Keeping bandsaw blade clean?

[Dan Forman]

When cutting green wood into blanks, how do y'all keep your band saw blades from gunking up? I have heard that Pam cooking spray wiped on the blade helps, but I don't find it very effective. Any other suggestions? Thanks,

Dan

[Curtis Myers]

I use PAM or CRC-36 which is a machine surface preserver.
i apply after I clean the blade. One does not seam any better then the other.

I really like your eternity quote.

[Hayes Rutherford]

WD-40 helps, there are probably better things but usually at an increased cost.

[Roger Chandler]

With the saw off [unplugged] I take a synthetic pad dipped into mineral spirits [use glove to protect your skin from the mineral spirits and from the saw teeth] and with my right hand, wrap the wet pad around the blade from the back side, trying to let a gap remain so the teeth pass between my thumb and finger, then I spin the wheel with my left hand several times. {just as a warning- NEVER, EVER, NEVER do this with the saw running/powered!!! }

When I get back to the original place I started on the blade, I dip the pad again in the mineral spirits, to clean the pad, and start over again.......most of the time this does a good job on the blade. For cleaning the wheels, I always take the blade off the saw and spin them with a small brush held against the wheel with the mineral spirits, and wipe them down very good before putting the blade back on.

I have done this for years and had very good success with my blades lasting and the saw has never had a problem.

[Dick Strauss]

Bandsaws with roller guides on the sides tend to pack down the wet sawdust onto the blade IME. I prefer the old standard block guides or cool blocks on the sides with wet wood that actually help scrape the sawdust material off the blade if the gap is set properly. I have also found that the little brushes when placed properly do help prevent buildup. It is also a good idea to make sure you clean off the tires every so often as well.

I have unplugged the BS and scraped the packed gunk off the blade with an old sharp chisel for a buddy that has roller guides. I place the chisel as flat as I can get it on the BS table just behind the blade gullet and slowly move the blade by hand by turning the wheel. Do the same to both blade sides and you will probably be back in business.

They also make blade lubricating sticks that are supposed to help prevent buildup but I have never tried them.

[John Keeton]

I don't get much gumming on my blades as I use mostly dry wood. However, I would think the best method would be to remove the blade, coil it back into a compact coil and soak it (teeth down) in a shallow pan with some cleaner such as Simple Green. I imagine there are other cleaners that might work, as well.

[John K Jordan]

...how do y'all keep your band saw blades from gunking up?...

Do you have good, stiff brushes mounted inside the saw to knock off the junk before it gets compacted by the wheels and guides? I had to make a bracket for one of my saws to mount a section I cut from a stiff scrubbing brush.

Maybe the brushes help. I don't lube or treat the blades and don't get buildup when cutting green wood, and I process a lot of turning blanks.

Or maybe it's the species - do you have problems with any specific types of wood? I cut what grows around here: cherry, maple, walnut, dogwood, persimmon, sassafras, elm, eastern red birch, sycamore, bradford pear, cedar, etc. - never any buildup. I do get gunk on my Woodmizer sawmill blade but only when cutting Virginia Pine which I clean off while running with a tool.

Also, what kind of blade do you use? I used to use 3/4" to 1" 3-tpi but eventually went to thinner 1/2" 3-tpi blades made from Lenox stock by a local company.

JKJ

[Michael Mills]

I use the compressor for guides/rollers. I keep a section (about 1' length) of dry 4X4 and cut a slice off after cutting wet wood. It works for me in keeping the blade clean.

[Dan Forman]

Thanks for al of the replies. I am using a Rikon 14" 10-325 with a Lenox Di-master 3 TPI 1/2" blade. It does have the roller guides, and has a stiff brush on the far side of the bottom wheel (left side if facing the saw). It doesn't touch the bade, just the wheel. The buildup collects on both sides of the blade. Most of the wood I find is elm or maple, sometimes walnut. I feed a little dry wood through from time to time in hopes that it will abrade some of the gunk away before it hardens up. When the build up starts to effect the cut, I will remove it with a card scraper, but due to the geometry of the the teeth, it is a very tedious process. Needless to say anything past the gullet line is done with the saw turned off. The buildup will go right out the the points of the teeth.

John Jordan- Do your brushes contact the blade, or just the wheel? Do you have roller guides or blocks? I see that all of my woods are included in your list.

Thanks, Dan

[allen thunem]

I find soaking the coiled blades in lacquer thinner works as well as anything
dissolves the gunk right off without having to do much scrubbing

[Brian Kent]

When I processed 74 freshly cut Fern Pine blanks, I had to clean the blade several times. Each time took an hour or so. There was a yellow resin that bonded to the blade. I used up a whole lot of Simple Green and a whole lot of sanding sponges.

Things that did not work: everything else. Incidentally, I was using the identical blade that Don Forman used.

[Dan Forman]

Well, I think I may be on to what the difficulty is - a poorly thought out design for the Rikon's dust collection, at least as far as green wood is concerned. Here is a pic of the Rikon (Black wheel) DSC_2463.jpg , (click to enlarge) then my MiniMax MM16 (White wheel). DSC_2465.jpg note how the dust is channeled away from the blade in the MM, the blade (which is missing) goes through a slot in an angled piece of plywood, and the dust port is above where the blade would contact the wheel.

The Rikon, however, has the dust port below the wheel, that little semi circle near the floor of the chamber, and there is nothing to keep the wet dust from settling between the tire and the blade. I just cut some apple blanks spindle blanks, and after just one rip there was significant buildup on the blade, mostly on the left side where it is pressed to the blade by the tire. There is a good stiff brush in the upper left corner, but the wet dust has already been packed on the blade by then.

I don't know how other brands handle this, would appreciate any feedback as to how this compares to other brands, and whether there is a way to fix this saw. It doesn't seem to be so much of a problem with dry wood.

Thanks,
Dan

[Hayes Rutherford]

Dan, I think you could add a brush and a dust port. A bracket would need to be fabricated for the brush, and a hole saw could possibly drill through on the side or back of the saw in an area just below the blade guides.

[John K Jordan]

...there is nothing to keep the wet dust from settling between the tire and the blade.

I suspect you are right.

My 18" Rikon, which does not collect gunk on the blade, has dust collection a bit like the MinMax with a small chamber under the lower guides with an angled 4" port. The bladed goes through a slot in the angled steel bottom which is made narrow with two rubber pieces contacting the blade. The lower cabinet also has a second 4" port at the very bottom of the lower cabinet. All this has worked fairly well but I improved it considerably by building a shroud around the lower guides to pull even more dust down. I connect both of these ports to a 6" duct (along with an additional 4" flexible hose I position on top the table where needed with a magnet.)

I suspect adding a second port under the lower guides would help a lot. Sure wouldn't hurt!

JKJ

[Dan Forman]

I will look into moving or adding a dust port up above the wheel and see what can be done about channeling the dust away from the wheel. And advice about creating a 4" hole in the steel housing?

Dan