Advice cleaning up an old saw

I have cleaned up several by spraying them with Simple Green and gently scrubbing them with some 300 grit wet/dry sandpaper. Mine had rust spots on them, but if yours are just grimy you can probably get away with using a nylon scouring pad or something similar. I removed the totes from mine first since I wasn’t sure what Simple Green would do to the finish on them.

One trick for bent saws is to give them a sharp rap on the back of the plate with a hammer. It has helped on one of my $5 flea market specials.

Kevin, I have cleaned up a few saw plates using a citric acid bath (to get rid of rust) for a few hours, followed by some elbow grease with sandpaper. But in one case, the Disston markings that were barely visible before the work were completely gone after it. The saw may not have been old enough for the markings to be etched in, but rather printed – not sure.

If you are concerned about the markings, then go very carefully around them with sandpaper. Good luck.

I remove rust and gunk with a 6 hour white vinegar bath (yes, the vinegar you can use as a condiment, available at any supermarket). The steel must be completely submerged, so you’ll have to get a big plastic tub for your long ripsaws. After the bath, I then scrub with a wire brush (do this outside, as it sprays rust everywhere) then I quickly give a very vigorous rub-down with a designated rag or old towel making sure I’ve removed all the residue on the steel. I then quickly spray every part of the steel with Q20 (that’s what it’s called here in South Africa, but it’s basically aerosilised multi-purpose oil) to help protect against flash rust, which can bloom in a matter of minutes, which would require you to have to go through the whole process again. I then leave the Q20 to ‘soak’ in and lightly wipe it off an hour or two later. I used to use sandpaper, but I found that it actually abrades the steel, whereas the wire brush doesn’t.