Cast iron table saw tops

[TomWoodman]

These damn cast iron table saw tops are nuthin' but trubble!!! Isn't it time to find a better solution? How about .....

1. Granite
2. Teflon coatings
3. Hi tech plastic composites
4. Graphite
5. Oak

I'm votin' for oak. You just rub her down with some nice tung oil to slick her up and every month you can run yank it off and run her through your planer for a fresh new surface. The top would be in 12 inch wide 4 inch thick T & G sections so you can have a table as wide as your shop....lol

Any other ideas? Let's have 'em. maybe we can get rich quick! lmfao.

[Toller]

I am using corian for my new router table.

Oak moves. That ought to disqualify it as a TS table.

[bridgerfafc]

iron moves. so does aluminum....

I see the scale on my bies rail change significantly with temperature.

[Frank Boettcher]

Hasn't been tried, but I suspect far two expensive and difficult to machine and tap.

Been tested. wouldn't hold up. also expensive to add the coating to whatever substrate. Tried some other polymer coatings at the polymer center in USM, Hattiesburg. Also wouldn't hold up.

Been tried. Delta introduced a very good builders saw about 15 years ago. Saw was great. Top worked fine. Conservative ole woodwoking market would not accept it. was discontinued after a couple of years.

Too soft and too nasty.

Now you're talkin. why not

[rickluce]

[Amused]

I mounted a piece of rock maple to the face of my fence, and I'm very pleased with it. HOWEVER, after four years of moderate use, (i.e. sliding pieces of wood along the fence), there is a perceptible grove in the fence. It can be replaced very easily, and at a very reasonable price. I would not appreciate trying to replace the entire table top, even if it had been coated with Formica, after a rather short period of time (relatively speaking compared to cast iron), it would have to be replaced in total.

Besides, oak splits, splinters, and wears much faster than iron, and requires as much or more attention than any cast iron table top, besides.......Iron does not expand or contract with changes in humidity, and it's expansion rate is considerably less than any wood, with the changes in temperature.

I have some saw horses made out of some polymers, and they are outstanding, strong, stable, relatively light, but even they show wear from wood sliding across the surface.

I'll have to stick with cast iron. And Johnson's paste wax. Besides, I like the stability that comes from the weight of the cast iron components..........

James...

[Limey Lurker]

What about a cast iron top with a sheet of Formica glued to it?

[Duane Bozarth]

Why in the world would one do that???

[W Canaday]

There is a number known as the "coefficient of expansion". It's in the tiny decimals for cast iron and aluminum. Comparatively speaking, it's off the map for any wood.

Besides which, if you want cast Fe any flatter, you can just lap it in. Do a good job of it and it will be flat enough to use as a reference flat (generations of michinists did just that and it worked fine for 'em.)

[Leon]

[Leon]

I think I'll stick with Iron.

[Andy Dingley]

So _that's_ why people have three Unisaws!

[root]

Been done...the Ridgid TS2400LS is coated with something like this. It's this weird silver stuff that looks and feels like it belongs on a non-stick frying pan.

[Limey Lurker]

Have you actually read this thread?

[CW]

Not to expensive at all. ore so than cast iron but not unreasonable. Machines easily. Tapped holes are done about the same as tapped holes in concrete. Drill a hole, install insert. Impractical though from a strength standpoint. To brittle if thin enough for a table saw top.

[Frank Boettcher]

full manufactured cost for a cast iron table about $.60/lb which makes a table for a 10" saw about $11/sq. ft. I doubt seriously if you can take a slab of granite, machine an insert opening, miter slots, bore holes and set inserts for cabinet attachment holes, guide rail attachment holes and even come close to that cost.

And you're right, way too brittle.

[CW]

Never claimed I could. "Not unresonable" was the phrase. A bit reading impaired?

[mschips]

How about plating the cast iron? A good layer of copper/nickle and a flash of chrome should protect it nicely and look good for those that like the shiny chrome look (personally I don't). Skip the chrome flash and bead blast the CI before plating to get a nice satin look. The nickle plate would be pretty hard so it should last a long time. A thick plating of hard chrome would be even more wear resistant. Good metalworking machines have hard chrome on wear points for long wear. Rusting should not be a problem with plating.

[Frank Boettcher]

No, but I know if you try to put a new material on a table saw and it adds $50 bucks to the base cost as a granite table more than likely would then mark it up with manufacturers and dealers margin the market would consider that unreasonable and wouldn't pay it.

Frank