Inexpensive Saw Blade Pitch Remover

pennview · Post by **pennview** » Sun Mar 25, 2012 12:54 pm

While wandering around Wal-Mart recently, I stumbled upon a item in the cleaning section of the grocery section that caught my eye. It's called LA's Totally Awsome (as seen on TV), comes in a quart spray bottle, has a yellowish color, and costs all of a $1.47. Tried some this morning on a few saw blades and it seemed to clean them quite well. Sprayed it on the blades and used a soft toothbrush for removing some of the stubborn crud. Seemed to work fine. One of the ingredients, albeit a small amount, is Sodium Hydroxide or Lye, according to the MSDS, so one needs to pay attention to warning label. I wore some plastic gloves. Often an empty spray bottle costs more than a $1.47. The stuff is sold as a concentrated cleaner/degreaser.

derekdarling · Post by **derekdarling** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 12:35 am

pennview wrote:While wandering around Wal-Mart recently, I stumbled upon a item in the cleaning section of the grocery section that caught my eye. It's called LA's Totally Awsome (as seen on TV), comes in a quart spray bottle, has a yellowish color, and costs all of a $1.47. Tried some this morning on a few saw blades and it seemed to clean them quite well. Sprayed it on the blades and used a soft toothbrush for removing some of the stubborn crud. Seemed to work fine. One of the ingredients, albeit a small amount, is Sodium Hydroxide or Lye, according to the MSDS, so one needs to pay attention to warning label. I wore some plastic gloves. Often an empty spray bottle costs more than a $1.47. The stuff is sold as a concentrated cleaner/degreaser.

One of the first jobs I worked was for CIL paints in Toronto, cleaning paint vats and delivery tubes. We would immerse the stuff in a vat of hot lye, and then a good rinse with steaming hot wateer. One thing I learned was (excuse the yelling): NEVER PUT ALUMINUM IN LYE! You, your family, and likely the local authorities will be less than pleased with the result. So, make sure you know what you are spraying this stuff on.

That being said, I'm going to check out the local WM to see if they carry it in Canada.

Derek

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 10:04 am

Isn't Sodium Hydroxide or Lye the chem that can weaken the braze on a carbide tip?

pennview · Post by **pennview** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 10:34 am

There is very little Sodium Hydroxide in this produce -- .5 to .8 percent -- according to the MSDS, so I'm not sure it's a big problem with saw blades, but that's just my guess on the subject. But, I wouldn't want to get in in my eyes, etc.

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 10:43 am

Ordinary dish soap works well for me. After I switched to it from oven cleaner.

fgrule · Post by **fgrule** » Wed Mar 28, 2012 10:35 am

beeg wrote:Ordinary dish soap works well for me. After I switched to it from oven cleaner.

Yes, "Awesome" is very caustic. It's sold at Dollar Tree stores in my area. It is the only product I have found that will remove those nasty black gutter drips (albeit, along with a bit of paint).

I'd not use LA'a Awesome on saw blades. Simple green works very well as a soak.

Fred

reible · Post by **reible** » Wed Mar 28, 2012 12:00 pm

Simple green says

http://www.simplegreen.com/cleaningtips/pdf/126.pdf

So please read.

Ed

terrydowning · Post by **terrydowning** » Wed Mar 28, 2012 12:26 pm

Thanks for that Ed. I'll have to try the coffee thing. (No shortage of that in my house)

fgrule · Post by **fgrule** » Wed Mar 28, 2012 3:55 pm

reible wrote:Simple green says

http://www.simplegreen.com/cleaningtips/pdf/126.pdf

So please read.

Ed

Thanks,E.

I never soak anything for a long time. But that's good to know!

pennview · Post by **pennview** » Wed Apr 04, 2012 6:00 pm

I just noticed that the recent Shopsmith e-mail special has a product called Sprayway Saw Cleaner Pitch and Gum Remover. Out of curiosity, I checked the MSDS for this item and see that it contains 20 to 30 percent Sodium Hydroxide (lye). Now that is over 20 to 30 times (could be up to 60 times) the amount of lye in LA's Totally Awesome.