Blade Cleaning Revisited

[Pappy]

I'm finally getting back into the shop some and one of the first projects was for the wife from her favorite wood...Purpleheart! Most of my blades were in need of cleaning before I started and running them through this evil wood didn't help.

In the past I has used DampRid Mold and Mildew Stain Remover which worked well. Unfortunately I was almost out and it doesn't appear to be on the market anymore. A quick look around the house came up with several different agents to try.



I sprayed each agent on a different part of the blade and scrubbed lightly with a marron Scotch Brite pad.

1. Goo Gone was a bust. Didn't have much affect on the residue and left a mess on the blade.

2. Zep Foaming Wall Cleaner worked but took a fair amount of effort and scrubbing.

3. Zep Mold Stain and Mildew Stain Remover. I had highest hopes for this since it was similar to what I had used in the past. I wasn't disappointed and I think it would work better if the blade soaked in the solution but I didn't have a container big enough for this.

4. Mr Clean Clean Freak is fairly new to the market and works well as a household cleaner. Surprisingly it out performed the stain remover and seemed to start dissolving the residue in a matter of minutes. The 'scrubbing' took very little effort.



Next test will be to get a container to soak the blades in and clean 2 similar blades with the stain remover and the Clean Freak. I will try to clean them with just a tooth brush and report the results.

[LCHIEN]

10" blade FIts perfectly in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket.

If its too tall, then perhaps cut off the top?

[Pappy]

If I just had an extra 5 gal bucket laying around....

[LCHIEN]

Go to a restaurant you frequent, ask them if they have any extras you can have. I had a friend who ran a BBQ place until last year, he always had some around he got pickles, and other bulk restaurant supplies in 5 gallon buckets that were basically surplus once he emptied them. He almost always had a stack in the corner to give away.

Home depot and Lowes have them, too but they will charge you a couple of bucks for one with their logo on it.

[Jim Frye]

I use a plastic trash bag for blade cleaning. Just put the blade in the bag and leave it overnight and they are clean and dry!

Just kidding. I do use a trash bag though. I lay the bag out on the work bench or assembly table, spray the cleaner on a blade sized area on half of one side of the bag, lay the blade on the spray area, spray the exposed side of the blade, and fold the bag over on to the blade. I usually let the blade sit overnight before scrubbing with a stiff brush and rinsing. The bag gets tossed in the trash.

[LCHIEN]

Simple Green?

[capncarl]

Make sure that you put whatever you use to clean your blades in in the middle of your workbench or somewhere you will be sure to remember to take the blades out and clean them. I loaded my container, a Rockler 3” deep bucket sold for cleaning blades, added green magic or something like that and let my blades soak.... I forgot them for 2-3 weeks. It took every bit of the writing off the blades and etched every blade with a swirly black stain. I’m glad it didn’t cause them to rust, but it didn’t clean them any more than if I had only let it soak overnight, probably made it harder to clean!

[Pappy]

.... and let my blades soak.... I forgot them for 2-3 weeks. It took every bit of the writing off the blades

Been there, done that, cut the T shirt up for rags!

[leehljp]

Thanks for posting this. I am going to get some Mr. Clean's Clean Freak and give it a try.


Got me some today (Saturday).

[Carlos]

Ever since I got my saw REALLY tweaked to perfection, within 1/256th in any direction, I've done almost no blade cleaning. It seems like stuff collects from burning on or something.