Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Cleaning a plane
Darin in Victoria
>Does anyone have recommendations for cleaning off pitch(?) from the japanned area of a plane. I was tempted to use table saw blade cleaner, but it said not to use it on painted surfaces. The pitch is quite thick and won't come off with WD40 or mineral spirits.
Re: Cleaning a plane
Kevin French, Antrim NH
>Even if you soak it for a time in the MS?
You could also try Pitch and Gum spray for TS blades
Re: Cleaning a plane
Robin Frierson
>Sometimes I use acetone on a q-tip for paint spots, or use a fine white rubbing compound, which really makes the japanning shine. But for pitch, I would try one of those citrus based cleaners, degreasers, etc.
You could also try the blade cleaner first on a spot of japanning out of the way, like under the frog, to see if it harms it.
True turpentine?
Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA
>I don't know how true turpentine, available at artist's stores if your hardware store doesn't carry it, would affect the japanning, but it cuts through grease better than mineral spirits, and might work the same on pitch.
Also, by the way, if you're using odorless mineral spirits, try odiferous mineral spirits (it's not sold that way, it's just not marked "odorless"). The odorless is weaker, I guess because removing the aromatics that make the smell also removes the solvents that make the grease-cutting ability.
Re: Cleaning a plane
Jim in Burlington Ontario
>If you tried methyl hydrate and it won't work then what about using bug and tar remover for cars?
LV Table Saw Cleaner
Darin in Victoria
>Well I diluted some TS blade cleaner and left it a couple of minutes to work out the pitch. It did, but I'm not sure if it also took off some of the japanning. The pitch/gum was so thick that it obscured the view of the japanning. Still have about 90% left so not too much of an issue. The plane is just a user and I'm refinishing it. So I'm not too dissappointed with the results.