Saw Blade shapening

[woodyork]

How long should the stock BT3 sawblade run before it needs sharpening? I'm trying to learn to read it by looks and feel. It seems to me that it's not as sharp as it was but still pretty sharp. But I'm getting more burns in my cuts than I was originally.
It's three months old and I work in the shop about 4 days a week and about three hours each of those days. But being inexperienced I tend to take a long time changing setups and generally pottering around. Most of what I have cut has been plywood or pine but the blade shouldn't have more than a few hours of actual cutting time on it. I have cleaned it recently so I don't think thats the problem. Today I was ripping some 2' oak boards 3/4 thick and had pretty bad burning but It seemed to be loading down the saw too much if I tryed to feed it faster. I put a short piece of MDF next to the rip fence and extended it about 1/2 way in to the saw blade thinking perhaps the rip fence was pinching the cut off side but that didn't help much. Thoughts - opinions??

Thanks in advance for any advice
Woody

[leehljp]

1. Pine tends to have a good bit of resin; resin builds up and burns start. The heat speeds up the dulling process even on a good blade - and the BT comes with a very good blade. It is a good idea to clean the blade at least weekly if resin is building up and you are using the saw regularly.

2. It also does seem like that the fence is "in" just a tad. Most people make sure the back of the fence is outward of being parallel of the blade by the thickness of a piece of paper.

Some others here might have more to add.

[Ken Weaver]

What Hank said. I'm learning that frequent cleaning is a real help, including the lift mechanism and keeping gunk from piling up underneath the saw. Break out the Simple Green and use it regularly and see if that helps.

[monte]

Like Hank said, check the rip fence alignment. That may be the cause of a lot of the burning and the loading down of the saw.

[dedaddy]

I have not had much luck with Simple Green for cleaning blades and router bits.

The absolute best cleaner system I have found (and one top rated in a recent magazine review) is from Empire Manufacturing. The only thing I found it would not take off a blade was melted on PVC when I cut a bunch of pipe on my chop saw. It will take off burnt on resin and pitch in less than 5 minutes. It even takes off the manufacturer's printing in some cases. This is strong stuff which requires latex gloves (included in the kit along with a brass brush and small jar to do router bits) to handle what you are cleaning.

I got mine from Amazon here:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0002KIDV6/qid=1107435883/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl60/102-4692940-0343351?v=glance&s=home-garden&n=507846

YMMV

[mater]

If the blade has only a few hours cutting time on it then it is still sharp and shouldn't be that dirty. What Hank said about the fence alignment could be the problem.

[softop41]

Unlike dedaddy, I have had good luck with Simple Green. It reall makes a difference when the blade is clean!

[JeremyM]

The simple green...is that the stuff that is coming in the spray bottle, or is there a concentrate that folks are using?

[JimD]

I use CMT's blade cleaner in a spray bottle and it works very well. Your blade is only clean if the teeth are shiny. Any dark deposit on the teeth means it isn't clean yet. If there is somebody nearby that sells CMT's blades and router bits they probably have the cleaner too. If you can't find anything else you like you can use oven cleaner. It stinks bad and is rumored to not be so great for the braze that connects the teeth to the blade but I used it before finding the CMT cleaner and my blades seem OK.

I've never had a blade sharpened without using it several years. I may not use mine as much as you are but I doubt your blade is dull. You can see a change in the shape of the teeth when the blade is dull - the edges of the teeth will be rounded a little.

Jim

[woodyork]

Thanks to all who replied. My saw blade had a lot of build up on the front or each tooth. I had cleaned it several times but had been paying most attention to the sides of the blade and the tip of each tooth. I soaked it for a coule of hours in concentrated simple green and inspected every tooth to be sure it "was shiny". It looks good as new now. I haven't given it a difficult task yet but I'm sure its better. It took quite a bit of scrubbing with the toothbrush - maybe more soaking or a brass brush would make this easier. I used the simple green because I had it on hand and since I live out in the boondocks I'd have to orde the other stuff. We'll see how it goes. Anyway I'm glad to hear I can expect a long life from my blades. I'm thinking of buying a rip blade just to make it a little easier on the saw motor.

These electrical things are manufactured with only so much smoke in them and if you ever let it all out it's over!

Learning every day (with your help)
Woody

[sweensdv]

quote:Originally posted by JeremyM

The simple green...is that the stuff that is coming in the spray bottle, or is there a concentrate that folks are using?

Yup, thats the stuff. It is in its concentrated form when you buy off the shelf. You can use it full strength right out of the bottle or dilute it if you like. I use it full strength on my saw blades and router bits. So far, I haven't had a need to try any of those expensive designer cleaners as the Simple Green has never let me down. I've used both the original and the newer lemon scented version and both work equally well.