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Cleaning your chisels

Joined
Jan 20, 2021
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Location
Stuart, FL
So I trash picked a small log the other day and today I decided to play with it ( first time working with green wood). The wood was very green and wet and so it left a sappy residue on my tools. I just used mineral spirits to clean them and followed up by rubbing them down with a paper towel that I sprayed with T-9 Boeshield. Is there any I should be doing differently to clean them or is that good?
Thanks.
 
Joined
Jan 24, 2010
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Cleveland, Tennessee
Denatured alcohol or acetone. Don't think you are supposed to spray any lubricant or preservative on tools.
 

john lucas

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Apr 26, 2004
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Cookeville, TN
You can spray lubricants on your tools if you want. Won't hurt anything but not really needed. I just wipe them down every now and then with WD-40 which is the same thing I use to wipe down my lathe.
 

hockenbery

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Apr 27, 2004
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I use gouges and hollowing tools on wet wood

don’t clean the tools with anything.
I use a slip stone to polish the flute of the gouges and then sharpen the tool.

When turning wet wood I often sharpen a tool mostly to clean the bevel when I feel it begin to drag.
The tool is still sharp enough to cut cleanly but the drag of the bevel fights the clean cut.

hollowing tools I occasionally polish the top with the slip stone. As these are scraping cutters the bevel drag is never an issue.

I clean the slip stone every couple of weeks with naphtha or alcohol and a small brass brush.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Aug 14, 2007
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Location
Eugene, OR
Madrone is very sticky, lots of gunk. If I don't clean it off before I leave the shop for the day, it is twice as sticky the next day. I keep one grinder with a wire wheel on it. That removes all the build up. One product I have yet to try is the Slick Stick from Ken Rizza. Supposed to work wonders on CBN wheels. Most of the time for me, I use honing oil on the CBN wheel. They also gunk up when turning madrone. Since I don't hone, I don't know about how it works on the stones I have. The honing oil did seem to resurrect my 30 year old DMT stones. I have tried WD 40 and Glide coat on my tools with little benefit. I tried the Boeshield, and found it to be rather sticky. Most of the time, it hasn't seemed to be worth the effort...

robo hippy
 
Joined
Feb 26, 2019
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Lebanon, Missouri
I use regular household ammonia to clean wood residue from turning tools, saw blades, router bits, etc. Mainly gouges, before resharpening I wipe off the tip with a paper towel, spray it, wipe again. Dont want my wheels loading up with it. Never use any lube or rust inhibitor on them and no rust issues.
 

Tom Gall

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Feb 20, 2013
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Hillsborough, NJ
I have a squirt bottle (nozzle) with lacquer thinner and an old toothbrush. It evaporates quickly. Probably any solvent would work...maybe even water. If the toothbrush isn't stiff enough then I'll use a small brass brush.
 
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