Pine gummed-up bandsaw

[Richard T]

I recently cut two pieces of white pine (very similar to Scott's Pine) with my bandsaw. It was four cuts of 6" x 6'9" and by the last cut I noticed I was slowing the motor down -unheard of! On closer examination I saw a build up of resin and sawdust coating the inside of the blade.
It had set like glue. Not only were the teeth partially coated, but the extra surface on the inside of the blade was making it ever tighter on the wheels. Hence slowing the machine down.
Has anyone had the same experience? And is there any way to discourage resinous dust to stick so fast?
It doesn't happen with conifer - the sticky resin seems to be only near the bark with them, whereas pine is sticky all the way through.
In the end it took me longer to clean the bade with a big, flat screwdriver and lots of elbow grease that it took to do all the setting up and cutting.
btw the blade was a DF "ripper" 2tpi and I do have the wheel brush set ok.

 

[PAC1]

Where I served my apprenticeship a liberal coating of heating oil (Diesel) was the preferred method! I do not think I can recommend such a technique. I know Felder sell some solution for applying to blades to reduce resin buildup.

 

[OPJ]

Oven cleaner's supposed to be good at removing pitch and resin like this. Remove the blade, coil it, place it in a bowl, spray it and leave it for a while. That should at least free it up so that you can brush it off.

I've also known diesel to be used in sawmills, but those are huge resaws - not the kind of thing your average woodworker is likely to have!. :shock:

Some manufacturers produce a wax that you can apply to the blade before cutting (I once bought some from Dragon Saws but I think Trend also do it). I can see the idea but I think I applied too much wax and it just made a mess of everything on my saw...

 

[Richard T]

Thanks for that guys.
When I was a tree surgeon, we used to use vegatble oil to get resin off saws, hands, maul handles etc; but not being very experienced with a bandsaw, I have no idea how oil would effect the grip of the wheels on the blade, or worse, how oil would effect the tyres on the wheels.
I have no idea what mine are made from and therefor cannot make a judgement as to what oil would be the least knackersome.
T'would be a pity if I couldn't cut more without getting gummed, as I have quite a bit more pine saved up for various jobs.

 

[Mr Ed]

CMT make a cleaner for removing resin from cutting tools, which seems pretty good to me when I have used it.

Regards preventing the build up I'm not sure theres much you can do if the species is resinous, I suppose the thing is to clean regularly with something like the CMT cleaner to prevent build up.

Ed

 

[Richard T]

Yes,.... I suppose there must be something that works - there is certainly a lot of sawn pine in the world.

 

[Mr Ed]

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-CMT- ... -21107.htm

Here it is

Ed

 

[Richard T]

Thanks for that Ed but Corr! That's expensive - I wonder what the secret formula is ....

 

[Eric The Viking]

Thanks for that Ed but Corr! That's expensive - I wonder what the secret formula is ....

Xylene? That's what's in carb cleaner, and it works in seconds.

(thinks... labeled "safe"). Hmm... Probably not then.

 

[Mr Ed]

Thanks for that Ed but Corr! That's expensive - I wonder what the secret formula is ....

I don't think its that bad. I bought the small squirty bottle about 5 years ago (admittedly was probably cheaper then) and its still going - you don't need to use a lot.

Ed

 

[chingerspy]

I think there is a video of that being used on Popular Woodworking site... The Wood Whisperer used some other stuff too. I will try to find in a mo.

You can re-use it over and over again, either strain it or just pour straight back in the container.

Found the video

 

[dave157]

forget all these fancy resin removers from people like axminster, most effective by far is mr muscle bathroom cleaner. about a pound a bottle and better than anything.

 

[Racers]

Hi,

I use the Mr Muscle Window and Glass Cleaner for cleaning blades etc.

Pete

 

[Richard T]

SWMOM (she who must obey me) thinks we have some Mr. Muscle window and glass somewhere - I'll give it a test later. The blade is still quite gummy in places as it is still coming off the tyres.
Interesting Chingerspy, that it is tested against adhesive remover. It's certainly adhesive, and with sawdust agrogate it's more like concrete.
I shall report results.

 

[Racers]

Hi, Richard

I put my blades on a couple of carrier bags and give them a spray flip and spray, then leave them for a while and scrub with a brass bristle brush.

Pete

 

[Ironballs]

Ed beat me to it, on his recommendation I bought the CMT cleaner last year and now use it on all my router bits. Does the job very well

 

[Chip Off the Old Block]

I bought some PTFE spray from Screwfix which yuo apply each time you use the saw/router/etc and that seems to work perfectly well for me as a ligh/medium duty user.

 

[duncanh]

When I had this problem I used oven cleaner and it worked a treat. Coil blade, put in container, spray on cleaner, leave for an hour or so, wipe/wash off and put somewhere warm to dry.
Someone commented at the time that oven cleaner might be corrosive and could perhaps damage the blade but I've had no problems so far

 

[markymark12]

I use gun wash, (recycled thinners), 25litre at your local car paint supplier for around £22 last time i brought it. It keeps you going for a while. I just decant it into some smaller containers.