Today’s DIY video tip is all about blade cleaning, specifically circular saw blades, table saw blades, miter saw blades, etc. To show you, I’ve removed the blade from my circular saw. Over time you can see how the tar and the pitch from wood has collected on the blade. This slows the blade down as it is cutting, and tends to leave ugly marks on the wood being cut too. Not a good thing, especially if you’re working on something like finish trim that you plan on staining. Those ugly marks will show right through. So, you definitely want to clean your saw blades periodically.
First, get yourself a can of oven cleaner. I certainly recommend rubber gloves and safety goggles when working with oven cleaner. Follow the directions on the can, just as if you were cleaning an oven. You might want to do this outside since the fumes can be bad. Give the blade a quick spray on one side, flip it over, and give the other side a spray. Let the oven cleaner soak in and do its work. The directions on the can will tell you how long to let it soak. In this case, I let it stand for about 20 minutes. Next, give the blade a quick scrub with a toothbrush. I scrubbed for less than a minute per side. Finally, rinse the blade off under warm water, and you’ll have a nice clean blade. Not quite like-new, but shiny enough to reflect the lighting.