Bandsaw blade cleaning?

[gasmansteve]

Hi folks
Not sure if this is the place to ask this but my bandsaw seems to be struggling a bit now and I`m not sure if its the blade going blunt or the muck built up on it?. I have been doing a fair bit of end grain cutting so its probably blunt but how do I clean the blade please?

Cheers and thanks
Steve

 

[Paul.J]

Steve.You can buy a cleaner to remove the resin etc from the blade,soaked in a tub,but i just use an old 6" ruler to scrape it off it comes off pretty easy.
I just hold the ruler flat on the bed against the side of the blade keeping it away from the teeth and turn the wheeel of the blade by hand.
Make sure it is switched off

 

[Anonymous]

If it's struggling that much Steve it's prob best to put a new blade on.

You could always try a piece of scrap (a piece of 75mm square about 600mm long) set it it to cut a 13mm slice and see how much the blade wanders... too much wander and it's prob not worth trying to redeem it (takes more time than it's worth :wink: )

 

[CHJ]

Likewise to Paul, only I do it with an old chisel, a dose of WD40 softens up most gunge from cutting green wood and does not seem to have any adverse effects on the wheel tyres.

A stiff brass or fibreglass brush does a good job of cleaning teeth gullets after a spray if you hold it against the blade whilst turning it in reverse.

 

[TEP]

Cleaning blades I use a piece of aluminium as a scraper, and I re-sharpen my blades 4 to 5 times. (I know, tight git!) This is when I am using a 3 or 4 tpi skip tooth form for rough cutting wet timber.

Any finer blades I have never attempted to re-sharpen although I don't use many of them. :lol: Got the sharpening tip from 'Make money from woodturning. by Ann & Bob Phillips' tried it out and it works fine on the heavier blades.

In my experience the rough running is often caused by wet wood pulp and resins congealing on the rubber tyres of the wheels. Apart from making the wheel circumference a bit bigger, it also makes it bumpy. When this happens you find the blade will move forward in the guides as the tension increases, and fall back as it decreases. The worse the muck gets the worse the rough running.

I've fitted a couple of extra brushes inside my saw, but they don't seem to help much when sawing wet timber, especially cutting with the grain.

 

[beejay]

Hi Steve,
I use hot water and baking powder. Fold the blade up and get to work in the kitchen sink with a stiff brush, I use an old toothbrush, and the residue build up soon comes off.
Dry immediately afterwards cause they can rust pretty quickly.
To help the bandsaw run smoothly I check the tyres regularly on the bandsaw for build up and clean them with 100 git paper or an old brass wire brush, whichever I can find first.
I also release the tension on the blade after each session and clean out both blade guides/bearings/guides. its worth checking for wear or grooves on the rear bearings as the blade can chew them up after a while. Also check that all bearings in the guides are running freely


regards, beejay

 

[duncanh]

After cutting up come wet laburnum my blade started to struggle. I took it off, put it in a tub, sprayed it with oven cleaner and left it. I couldn't believe how much junk had come off within an hour. Put the blade back on and it was almost as good as new.

Duncan

 

[Paul.J]

Duncanh wrote

sprayed it with oven cleaner and left it.

Have your blades been ok Duncan doing it this way.
I thought i read somewhere that the oven cleaner weakens the weld joint,or am i thinking of something else :?
If not i will give it a go meself

 

[duncanh]

I've only tried it twice and the blades have been used since then. I can't say for sure that they aren't weaker. The one I used yesterday wasn't as effective as last time so maybe I used something slightly different last time - possibly one of those foaming cleaners for removing hardened residue on pans etc.

 

[Stu in Tokyo]

When you are cutting a lot of wet timber, like bowl blanks, it really helps your blades to spray them with PAM the non-stick cooking spray stuff (Dunno if they sell it over there?)

This stuff........

Spray it on the blade, while running, both sides, it makes the blade cut easier, and when the blade does get all gummed up, the rubbish comes off easier too.

Cheers!

 

[Jonzjob]

I use 3in1 silicon spray on my bandsaw and hand saws. It seems to stop build up on the blades and makes the hand saw a lot easier to push through the wood too.

 

[Duncan A]

Oven cleaner can affect the brazing on TCT circular saw blades but I'd be surprised if it affects the weld on a bandsaw blade.
I'm happy to be corrected by someone who knows better!
Duncan