magicmic
ArboristSite Member
This ???? is funny!!
how do you clean your saw's?
- Thread starter kf_tree
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An easy way to clean them is scalding hot water from the house water heater. Not too much pressure to blast water in were you don't want it, and it melts the oily gunk off pretty good. For the stubborn baked on stuff, dip a stiff brush in laundry soap flakes and scrub.
It's a good idea to do it once in a while to make sure the cooling fins are clear of debris, and the saw is cooling itself properly when it runs.
It's a good idea to do it once in a while to make sure the cooling fins are clear of debris, and the saw is cooling itself properly when it runs.
mryb
Resident Creep
Back to my original idea...the dishwasher. Don't laugh, itz been done by several of us on here...Rick/Saw ****Pioneer said:
rivahrat
ArboristSite Operative
just dont let the wife catch you. i have never done it with saw parts but have with car parts. oh and in the bath tub, the removeable shower head was like a big parts washer. now thats what i use, a parts washer.Kneejerk Bombas
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You guys are talking about cleaning tha saw when you tear it all apart to rebuild, or is this something you all do on a regular basis? I'm still not getting it or what it does. My cooling fins are always nice and clean, what could get on them that would stick? Is it because you are cutting a lot of pine and sap is sticking on them?
Chris J.
Addicted to ArboristSite
Generic degreaser/cleaner purple stuff they sell at
Sam's Club, about $5.80 a gallon, & an air gun on my compressor. I dilute it to the strength that I need, maybe 4:1 or 3:1 for really stubborn grunge. I use it generously as many times as needed, & take plenty of time blowing out the excess liquid. Gas works well, but it's not cheap, & you never know when something unfortunate might happen.
I don't have any especially old saws, but I've gotten some well used ones that looked as though no one EVER cleaned under the covers. I go through the trouble because it's easier to work on clean parts, & I want the saw to look good once I put back together.
Use the dishwasher, kitchen sink, or the bath tub? I'm not brave enough to even try.
Sam's Club, about $5.80 a gallon, & an air gun on my compressor. I dilute it to the strength that I need, maybe 4:1 or 3:1 for really stubborn grunge. I use it generously as many times as needed, & take plenty of time blowing out the excess liquid. Gas works well, but it's not cheap, & you never know when something unfortunate might happen.
I don't have any especially old saws, but I've gotten some well used ones that looked as though no one EVER cleaned under the covers. I go through the trouble because it's easier to work on clean parts, & I want the saw to look good once I put back together.
Use the dishwasher, kitchen sink, or the bath tub? I'm not brave enough to even try.
rubberducky
ArboristSite Operative
I've never tried putting it in the dishwasher before. But if I did i'd be in deep #@$!.
Dishwasher?
May sound dumb but I'll ask anyway.
I am intrigued...do you use the dishwasher to wash parts of the saw? Or the whole saw? If it is the later, what do you have to do so water won't get in the carb and exhaust?
Or am I missing something big?
BTW...No, I am not going to use the dishwasher just curious.
Dario
May sound dumb but I'll ask anyway.
I am intrigued...do you use the dishwasher to wash parts of the saw? Or the whole saw? If it is the later, what do you have to do so water won't get in the carb and exhaust?
Or am I missing something big?
BTW...No, I am not going to use the dishwasher
just curious.Dario
bvaught
ArboristSite Operative
You just put individual parts that couldnt be hurt by the detergent or the water in the dishwasher. I like to put the chain cover in there because it has all those little hard to reach places.
I also clean my saw regularly with isopropyl alchol on a rag. I dont use this on the plastic parts unless they have hard to remove grime, but I think alcohol is safe on plastic anyway. Alcohol really does a great job of cleaning all that bar oil off of the saw.
I also clean my saw regularly with isopropyl alchol on a rag. I dont use this on the plastic parts unless they have hard to remove grime, but I think alcohol is safe on plastic anyway. Alcohol really does a great job of cleaning all that bar oil off of the saw.
rubberducky
ArboristSite Operative
Have you ever had any problems with isopropyl alchohol?
bvaught
ArboristSite Operative
I have used isopropyl on motorcycles and chainsaws. I have not experienced any problems on plastic or rubber. That being said I dont soak the parts in it. I just wet the rag and wipe.
If cleaning a saw for a rebuild, or to put up for a few months, I don't see any way around using lots of soap (Simple Green works ... cheap at Home Depot) and lots of hot water from a high speed high volume hose nozzle. To me, the detailing methods--like air needles etc, would be like trying to pick a thousand little buggers out of the saw here and there. And then the little sawdust buggers get everywhere in the shop. It's an outside job. The grunge, the hardened sap/oil/polymer impregnated sawdust, in the carb box, covering the flywheel and ignition, is typically too thick and too everywhere ... so, for me, it's outside with soap and hot water, and later it's soap and an old paint brush and a laundry tub for detailing parts.)
Once you decide to use soap and water to clean the carb box (and I don't see a way around it for the hardened-up grunge that gets caked in there) you'll need to remove the air filter and cover the inlet opening to prevent high pressure water from getting into the passage way and then into lower crankcase ... take 5 minutes (oh darn, there goes my whole day again) and cut a small piece of 1/2" wood to fit as a cover where the filter once was.
