Table saw care

[Sasha]

My table saw recently started to develop rust on cast iron top. What's the best way to remove the rust and what should I use on the table saw top to prevent rust?

[Brian]

To remove rust try WD-40. To prevent it try TopCote.

Brian.

[Hitch]

"Brian" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Frequent use will also keep the rust rubbed off.

[Doug Miller]

Not in a high-humidity environment, it won't -- the rust forms too fast, unless the saw is in use 24 x 7. There's *no* substitute for a proper protective coating such as TopCote or paste wax.

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)

Get a copy of my NEW AND IMPROVED TrollFilter for NewsProxy/Nfilter by sending email to autoresponder at filterinfo-at-milmac-dot-com You must use your REAL email address to get a response.

[NoOne N Particular]

I used a "Mouse" sander with one of those abrasive pads on the bottom instead of sandpaper, and a little WD40. After wiping all of the WD40 off, I applied TopCote as in the previous post, and then followed with a good paste wax. smoooooooooth. Don't think I will use the Mouse again because when I was done I noticed that it would be really easy for the WD40 to get into the motor and . . .well. . .that's not the kind of charge I want to get out of life. I really need to start thinking about things like that before starting.

One other time it got some rust that was a little more than surface rust. My saw is in my garage and one rainy day the rollup door dropped water on the top that I did not see until two or three weeks later. To clean that up I used some 600 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper on a block, and WD40 again. Worked fine.

Wayne

[LRod]

WD-40 by itself won't do much, but some elbow grease with it and a Scotch-brite pad certainly will.

Also Boeshield is reported to be very effective. I haven't used it, so I can't testify directly.

- - LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Best I've found was Top Saver for removing rust and then I use Top Cote for preventing it. Boeshield is supposed to be a little better for prevention according to a magazine article where they tested it.

Top Saver will offer minimal protection. It was designed more for restoration and did a fantastic job. Brought the table back to like new condition. Use a shot of protection about once a month. Ed

[Charlie Self]

LRod notes:

I have used it and it is excellent, as is WD-40 with Scotch Brite.

Charlie Self "If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to." Dorothy Parker

[Dustmaker]

I started to develop some rust on my TS when I hurriedly left it without cleaning the sawdust off the cast iron top during a fairly damp period (like all of May in Chicago). Apparently the dust attracted moisture. Furthermore the rust seemed to be forming in the area where most of my lumber passed over the table. I guess in a few months I wore the paste wax coating down to the metal.

I caught it quick, just a slight darkening on the surface that quickly came off with 5 minutes of a WD-40 soak and some paper towels. Left a film of WD-40 on it until I get time to re-apply the paste wax.

I think it pays to look under the tool covers every so often to check things out. I have a jointer that only gets used at intervals of a few weeks.

[Dave Hinz]

You know, in days past we would have had the SlipIt guy come in with his perpetual posts. Whatever happened to that guy anyway?

Dave "Not complaining, mind you..." Hinz

[Mike G]

steel wool, wax.

[P©WÉ®T©©LMAN]

More woodworking! LOL

[Vic Baron]

Well, Dave - he was treated so rudely and, IMHO, unfairly by some members of this group that he stopped posting. Since then, BTW, I have had occasion to purchase SlipIt and it's really a great product for certain applications. Don't know about a rust preventative though, I use Boeshield m'self.

I also remember that Carlo from Jesada used to post quite a bit and even gave away a few 1/2" bits and he never got the treatment that the fellow from SlipIt got.

Ah, those were the days - also very few trolls IIRC.

Of course, I also remember using the Internet before there was anything called the World Wide Web. Lynx, Pine, Gopher and Telnet were the buzzwords then.

Vic

[Leon]

Oddly, In the last week, I have twice let a drop of yellow glue get on my saw top. I discovered it after it skimmed over. When I wiped it off the brown patina was gone and I there was a bright shiny silver spot left behind.

[Leon]

Actually your wood probably had the moisture in it. Some of the driest hard woods are dried to the 6-8% moisture content range. It is never a good idea to leave wood on your cast iron surfaces. ESPECIALLY treated lumber... DAMHIKT

[patriarch]

"Leon" wrote in news:8iKAc.7124$ [e-mail]:

And it's worse when you load out a pickup truck into the shop, in a December rainstorm, and leave the stack of oak on the cast iron saw top, then get holiday busy.

Good news: cleaning the saw top was a good way to really learn a lesson. Better news: The wood was all a gift from a friend.

About an hour, with kerosene, a 3M green scrubbie pad, and a complete application of Butcher's Paste wax, and the problem went away.

Thank goodness that's the only stupid thing I did last year. ;-) (Not!)

Patriarch

[Dave Hinz]

I dunno, I was turned off from the product by the way the guy just went on and on and on and on about it.

Well, again, it's all about approach. Steve K. sells stuff, but he also contributes a bunch of knowledge. Same for Charlie S. I don't remeber Carlo, but it may have been during one of my several long absences.

What do you mean "then"? I still use a text-based newsreader, over ssh rather than telnet, but until about a year ago I was using 'tin' which I've been using for newsreading since 1992 or so. Switched to slrn because it has better killfile and scoring options.

Dave Hinz

[Mortimer Schnerd, RN]

I recently tried Boeshield and am impressed with it. As for removing rust spots from the table top, I've used WD-40, steel wool, and Barkeeper's Friend with good results. I suppose I should have used a Scotch Brite pad, but I didn't have one laying around when I needed it. I did have 0000 steel wool.