How often do you clean your TS Blades?

[Warren Lake]

Richard do you keep it in a container and leave and re use? so you can leave the blades soaking and after a few its weaker.. Only past used oven cleaner and have emailed Royce to ask blade speed on 14" and Ply supplier for some info on the ply time to figure out why weeks ago only time to be working on the job.

[Andrew Seemann]

I confess, rarely clean my blades. I probably should more often. Typically I only do if I have a lot of pitch build up after milling something like white pine. For that I just use a rag with mineral spirits. For normal domestic hardwoods, I find the blade needs to be cleaned about the same time it needs to be sharpened, so I just sent it out dirty.

When I get burning while ripping, it is usually due to one or both of the following reasons.

1. Tension in the wood causing it to push against the blade, typically 1x and 2x softwoods, but not uncommon in hardwoods, especially unstable ones like birch and hard maple.
2. Feeding woods with high sugar content (maple, cherry, sometimes oak) too slowly, especially with a higher tooth blade (I get lazy about switching to rip blades esp for just a couple cuts). This tends to happen while switching hands while ripping, or especially when slowing to grab the push stick at the end of the rip.

[Mike Henderson]

I am a task specific blade user for enough things that I get a good look at my blades pretty often. When I notice enough build up I will clean them. For high tooth count blades I will often clean them before I begin a session of precision or visually critical cross cut work. I cut the bottom 2" off of an old 5 gallon bucket. I just set the blade in, give it a few squirts of L.A. Awesome and let it soak. I have a plastic handle that I glued a couple of magnets into. I use this to flip the blade when I am scrubbing it with an old toothbrush. Usually just a brush around the circumference on each side will do it.

That's a good idea about using the bottom of an old bucket. My 5 gallon buckets are too new, but I'll look for an old one somewhere.

Mike

[Pat Germain]

Plastic oil drain pans work really well for cleaning saw blades.

[Doug Garson]

+1 on Simple Green and plastic oil drain pans. Quick spray, soak for a few minutes (unless really bad), quick brush with an old toothbrush rinse with hot water, dry and spray with Boshield.

[Jim Allen]

Another +1 for plastic oil drain pans, but my cleaner of choice is Ozy-clean and hot water, soak it til the temperature subsides the scrub with a brass brush. I get my hot water from the Keurig machine, just enough to cover the blade.

[Bob Coates]

I'll second the simple green, I spray it on, let it soak, then use a SS brush pushing from the back of the teeth toward the cutting edge.

[andrew whicker]

Probably once a quarter I lay out my most used blades and clean them w simple green

[Larry Frank]

I clean mine when they need it.