Keeping your saw clean

[biggerstaff94]

I use purple power, alcohol, and compressed air. Any heavy grime gets hit with a nylon brush. Ive found a coat of wax on the front helps keep the shavings from building up.

 

[Philbert]

Good Idea! I wonder if masking tape would work well. I know it comes off nice and clean but not sure how heat resistant and long it would stay on. In a nice flat area with not much heat I would imagine it would be great. I know duct tape and electrical tape get pretty gross after a while.

Long thread, so I apologize if I am repeating this:

I have placed silver, metallic duct tape in places near my mufflers, primarily to act as a heat shield on plastic parts. Makes cleaning easier too.

I have also masked parts of my chain grinders too, to make clean up easier; for some reason the grit does not stick as well ad it does to the painted metal.

Philbert

 

[Sawdust Man]

My 353 bought new in '09, haven't cleaned it yet, maybe if it ever quits working I will.

 

[Lightning Performance]

I like your bench grinder idea with a taped on facade.

Long thread, so I apologize if I am repeating this:

I have placed silver, metallic duct tape in places near my mufflers, primarily to act as a heat shield on plastic parts. Makes cleaning easier too.

I have also masked parts of my chain grinders too, to make clean up easier; for some reason the grit does not stick as well ad it does to the painted metal.

Philbert

The aluminum tape that came in last year seems to hold up the best under high heat conditions. It was rated at 400, 450, 600 and 800 for furnace pipes. The 600 was the only one not affect by fuel in my heat tests. The stuff stuck well with little movement to a used piston in a 500*F toaster oven.

 

[SAWMIKAZE]

I do recall you looking for a certain hue of color of jonsered filter cover clips recently.

How in the ever living fukk is that comparable ?

 

[Maintenance supervisor]

My 353 bought new in '09, haven't cleaned it yet, maybe if it ever quits working I will.
View attachment 1008373

That muffler looks like new must be sawdust preserved!, honestly it looks like one day of firewood cutting for me.

 

[Lionsfan]

That muffler looks like new must be sawdust preserved!, honestly it looks like one day of firewood cutting for me.

For some odd reason, my saws look quite a bit cleaner after a days worth of firewood cutting than they did 20 years ago.

 

[Sawdust Man]

That muffler looks like new must be sawdust preserved!, honestly it looks like one day of firewood cutting for me.

I replaced the muffler a few weeks ago to get rid of the e-tech muff.

 

[snobdds]

My 353 bought new in '09, haven't cleaned it yet, maybe if it ever quits working I will.
View attachment 1008373

I could never bring my self to do that. Impressive

 

[Sierra_rider]

I periodically clean my saws, but I don't go nuts over it. Maybe a bit of oil eater, a parts cleaning brush, and an air hose. Sometimes they just get scraped off with a scwrench and then blown off. If I'm doing a tear down, I get pretty agro with the cleaning.

I don't do any preventive stuff to keep them clean. I figure they're tools, not shelf queens. If I'm selling one, I detail the crap out of it...it'll look clean, but the wear will be representative of its use. I'm not trying to trick potential sellers into thinking they are buying some super low hour saw. I do store them inside a cabinet, so they don't spend much time exposed to UV light...aside from scratches, my plastics look really nice on my saws.

 

[Bill G]

3800 psi pressure washer does wonders on cleaning saws.

I agree......after that 3800PSI water treatment it is a wonder the saw runs with longevity

 

[HansFranz]

3800 psi pressure washer does wonders

...at driving grit and dirt into all the places where you don't want it.

 

[Sawmiller]

I try to keep inside the airbox spotless and also give the clutch area some attention, keep an eye on the cooling fins, And anything caked on the outside. Every few sharpenings the bar groove gets cleaned and sometimes bar dressed.

I find after getting most of the crap out of the airbox a hose down with starting fluid works good, as it washes out remaining dust and washes off the oil which makes the crap stick.

Every once in a while I'll take the saw down and pull the clutch and flywheel and give everything a good clean up. Thick stuff scraped and brushed then out comes the parts brush and diesel followed by soapy water.

Sort of like this, 038 and 026

View attachment 973690View attachment 973691

Yes keep the cooling fins cleaned out lol i learned the hard way

 

[Sawmiller]

Yes keep the cooling fins cleaned out lol i learned the hard way

 

[bwalker]

Not running used motor oil or veggie helps keep a saw cleaner too.

 

[OM617YOTA]

I've run veggie oil in a saw, but it caked everything and took quite some cleaning to remove. Cheap oven cleaner to the rescue!

Now I stick with normal petroleum bar oil. Much easier clean up.

 

[Jason Pitcher]

Me personally i pull my saws part way down, give them a good cleaning, like the clutch cover and air filter area. I also clean my bar grooves after every use. I run the .050 bars.

 

[StihlBill]

When I get done with saw I'll usually give it a once over with compressed air, and have a small shop vac devoted to cleaning out the wood dust/bar oil gunk out of bar and around clutch. For the body I'll spray it down with a cheap bottle of armor all, any metal parts gets wd-40 or some seafoam deep creep.