Router Bit Cleaning Recommendations

[Rocky]

Is acetone good for cleaning router bits?

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

I use the blade and bit cleaner from boeshield.

 

[Theshipstore]

I am another fan of Boeshield

Sal

 

[JerrySats]

I use the blade and bit cleaner from boeshield.

I use this too and sometimes simple green . I just soak bites and blades in it . The nice part is i can reuse it .

 

[AlexThePalex]

WD40 also works geat. Good stuff to clean bits and blades.

 

[Makkus]

I use regular oven cleaner. I tried serval oils, thinners etc. However I got the best results with the oven cleaner. Just spray your bits and saw blades and let it soak in (mine generates foam) for a few minutes, then rinse with water. They look like new afterwards.

-Mark

 

[Jesse Cloud]

Household ammonia from the grocery store.  Soak your bits and blades (I use an oil draining pan) outdoors for 10 minutes.  The crud will wipe right off.
Wear gloves, stay up wind.

 

[Sparktrician]

I use Simple Green and/or CMT 2050 Blade & Bit Cleaner.  I use the top of a 5-gallon mud bucket to soak blades up to 10" diameter, and the top of a can of spray paint for router bits to keep the stuff contained. 

 

[mouppe]

I bought the CMT Orange cleaner from Tom. Works very well on bits and blades. Smells good and is non-toxic. I also use it on plane blades and soles if I have been working a pitchy wood like pine.

http://www.tool-home.com/products/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/19043

 

[Julian Tracy]

I found that barkeeper's friend (a powered cleaner sort of like Comet...) worked real good for me cleaning highly pitched router bits.  Worked better than anything else I had on hand at the time.

JT

 

[Alan m]

cmt for me

 

[Deansocial]

Dunno about router bits but last saw blade i just chucked some r5 solvent on it

 

[Jesse Cloud]

There was a big stir a couple of years ago that Simple Green (which has an honored place in my shop) may be bad for carbide.  I remember seeing a post from the maker of Simple Green (though I forget which forum it was on) that it could cause carbide to break down if it is soaked for extended periods, though (probably to cover his ass) he did not define "extended period".    As I recall, the consensus was that it would probably be ok to use it to soak blades for half an hour or so and probably not ok to use it for soaking overnight.

Maybe someone out there who is not yet senile can remember more details....

 

[Sparktrician]

Maybe someone out there who is not yet senile can remember more details....

You're asking a lot here... 

[big grin]

 

[CharliePlesums]

Oven Cleaner - a few years ago Charles Freud of the company of the same name, STRONGLY recommended not using oven cleaner, since it attacked the brazing that holds the carbides onto the bit of blade. 

The original simple green was pretty strong stuff - for example, the FAA did not allow it's use on airplanes in any manner.  Then they came out with Simple Green Extreme which, despite the name, was a milder version that did not attack airplanes or woodworking tools.  When I ran out of the Simple Green Extreme concentrate, I found that it had been replaced by "plain" Simple Green.  So unless you have a very old bottle of concentrate, Simple Green is probably okay.  It is one of the options that I use on blades and bits.