Sharpen and clean your blades!

[ear3]

No horror show stories to drive home the point, but just an observation that it seems like I have to relearn/re-remember every few months.  This specific remembrance was triggered by a switchover to a freshly sharpened blade on my TSC55, and my marveling with how effortlessly I pushed through a rip on a 6/4 piece of hardwood.

The thing about dulling blades is that while sometimes you might get dramatic signs, like burning or a ragged cut, it is more often for me like the boiling frog scenario.  Over time the saw just requires more force to push through the cut, but you don't really notice since it's only marginally more than the day prior.

But then you swap out for a fresh blade and BOOM!, you're back to cutting like a hot knife through butter. 

 

[Michael Kellough]

Good public service post! Blade sharpeners say many blades sent in for re-sharpening really just need to be cleaned.

 

[rst]

I haven't replaced a saw blade in ten years and I cut wood, plastics, aluminum, and brass.  Cutting plastics tends to coat the blade bodies so I remove and clean with conditioning buffs.  That being said, I only buy industrial blades made for day in/out constant use.

 

[fignewton]

I use Rockler's router bit and blade cleaning kit regularly on all my blades.  Amazing how much stuff builds up around the teeth, and this stuff takes care of it.  Really cuts down on the heat generated and improves cutting.

 

[Z48LT1]

Does anyone have good experience with cleaners/solvents that aren't necessarily sold for blade cleaning but may be hiding in plain sight the shop or kitchen cleaning cupboard?

 

[AlexThePalex]

Does anyone have good experience with cleaners/solvents that aren't necessarily sold for blade cleaning but may be hiding in plain sight the shop or kitchen cleaning cupboard?

Anything that solves grease works. Ammonia, WD40, thinner, white spirit, normal soap.

 

[Twoodman66]

Dollar store oven cleaner

 

[GoingMyWay]

We've been using Krud Kutter:https://www.findkrudkutter.com to clean our stovetop for a while.  I started to use it to clean my TS55 blades after I saw Sedge use it:https://www.instagram.com/p/BYbAbOWHIHU/?taken-by=festoolsedge.

 

[Mario Turcot]

I found that video, to me it`s a no brainer since baking soda is part of the kitchen. Make sure to dry up the blade, you can use a hair dryer and after apply a coat of libricant.

Mario

 

[Jesse Cloud]

My sharpener said that more than half of the blades he gets really just need a good cleaning.

 

[Cheese]

I use CMT blade cleaner or Simple Green. The Simple Green needs to soak a little longer than the CMT product.

 

[Cheese]

Dollar store oven cleaner

Be careful, CMT along with others advise against using oven cleaner. They claim it attacks the binder in the carbide insert and can also affect the tri-metal brazing process.

 

[Sparktrician]

I use CMT blade cleaner or Simple Green. The Simple Green needs to soak a little longer than the CMT product.

I'm with [member=44099]Cheese[/member] on this one. Most of the time, it's Simple Green sprayed on, then let to sit in a mud bucket top for an hour or so, then scrubbed as necessary with a stiff bristle brush.  If Simple Green has difficulties, it's CMT blade cleaner.  Blades get a good spray of WD-40 afterwards and a detailed wipe-down before being put away. 

 

[ProCarpenterRVA]

Does anyone have good experience with cleaners/solvents that aren't necessarily sold for blade cleaning but may be hiding in plain sight the shop or kitchen cleaning cupboard?

EZ Off Oven and Grill Cleaner. Wear protective gloves, respirator and eyewear

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[Rob-GB]

Dollar store oven cleaner

Be careful, CMT along with others advise against using oven cleaner. They claim it attacks the binder in the carbide insert and can also affect the tri-metal brazing process.

I'm not a metallurgy expert but my understanding is that tungsten carbide is a sintered product that uses heat and pressure to form the powdered material into any form required. It requires no binding agent.
Maybe CMT are looking after their sales revenue with their claim.

Years ago we had need of cutting some brass angle to a narrower size and decided to use an old triple chip blade that looked quite gunked up. It seemed to get quite clean and serviceable afterwards so got put back in the "good to go" pile  [big grin] Not saying to use cutting up brass as a cleaning method but there are many ways to do so.
Rob.

 

[RustE]

Only “binder” I know of is used in the brazing process. For lack of a better phrase, the binder gets cooked-off during the furnace brazing cycle.

 

[ChuckM]

When it comes bade cleaning, I follow my hand tool sharpening philosophy: do it often.

I have two go-to blades so I can switch one with another when cleaning is done (once every three to four months or so).

I use Simple Green (usually soaked for two hours, if not more) and a brush. Before I put it away, I clean it with WD40 to remove moisture and then spray a thin coat of Fluid Film or similar rust preventative on it. The Simple Green is reused a couple more times before disposal.

 

[Cheese]

Well FWIW...
Forrest does not recommend oven cleaner and recommends Simple Green.

CMT does not recommend oven cleaner and recommends their own orange cleaner.

Freud does not recommend oven cleaner and recommends a citrus based cleaner.
They also go a bit further than the others by referencing common oven cleaners,  “These attack the binder in the carbide and, on Freud blades, they also deteriorate the special tri-metal brazing we use. This can cause carbide or brazing failure and could lead to injury.”

 

[rst]

I cut aluminum and plastics more than anything.  Aluminum is a sticky metal which can gum up blades especially bandsaws.  I keep old 1/8 brass lock covers and run the blade through them to clean off the aluminum.  Works for plastics too, although, I often have to use conditioning pads and bobs to clean the plastic off the blade body.

 

[RustE]

My curiousity got the better of me and I did some reading on carbides.

Cemented carbides are made like [member=7330]Rob-GB[/member] posted above.  Tungsten carbide powder is mixed with nickel, cobalt, or iron powder as the binder alloy.  Heat and pressure make the powders into a solid form.  There is a balance between hardness and toughness based upon the amount of each alloy used in the mixture.

The information [member=44099]Cheese[/member] posted above suggests that oven cleaner attacks both the microstructure of the carbides and the braze joint.