Official Luthiers Forum!

I tried cleaning my gunked up freud radial arm saw blade with a 50/50 solution of liquid laundry detergent (costco) an water . Let it soak for 1/2hr in a shallow cookie sheet clean with a plastic brush . Works.

Clever.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

I've been using Castrol Super clean for years. Apply, wait for 5 minutes, light scrub with fine brass bristle brush, then rinse and dry.

Downside: It will quickly erase your fingerprints - Gloves are recommended

M

I read in, I believe, Fine Woodworking, that Easy Off oven cleaner spray does a good job as well. I haven't tried it though.

Easy Off and a brass brush is the go to cleaner for many. Works great. Very messy.-Bob

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“ The meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away” Pablo Picasso

I have used Esay Off for years and it quickly does the trick. Be careful to protect your eyes when brushing…..very caustic.

liquid laundry detergent s safe, cheap, an eco friendly, no fumes. Plastic toothbruhes can be recycled. Cookie sheets / alum pans etc readily available.

That stuff is like military grade flesh dissolver. My fingers were slimy for days after touching that stuff. Creepy.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Isn't there a rumour that the oven cleaner or something of that nature can cause
corrosion in-between the carbide tips and the sawplate?

I haven't had to clean mine yet, but think I will opt for elbow grease solution first.

Tom

I've used oven cleaner, and it works well - rinse and dry the blade after.
I've also used dish detergent and liquid laundry soap and they work as well as the oven cleaner, and are less messy as Ernie said.
Dish detergent will also remove the oils from the surface of cocobolo.

Dawn Powerwash sprayed on and overnight and rinse. Up there with the best!

Simple Green HD Pro or Aviation... as aggressive as oven cleaner, but without the admittedly slight potential for damage to the brazing on carbide blades if done at higher temp/longer duration. Standard Simple Green does pull both aluminum and cobalt out of alloys and binders with prolonged use (days...), but we still used it for cleaning disposable blades such as the small Diablo 1/16" kerf 40 tooth from Freud.

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A constellation only takes shape when one maps the whole.
- Beth Brower

Everyone seems to have a favorite way to clean their blades. Being frugal, I used to use the dollar store oven cleaner. But it stunk up the shop., made a mess. and was a total PITA to clean up. My resaw king bs blade used to get the oven cleaner treatment followed by , another great dollar store item. Coconut cream. in a spray can I use it to lubricate the BS blades All 5 . Another useful item is the spray lubricating fluid sold at the dollar store. It is used to free frozen bearings / an clean them and. lubricate moving parts. It can also be used to lubricate oil sharpening stones. Feel free to chime in

I feel so out of my element when I read your comments. I feel like we have a rocket scientist or at the very least and English teacher or something I can't even think of. Like musicians, it's better to play with better musicians because it forces us to up our game. Half the time, I'm just trying to figure out what you said. You're not the only one, there are a few others here that I admire for there writing skills and extreme knowledge of everything as well. This is my idea of a lengthy post

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

And yet here I sit in an upscale New Orleans watering hole for lunch having just noticed that my socks do not match and I've had someone's streetcar ticket stuck to my... well, my clothing since 9 AM (and I am trying not to think too much about the nature of the adhesive). Complete collapse in personal grooming standards or my sister having some fun at my expense? Thought-provoking.

Sweet Baby James tomorrow evening, but time to return to touristic pursuits right now. My thank-you for brightening my day.

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A constellation only takes shape when one maps the whole.
- Beth Brower