Tablesaw polish

My cast iron tablesaw is in need of some serious refinishing. Three years of using it as a workbench has taken it's toll -scratches, stains, etc. I know I can wax and polish it so that everything slides, but I'm wondering what type of abrasive will put a nice finish on it. Anyone done a refinish with good results?

TIA

Dennis

Reply to
Newshound
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"Sandflex" blocks, a rubberized abrasive, works real well on stains and rust... it's a brand name and you can usually get them at Rockler or WoodCraft. They can be used dry, or with a lubricant. So far I've yet to find anything that works better with less effort.

That said, any effort to take anything but miniscule scratches out may leave you with and undesirable, non-flat top, so go carefully.

Reply to
Swingman

Without knowing exactly how bad your table is, I can only recommend what I do on my saw every year or two (you know, rust marks from the "spilt" beer bottles and such...).

:-)

I use wet/dry sandpaper starting at 320 and spraying with WD-40 with each application. Work my way up to 1200 or so - as shiny & slick as you want. Get this stuff from Pep-Boys in the auto finishing area. They have up to 3000 or 4000 I think. Takes a little time, but works great!

I don't like waxing/silicon spray because it prevents the stain from penetrating and may cause blotching. Maybe just in the miter slot.

My 2ç.

Lou

Reply to
loutent

You don't really want silicon _anywhere_ on your table saw top.

It's not "blotching" that silicon causes, but fisheye, which is caused by the silicon reducing the surface tension of the sealer coat over the contaminated area, resulting in a round crater(s) in the finish that resembles, what else ... a fisheye. ;)

Reply to
Swingman

I perhaps am always the . .odd duck in the flock. In another life I use some very precise steel forms and years ago Fred at The Japan Woodworker introduced me to Camellia Oil - it is my understanding that the Japanese use it on their folded steel swords. It work great on my special forms and Hock plane blades and it doesn't have the adverse effect or the potential that silicon (wd40 . .ect)does. On the porous casting of a table saw top it works great. Fred now sells an applicator for it - but if you have a short piece of bamboo laying around in the shop you can roll up a course cotton a diameter to than can be stuffed into the hollow of the bamboo and then saturate it with the oil. Then every so often you just brush the applicator over the bare surfaces. Eventually after years the surface will take on a patina all its own where the oil has been drawn into the cast iron. . . .. . .just another option

Wayne

Reply to
Wayne Cattanach

Camellia oil is indeed what is used on Japanese swords. I got my first bottle of it in my first sword kit and since then I've been buying it in pints for use on other tools. It's a beautiful, light oil that smells good too.

Japan Woodworker carries it, and a believe places like Highland Hardware and Woodcraft do also.

--RC

--RC

Reply to
Rick Cook

Don't trust "Camellia Oil" on a sword. Modern camellia oil is a fish oil, with camellia essence added. It's not bad for woodworking tools, I use a lot of it myself. It's not "archival grade" for fine sword use though and it won't last for really long term storage without oxidising.

It's a good oil for hot-oil bluing of steels - as are most fish oils, and especially whale oils.

Genuine camellia oil is available (Chinese herbalists, traditional Japanese hairdressers), but the pH looks suspect for metal preservation.

Take a barbecue lantern on a pole (cheapest UK source of thick bamboo), saw off a few inches around a septum and make yourself an oil pot, just like you describe. Mine lives on the benchtop and I use it a lot. If you try to buy thick bamboo from a garden centre, they break out the internal septa before shipping it, supposedly to avoid water pooling and possible mosquito transmission.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

Scotch Brite pads under the velcro pad of a ROS.

Barry

Reply to
Ba r r y

I knew the gardens here would be useful for something one day, I'll take me saw and get some fresh......

Reply to
njf>badge
[...]

how does one recognize the true camelia oil? From the advertisement of the stuff sold by Dick i assume that that is the true stuff.

Reply to
Juergen Hannappel

WD-40 does NOT contain silicone.

Reply to
CW

Are you implying that WD-40 contains silicone? Their web-site explicitly disclaims that:

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is there another reason why WD-40 might have an adverse effect if used on tools that contact wood?

/rick.

Reply to
RickS

If it's for sale, it's not the genune stuff.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

WD-40 is a solvent and penetrator that contains a small percentage of lubricant... which of the above would you want on your wood projects?

I think, therefor I am... or at least I think that I am?

Mac

Reply to
mac davis

Buy a can of Slip-It.

Reply to
Ace

Renee Decartes walked into a bar. The bartender says, "Mr. Decartes, would you like a drink?"

Decartes said, "I think not," and he disappeared.

Reply to
U-CDK_CHARLES\Charles

[[.. munch ..]]

Often rendered as:

"I think I think, therefore I am -- I think!"

Reply to
Robert Bonomi

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