chain cleaning ??

[chainsaw69]

recently retired, live in the country in south texas, two chainsaw dealers in the area that sharpen chains. one is so bad at it a buddy that trims trees for a living said out of 6 chains he recently took em 4 wouldn't cut butter and 2 lasted a few minutes before went dull. the other place is trying to get out of the business so he over prices and takes weeks to sharpen a chain. seeing an opportunity, i bought an Oregon511AX and already have a following. goal is to return them their chains clean, sharp, and oiled. currently i am power washing the chains , letting em dry, sharpening em, dipping em in oil and hanging em to dry. question is....can i soak a chain in muratic acid for a few minutes and them rinse em off w/out damaging the chain? someone told me it would take the "plating" off. ??? any help appreciated. thanks

 

[Gravedigger]

I use my ultra sonic cleaner and spray on oil after but only doing chain for myself. Have a HF ultrasonic cleaner

 

[CTYank]

I use my ultra sonic cleaner and spray on oil after but only doing chain for myself. Have a HF ultrasonic cleaner

Any particular chemical concoction you use against rust? How long? How's it work?

 

[Duane(Pa)]

I would use solvent like odorless mineral spirits before ever thinking of an acid. What are you trying to remove in an acid bath?

 

[Thornton]

If I want mine clean I just drop Em in a coffee can of gas and slosh around

 

[Guido Salvage]

I clean mine by running them in wood, polishes them right up.

 

[sunfish]

Don't use muratic acid, it wont remove the chrome plating, but will remove the bluing. It will also cause rust later.

 

[Gravedigger]

Any particular chemical concoction you use against rust? How long? How's it work?

Just Simple Green

 

[Guido Salvage]

Don't use muratic acid, it wont remove the chrome plating, but will remove the bluing. It will also cause rust later.

And it is nasty s@$t that you don't want to breathe.

 

[1Alpha1]

I just use some pre-mix to clean the chains.

It doesn't take much and it does a great job.

 

[brian22]

I use purple power degreaser. It won't remove rust , but it sure does a great jobs on the oil and dirt. Then hit it with a wire brush.

 

[wkeev]

I use the wire wheel on the bench grinder . For real bad one's I spray with oven cleaner wash with hot water, let dry and spray with lube like wd 40 .

 

[rullywowr]

HF ultrasonic with simple green is hard to beat!

 

[chainsaw69]

I would use solvent like odorless mineral spirits before ever thinking of an acid. What are you trying to remove in an acid bath?

crap. pitch, dirt, oil, etc etc. its all a matter of perception. handing a CLEAN, OILED, sharp chain back to a customer makes a good impression and a return customer. i'm trying to get the metal to ground zero as fast as possible. believe it or not, lots of guys shoot and eat wild hogs here. I do too. tastes great barbequed. and they butcher the hogs w/their chain saws (I don't) and drop em off to the competition caked with guts, hair, bone, you name it. and they get em back the same way, but sharp. I refuse to do that. I want the customer to get back a clean chain. I have tried the gasoline slosh method. works but not well enough. brushing takes too long. think i'm gonna stay w/the power washing method for now.
THANK YOU for all the replies!!
as an aside........do you guys that sharpen REALLY file down and round off the rakers? I can see doing it, when needed, on my own chains, but filing that rounded leading edge seems like a tremendous "time user" on a commercial basis. thanks again.

 

[chainsaw69]

HF ultrasonic with simple green is hard to beat!

does it get the chain to bare metal?

 

[chainsaw69]

I use the wire wheel on the bench grinder . For real bad one's I spray with oven cleaner wash with hot water, let dry and spray with lube like wd 40 .

I showed this reply to my wife and shes still wiping the tears from laughing so hard from her eyes. after 43 years you'd think she'd have more compassion. empathy? little while ago I tried this just to clean the link to read the # on it. wore gloves, just touched the one link to the wire wheel. held on tight. worked great, till I backed away and the bottom of the chain caught the wheel and ripped it from my hands. wanna see the scars on my wrist, chest, arm? and the gouge in my safety glasses? well, ur not gonna cause i'm too embarrassed still. i'm not saying YOU don't do it, but you're probably a lot smarter than me and can get away w/it.

 

[whitedogone]

Dollar store cheap oven cleaner and a hot water bath. Problem solved.

 

[gmax]

A wire wheel on a bench grinder, takes about 2 mins.

 

[KG441c]

simple green and a pressure washer

 

[treesmith]

I wear mine round my neck in the shower but costs a fortune in flannels

Small wire brush and fuel mix