Saw Blade & Router Bit Cleaning

[Canuck]

Well. You wouldn't think a novice who has only been WW for 'bout a year would looking for a way to clean blades and router bits! But, here I am needing a recommendation. (I guess I did a lot of cutting to get it right!?)

I read somewhere that soaking router bits on Formula 409 works. That really doesn't sound like good idea to me.

Of all of the products out there (and their claims:eusa_whis ), which type would ya'll recommend I try.

Thanks in Advance,

Wayne

 

[Splinter]

I use Boeshield Blade & Bit. Go to this link. --->> http://www.boeshieldcanada.com/PR30.php. You don't have to soak the blades/bit in a pan, etc. I just lay them on a paper towel, spray them, wait a few seconds and scrub with an old toothbrush and wipe them down. Your down in a couple of minutes. Boeshield make products to clean and protect your TS, etc. with also. See above link for the other two products.

 

[DaveO]

I have heard, never tried, that oven cleaner works very well. I would consider some WD-40, it cleans up many things, and wouldn't hurt. Use a tooth brush (old one of course) to scrub off the loosened material with either method. My .02,

Dave

 

[Mountaincraft]

WD 40 cleans well, but leaves a film. Also, don't soak or expose bearings to penetrating oils, solvents, or certain soaps. It will dissolve the special lubricant from the bearings. Take off the bearings first.

Good lld fashion turpentine does a fine job on resin buildup, and 409 cleaner will remove most every thing else. Denatured alcohol will clean off the residue.

To clean the bearings, I scrape them with something softer (such as plastic scrapers and brass scrap), then clean them delicately with Qtips and whatever solvent works best. There are many specialty bearing lubricants for router bit bearings, but I haven't tried them yet. I use Singer sewing machine oil, applying it to the top and letting it soak in overnight.

Boeshield works great on cutting surfaces, such as saw blades and router bits (careful not to get it into the bearing). It also works great on sliding surfaces made of metal, such as table saw tables and jointer tables. But since I have modified many of my tools and have melamine and plastic surfaces, I just use a hard paste wax (such as Minwax) on the whole surface. Briwax is too soft and too expensive for this.

 

[Ken Massingale]

I use Simple Green.
ken

 

[Charles M]

For Freud blades, bits and cutters we recommend soaking in a sealed container of kerosene and brushing with brass or nylon bristle brush. Oven cleaner and many commercial blade and bit cleaners are damaging to carbide and/or the brazing.

 

[DavidF]

Just cut more hardwood:lol:

 

[Splinter]

For Freud blades, bits and cutters we recommend soaking in a sealed container of kerosene and brushing with brass or nylon bristle brush. Oven cleaner and many commercial blade and bit cleaners are damaging to carbide and/or the brazing.

Will the Boeshield Blade & Bit cleaner damage Freud bits and blades?

 

[Charles M]

I wish I had info on all of the cleaners but you will have to ask the manufacturer. If they are selling it for this purpose I would assume that they will claim it is safe to use but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are correct. Oven cleaners do a great job of cleaning cutters and many commercial blade cleaners are made of the same ingredients but they damage the binder in carbide (although they are probably great for HSS).
Even products that you would think are benign like Simple Green should be researched before using. There was a email purported to be from a rep of SG circulating at one time that said it could be damaging to carbide.

 

[Phillip]

simple green and a toothbrush. oven cleaner works really well but is wicked toxic.

phillip

 

[Canuck]

Thanks a lot to all to responded. While at the Raleigh Woodcraft store yesterday, I looked at the Boeshield products and a sales person suggested I try CMT Formula 2050. (Primarily because of the price point!) Tried it out on my router bits and seems to have worked very well. (Just be aware of the bearings - as advised by y'all.)

Thanks Once More!!!!!!

Wayne

 

[Thetoymaker]

For cleaning I use rubbing alcohol and a VERY old toothbrush. Now I ain't gonna say, but I suspect I might need to clean my blades and bits with more ventilation...last time the shop started to look a little foggy to me....but then....:lol: :eusa_whis

John the Toymaker

 

[Ken Massingale]

Even products that you would think are benign like Simple Green should be researched before using. There was a email purported to be from a rep of SG circulating at one time that said it could be damaging to carbide.

Charles,
Well, as usual you are correct. I submitted this question on SG's web site via their feedback form and received a reply saying that SG is fine to use for cleaning carbide tipped tools.
Then this afternoon a fellow from SG called and said that was sent in error.
According to him, their testing has shown that submerging a carbide, or carbide tipped tool in regular, consumer SG can cause hydrogen embrittlement, which could cause the carbide bonding to weaken.
He strongly recommended not using SG for this purpose.
He did recommend Extreme Simple Green (http://industrial.simplegreen.com/ind_prod_ext_mor.php ) for cleaning carbide products. It's relatively new and not available everywhere, but is available at Aircraft Spruce in Atlanta for $10.80 a quart.

Ken