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I went to buy a jug of pitch and gum remover for some table & circular saw blades. They were all out, but the guy tells me that oven cleaner works just as well. Then his sidekick tells me that soaking the blade overnight in kerosene works well too.
I have 2 questions…
1) do these two methods work well?
2) should I worry about ruining the teflon coating on my Freud blades?
Thanks!
Replies
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Well, you may not belive this but this is what I do. I soak them in dish soap and warm water for about an hour then run them through the dishwasher. Doesn't bother the teflon on the Freud and cleans up the Systimatics and Forests to just like new. Make sure you use the heat drying cycle to get rid of any moisture.
*WOW...I'll try that one tonight
*FWW did a sidebar review on blade cleaners. If I remember correctly Simple Green rated pretty favorably of the non-specific cleaners.I have used oven cleaner on non coated blades with fairly decent results. It may eventualy pit the metal, so It is a last resort cleaner for me.I bought a can of dry-coat that seems to be keeping down the pitch build-up.I am also going to try the dishwasher trick. Great idea.
*I tried the dishwasher last night on a 7 1/4" pirhanna blade. The soaking in hot soapy water seemed to do more for it than the dishwasher did. I could rub off the pitch after it had been soaking. I popped it into the dw hoping it would take it all off (since it was softened) but now I've baked the remaining pitch back on to the blade. Even though the dw gets very hot during the drying cycle (the unit is only a year old), I did get small little rust "bleed" marks scattered over the face of the uncoated steel blade. I think I would have been better off just soaking the blade and then scraping each tooth with a sharpened popsicle stick or something. I was trying to take the lazy approach (and of course got the lazy results!). To be fair, this blade did have LOTS of pitch built up.Dave,I have some Simple Green in the house. I'm curious if you used it full stregnth, or diluted it. Also, did your soak it for 1+ hrs, or just wipe on/scrub off?Thanks.
*Sorry the dishwasher didn't work for you. Mine must not be as heavily pitched as yours. I don't seem to get the rust spots either. Must be the dishwasher soap I'm using. Steve
*Stray, I'm not sure if this makes any difference but I've always used Cascade dishwasher soap. I've go a really old gummed up blade that I had written off because of the chipped teeth. I'll try that one tonight and see what happens.
*Stray, Ref your Simple Green question: I've found it works best full strength, left to soak overnight. If you have a lid from a drywall mud bucket, its the right size for soaking a 10" blade. GPW
*Steve,I'm not sure what brand of soap I used. Probably whatever DW had a coupon for. This was also a pretty cheap circular sqw blade, and maybe the steel wasn't the greatest quality to begin with. Perhaps the higher end blades don't bleed like this one. I used it as more of an experiment before trying somethin on my teflon blades.I'll try the Simple Green too.
*I bought two jugs of blade and bit cleaner from Woodworker's Supply (might be Rockler now) several years ago and still haven't opened the second one. It's a concentrate. You mix one part cleaner with two parts water. The instructions say to soak bits/blades for a few minutes, but I often leave them overnight, then lightly scrub with a soft tooth brush, dry with a cloth, and spray with Top Coat. Good as new. I save and reuse the cleaning solution too. The solids seperate, kind of like how used paint thinner seperates. Just pour the sludge out next time you use the cleaner. Eventually you have to mix a new batch, but what seemed expensive when I bought it now seems like a heck of a deal. Doesn't hurt teflon either. Good stuff. Really good on shaper and router bits, too.
*Stray, I ran that old blade of mine through last night and ended up with results like you did. Guess I'll have to change my lazy ways and get with the program. Darn, just when I thought I had found a way to save time and money.Steve
*I emailed Freud with this question too. The following is their response:i "What we recommend for a non coated blade is soaking the blade in kerosene overnight in a sealed container, and then brushing it with a soft brush. You could also do this with a coated blade but most of the time a household detergent and warm water willi clean a coated blade. The cleaner choice has less to do with the coating then it does with the carbide. Things like oven cleaner, and most pitch and gum removers contain lye or other high alkaline substances which will attack the binder in the carbide. Particularly soaking in these will accelerate tooth wear. Many saw services usei chemicals such as these but they also sharpen the blade after and remove any of the effected area.i As for Simple Green we have never tested it to see what effects it has on carbide."
*Stray, almost sounds like what we were thinking was the lazy way was actually correct. Go figure. Maybe we just need to let the really nasty ones soak a while longer.Steve
*Stray,I cut custom roofs for a living. Use two 8 1/4" circular saws. i Neverremove the blades from the saws for cleaning.Each morning ( and I mean "each" ) before I start cutting, I spray a light coat of WD-40 on both sides of the blades, and let the saws "sit" on their sides for a few minutes ( with the blade in a horizontal position so the WD doesn't run off ) Then I run them through a scrap 2x4 which knocks off the buildup. Cleans them right up and I'm ready to go.Not very practical for a compound miter saw tho.