

I spray one side of the blade turn it over and spray the other side.
Turn it back to the first side and use a stiff nylon brush and then do the back side, rinse in hot water and its ready to go.

I don't think I have ever had to leave it on from more then a min. at most. I also use it on my router bits.

[keith ouellette]

I have been using SuperClean Cleaner-Degreaser.

I spray one side of the blade turn it over and spray the other side.
Turn it back to the first side and use a stiff nylon brush and then do the back side, rinse in hot water and its ready to go.

I don't think I have ever had to leave it on from more then a min. at most. I also use it on my router bits.

The degreaser I used was called zep and I bought it at home depot. It seems to clean most any thing so I tried it on the blades and got the same great results Bill got.

Thankyou to everyone for all the replies.

[Yuchol Kim]

I've had great luck with oven cleaners. But I make sure I don't leave it on any longer than necessary. I have tried CMT blade cleaner and have been thoroughly disappointed. I think Windex would've worked better than it.