(IMHO, air filters which screw in, are a net advantage due to ease of cleaning. I don't see where the snap in filters are a net advantage. For a snap-in filter, I haven't a clue as to how to secure the opening with the filter removed, and you have to remove the filter to really expose the carb and carb box for cleaning. I don't think jamming a piece of oil rag or other plug jammed to cover the venturi would survive the high velocity water pressure which is needed to clean the gunk out of the box. Maybe jam a wad of oil cloth into the carb inlet, and then replace the snap in filter, and then do you best to clean under the filter. That's the advantage of the screw-in air filters--you can remove 'em and screw in a cover plate.)
Same thing goes for the muffler. Once you decide that an outside job, with soap and hot water, is simpler and faster than detailing with air inside, and then cleaning up the saw grunge which gets sprayed all around shop, then you're going to need to keep water from getting inside the muffler opening, as it will settle in the bottom of the muffler and then rust the muffler from the inside out. So, that means pull the muffler, and that then also means, make another wooden cover for the exhaust port (Oh darn, there's another 5 minutes with a 1/2" piece of wood and a hack saw--there goes my whole day ... again)
Blast away with hot water ... if using one of these dedicated high speed hose jets (they are amazing, and the standard hose nozzle is no competition -- that little thing will move bricks), you'll need to stand back about 15-20 feet or so, or the backspray will have you dripping in Simple Green, saw grunge and hot water in a blink. Champher the nozzle inlet 1/16" (not shown) to increase velocity and volume by maybe 50% (shifts the vena cava of the nozzle back toward the source.) 10 feet will be too close.
Clean the airfilter with an old toothbrush - per owner's manual, probably daily (oh darn, that much effrot just about kills my whole day--all over again! Do I really have to wipe my own a$$ each time ah takes me a dump?)
Sounds like overkill, but it's actually a good question. This is as simple a process as I could hone down, it cleans the saw good, and it keeps sawdust grunge out of the basement/workshop.
Once you decide to use soap and water to clean the carb box (and I don't see a way around it for the hardened-up grunge that gets caked in there) you'll need to remove the air filter and cover the inlet opening to prevent high pressure water from getting into the passage way and then into lower crankcase ... take 5 minutes (oh darn, there goes my whole day again) and cut a small piece of 1/2" wood to fit as a cover where the filter once was.
(IMHO, air filters which screw in, are a net advantage due to ease of cleaning. I don't see where the snap in filters are a net advantage. For a snap-in filter, I haven't a clue as to how to secure the opening with the filter removed, and you have to remove the filter to really expose the carb and carb box for cleaning. I don't think jamming a piece of oil rag or other plug jammed to cover the venturi would survive the high velocity water pressure which is needed to clean the gunk out of the box. Maybe jam a wad of oil cloth into the carb inlet, and then replace the snap in filter, and then do you best to clean under the filter. That's the advantage of the screw-in air filters--you can remove 'em and screw in a cover plate.)
Same thing goes for the muffler. Once you decide that an outside job, with soap and hot water, is simpler and faster than detailing with air inside, and then cleaning up the saw grunge which gets sprayed all around shop, then you're going to need to keep water from getting inside the muffler opening, as it will settle in the bottom of the muffler and then rust the muffler from the inside out. So, that means pull the muffler, and that then also means, make another wooden cover for the exhaust port (Oh darn, there's another 5 minutes with a 1/2" piece of wood and a hack saw--there goes my whole day ... again)
Blast away with hot water ... if using one of these dedicated high speed hose jets (they are amazing, and the standard hose nozzle is no competition -- that little thing will move bricks), you'll need to stand back about 15-20 feet or so, or the backspray will have you dripping in Simple Green, saw grunge and hot water in a blink. Champher the nozzle inlet 1/16" (not shown) to increase velocity and volume by maybe 50% (shifts the vena cava of the nozzle back toward the source.) 10 feet will be too close.
Clean the airfilter with an old toothbrush - per owner's manual, probably daily (oh darn, that much effrot just about kills my whole day--all over again! Do I really have to wipe my own a$$ each time ah takes me a dump?)
Sounds like overkill, but it's actually a good question. This is as simple a process as I could hone down, it cleans the saw good, and it keeps sawdust grunge out of the basement/workshop.
Al Smith
Addicted to ArboristSite
This thread is getting rather amusing Now I give those old dawgs a good bath when I restore them,but just a little whiff of the air,afterwords.I suppose it depends on how fastidious the owner is.It's a personal preference,but I use them,don't abuse them,but don't make love to them either[ figure of speech,not literal]
Now I give those old dawgs a good bath when I restore them,but just a little whiff of the air,afterwords.I suppose it depends on how fastidious the owner is.It's a personal preference,but I use them,don't abuse them,but don't make love to them either[ figure of speech,not literal] 
Chris J.
Addicted to ArboristSite
My cleaning routine that I posted is for
when you break down (Freudian slip?) a saw for rebuild, or to give a really, really grungy saw a much needed cleaning. As for cleaning as part of routine maintenance, I dunno.
when you break down (Freudian slip?) a saw for rebuild, or to give a really, really grungy saw a much needed cleaning. As for cleaning as part of routine maintenance, I dunno.
Power washing a saw can be bad news. All that high pressure can push things into otherwise fine seals and gaskets causing them to leak. I have had this happen on my dirtbikes from pressure washing them. Suspension bearings and head bearing life is measurably shorter. I hate to think what effect high pressure would have on a saw..
