Or use EasyOff.

Brickeyee, do you have experience with Easyoff? My first thought is that strong caustic would not be kind to sharp metal edges.

Easy off works fine for heavy pitch removal.

It only takes a few minutes.

If the blades are carbide it will not bother them, and if they are plain steel blades you need to get a carbide tipped blade.

The only thing it can damage is coated blades.
It is pretty good at stripping the coating.

A soak in undiluted Simple Green works like a champ for cleaning blades. Nicer to use than Easy-Off (which also works fine).

You may find that a more modern design blade will cut better and be safer and quieter. Blades have improved a lot over the last 25 years.

WD-40 works fine for me.