Keeping your saw clean

[GrizG]

I had to remove big globs of pine sap from my girlfriend's car's windshield the other day. She didn't have denatured alcohol so I figured I'd try nail polish remover... a.k.a. acetone. That worked pretty well on the sap but I don't think it worked as quickly as denatured alcohol. As such, next time you have a sappy mess on your saws maybe borrow nail polish remover from your girlfriend or wife. It will look good sitting on your manly workbench and prove you are self confident.

 

[PV Hiker]

I had to remove big globs of pine sap from my girlfriend's car's windshield the other day. She didn't have denatured alcohol so I figured I'd try nail polish remover... a.k.a. acetone. That worked pretty well on the sap but I don't think it worked as quickly as denatured alcohol. As such, next time you have a sappy mess on your saws maybe borrow nail polish remover from your girlfriend or wife. It will look good sitting on your manly workbench and prove you are self confident.

Acetone works well on hard durable surfaces like the windshield, I would be weary using it near or on plastic on chainsaw housings as it will melt it.

I have great success using Purell hand sanitizer on my clothing to dissolve sap before washing. Have not tried it on a sappy chainsaw.

 

[HansFranz]

Many plastics are untouched by acetone, including the polyethylene bottles they sell it in.

Pine sap is usually pretty easy to remove. I generally use kerosene followed up by Gojo hand cleaner and soap/water.

 

[Bill G]

Many plastics are untouched by acetone, including the polyethylene bottles they sell it in.

Pine sap is usually pretty easy to remove. I generally use kerosene followed up by Gojo hand cleaner and soap/water.

All acetone I have ever had and have is in metal cans or I put it in glass containers

 

[Fatherwheels]

You're the one who put your ideas out there in public, don't cry about it when you get honest responses back.

There was another guy who painted and wrapped his saw, monkeyed with the insides, and put weird bearings in it, and asked for a valuation of the saw. A lot of people told him numbers he didn't like, and he got rather upset about it too.

That's the way of the internet, if you don't want an answer, don't ask the question.

I remember that, expected people to like what he did, he only
devalued the saw and did not like peoples opinions.

 

[Cedarkerf]

If you cut Doug fir the normal front color for Stihl is red. Switch to huskies it will match. I've never done more than wipe or brush it off. Gives the Saw I work for a living look. This was brand new when pic was taken

 

[Wood Doctor]

Years ago I had an office next door to a paint supply shop. They gave me all the paint brushes customers had left behind that were hard as nails with dried paint. Some were professional Purdy brushes that sell today for about $50 apiece. I used Acetone and saved them all. It's an amazing solvent, at least twice the strength of turpentine.

 

[Philbert]

Test the any solvent on a less important part of your saw, such as a scratched up part of the bottom, inside a cover, etc.

I have a wide range of solvents, cleaners, etc., that I use for a variety of projects and applications. Some will ‘frost’ certain plastics, some will soften them, some can be used to weld them! Some will remove paint.

Different manufacturers will use different types of plastic or paint on different parts of saws.

I like to start with the mildest solvent (water), then progress through citrus-based cleaners, alcohol, paint thinner, etc. before going to acetone, lacquer thinner, etc. I also have ‘Goof-Off’, ‘Goo-Gone’, and some 3M adhesive removers. Kerosene is an interesting idea.

Different types of alcohol (isopropyl, denatured ethyl, etc.) can make a difference.

BTW, I keep some acetone in (labeled) old nail polish remover bottles from my wife, daughter, etc., which makes small amounts easy to use in the shop fro cleaning, adhesive removal, etc.

Philbert

 

[gggGary]

Turpentine?

 

[GrizG]

Many plastics are untouched by acetone, including the polyethylene bottles they sell it in.

Pine sap is usually pretty easy to remove. I generally use kerosene followed up by Gojo hand cleaner and soap/water.

The nail polish remover I used was in a plastic bottle... The acetone I buy in the hardware store comes in a tin quart can with a twist off cap... I mostly use it to clean the Great Stuff spray foam gun, foam splatter, and other items. It's part of my cleaning army... gasoline, mineral spirits, acetone, denatured alcohol, Simple Green, lacquer thinner, BIZ, Arm & Hammer washing soda, Armorerall car wash, WD-40, Gunk degreaser... They all have their place. Simple Green and denatured alcohol work well for the chainsaws. I soak the chains themselves in bar oil and hang them to drip to remove filing swarf and dirt.

 

[OM617YOTA]

Kerosene is an interesting idea.

Kerosene and mineral spirits are very nearly the same thing.

Before all you keyboard warrior petrochemists get your panties in a knot and let me know about it, yes I know they're not the same thing. Very nearly so, though.

 

[user 122190]

Kerosene and mineral spirits are very nearly the same thing.

Before all you keyboard warrior petrochemists get your panties in a knot and let me know about it, yes I know they're not the same thing. Very nearly so, though.

And yet is there this opinion (from the same). The Anti-Cleaning opinion, as if it all about making someone else happy...

I buy my saws to use. Zero interest in changing anything I do just to make the next owner happy.

So which is it? Clean or not clean. And yet an opinion on something you so disdain, and keep coming back to.

I'll remind everybody that Mr. Nobody only cuts 1 cord a year, and yet just bought a 500i with a 32" B&C, yet bought a 28" B&C, cause with his 1 cord a year experience that was the ideal set up.

 

[OM617YOTA]

And yet is there this opinion (from the same). The Anti-Cleaning opinion, as if it all about making someone else happy...


So which is it? Clean or not clean. And yet an opinion on something you so disdain, and keep coming back to.

I'll remind everybody that Mr. Nobody only cuts 1 cord a year, and yet just bought a 500i with a 32" B&C, yet bought a 28" B&C, cause with his 1 cord a year experience that was the ideal set up.

Case in point, one of the keyboard warriors.

Yes, I bought a 500i for only three cords of wood per year, and am going to thoroughly enjoy cutting them. Don't be jealous.

Edit: Actually, be jealous if you want. It's kind of amusing from my side.

 

[mbrick]

I had to remove big globs of pine sap from my girlfriend's car's windshield the other day. She didn't have denatured alcohol so I figured I'd try nail polish remover... a.k.a. acetone. That worked pretty well on the sap but I don't think it worked as quickly as denatured alcohol. As such, next time you have a sappy mess on your saws maybe borrow nail polish remover from your girlfriend or wife. It will look good sitting on your manly workbench and prove you are self confident.

I second isopropyl or denatured alcohol. Works SO well cleaning sap/pitch and I only discovered it as a long shot guess after many other chemicals that hardly touch it.

 

[user 122190]

Case in point, one of the keyboard warriors.

Yes, I bought a 500i for only three cords of wood per year, and am going to thoroughly enjoy cutting them. Don't be jealous.

Edit: Actually, be jealous if you want. It's kind of amusing from my side.

3 cords, really. Wow! Yeah, now I'm jealous. LOL!

 

[Bill G]

3 cords, really. Wow! Yeah, now I'm jealous. LOL!

I can see it now.....a peeing match over who cuts more wood. I have well over 500 saws.....Do I need that many to cut the amount of wood I do? Of course NOT but who cares.

 

[Jonny Quest]

I use my saws as decorative table centerpieces. They really bring a casual, rustic atmosphere to any dinner party.

JQ

 

[Philbert]

Keeping them clean has a few, distinct advantages:

- The cleaning process is also an act of inspection, so fewer surprises.

- Some things work better when clean (air filters, chains, etc.).

- It can also be an act of respect/ pride in your equipment, which may present a professional appearance to customers.

Philbert

 

[timsmcm]

Keeping them clean has a few, distinct advantages:

- The cleaning process is also an act of inspection, so fewer surprises.

- Some things work better when clean (air filters, chains, etc.).

- It can also be an act of respect/ pride in your equipment, which may present a professional appearance to customers.

Philbert

The respect and pride in my equipment is what drives me to keep my tools clean and well prepared for the next job. That is why I have 40 to 50 year old tools that still look great and operate like new.

 

[cookies]

A clean saw runs cooler, makes more power and gives fewer problems with the starter and bar/chain when you go to use it in the field. I don't go nuts cleaning unless I'm planning to tear it down to repair it, I just wipe the big crap out and clean out the caked on bar oil/sawdust crap and inspect/wipe off the air filter and maybe blow the dust out of the carb compartment. Look in the fuel and bar oil compartments for debris and if necessary rinse them out.