new saw -- talcum powder

[Sam the Cat]

Got the PM66 yesterday -- got it up and operating by yesterday eve. Interesting observation is that while it costs bunch more than my old Ridgid contractor saw, it is a very simple machine in comparison. Only took me 2 hours to assemble at a relaxed pace, the ridgid took me 4-5 hours and had a bunch more little parts

Got a question on care of the new shiny top (gotta love the mirror finish !) In the manual they talk about the old standby -- paste wax, but they also mention talcum power and a blackboard eraser. They claim the talcum will keep the mirror finish, build up water resistance and fill the pores in the cast iron as well as provide a slick surface. Seems like a good plan -- has anybody used talcum power ? If so what brand -- only one the comes to mind is baby power but I am not sure if it contains other harmful additives.

Inquiring minds....

[CW]

Caustic baby powder... Right.

[David]

LOL! yeah, I'm sure that baby powder regularly is formulated with all sorts of toxins and caustic ingredients! :)

Dave

[PK]

Caustic? Talc isn't particularly harsh. It does attract moisture, I believe. PK

[Mark & Juanita]

I suspect that was not the OP's thoughts. The possibility that the baby talc may also be loaded with other hygroscopic ingredients (reasonable for where you are going to put baby powder) might be of concern.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

[Australopithecus scobis]

Forget baby powder. It's cornstarch and perfume. You want real talcum powder. I found some in the shaving section of the grocery store. Mennen, IIRC. Whether it'll work or not I have no idea.

[fredfighter]

Seesh!

Talcum powder is powdered talc, a soft rock primarily composed of magnesium tetrasilicate. It protects iron from rusting via electrowhateveritscalled protection, similar to galvanizing. There is a nearly rust free iron column sitting in the middle of a villiage soemwhere in India that evidently has been protected by magnesium compounds in the soil and traces of the same left on its surface from when it was cast for a few hundred years now.

I've used talcum powder on a drill press, after four years still no rust.

Any baby powder or other powder will have the ingredients on the friggin' label. Just READ it for crying out loud. A trace of fragrance won't hurt your saw.

Some (maybe most) BABY powders these days is cornstarch, don't use those.

[WillR]

And sometimes used in steel manufacturing after the cleaning process...

RTFM? Whatever for?

--=20 Will R. Jewel Boxes and Wood Art

power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those=20 who have not got it.=94 George Bernard Shaw

[George]

The know-it-all mind hasn't checked to find a growing body of evidence that talc is not the best choice for slicking the baby's butt.

Seems folks using rubber gloves every day are not thrilled about inhaling silicates either. Of course what do they know - they're in medicine.

[Leon]

Good Luck, with use it is bound to be less than perfect sooner than later. I use TopCote.

[Juergen Hannappel]

[...]

At a pottery supply store you might get talcum without any additives at good prices.

[Mortimer Schnerd, RN]

They did away with powdered gloves in the hospital for the same reason they got rid of peanut butter in the schools: every now and then, a [erson may exist who's allergic to it. Rather than have them suffer the maddening itch, they deprived us of a useful tool.

I can pull on an undersized glove if it's powdered. The unpowdered ones? Forget it.... I can barely pull on a properly sized one if I've been pushing hard and gotten sweaty.

To my way of thinking, it's all politically correct horseshit. Fits right in there with "deferred success" for the lackluster student.

[George]

Not what they said in ours, though latex sensitivity is not that uncommon.

Silicates are the stuff of - silicosis - which was a good enough reason to minimize exposure.

[nospambob]

[fredfighter]

No one is stopping you from powdering your gloves yourself, right?

I think you'll find that allergies to the latex are much more common, than alergies to talc which is one why there are gloves available made from other materials and the reasons for not powdering is primarily to prevent respiratory exposure to the poweered talc under the supposition that silicosis is cumulative in its damage.

Although ISTR there is also an association between dermal exposure to magnesium tetrasilicate and some cancers. (After all, it isn't raw bear meat).

I don't know why there are no gloves available with corn- starch-base powders. Maybe a shelf-life problem?

However, in the case of baby powder, some caregivers are sloppy about how they dust the baby. Breathing any insoluable mineral dust is bad for the lungs and there have been actual infant fatalities reported, which may only be a small number of the actual fatalities, plus there may be who know how many non-fatal injuries to the developing lungs from silicosis.

Have you considered powdering them yourself? If you are careful, you can keep the powder on the inside an avoid contaminating your wood, something not possible with pre-powdered glvoes.

Talc, being as natural as horseshit would seem to me to be very politically incorrect.

I think if you study this specific issue more you will learn more. It may not change your conclusion, but may change the reasons by which you justify it. IMHO, 'politically indorrect' is a catch- all term signifying an unwillingness to address the real (even if ill-conceived) reasoning behind such decisions.

[Australopithecus scobis]

I keep a trial-size bottle of J&J baby powder in the shop for just this purpose. Both latex and nitrile reusable gloves are easier to put on with it.

[John Cole]

I tried that - rust within a month.

My best advise is to go out and get some 2000 grit wet or dry and buff the mirror surface with that - get rid of the mirror finish so you don't have to worry about it anymore.

[max]

I have been using talcum powder for many years. I just use the generic brand at the drug store. It works really well and there is not danger of wax being left on the wood to spoil a finish. I also no longer about the wax soaked rags being in the shop. max

[B a r r y]

Do you sand or scrape before finishing? What finishes will tiny traces of wax spoil? I've used lacquers, oils, varnishes, water based products, shellac, paint, etc... Nothing has ever been spoiled due to wax transfer from a tool surface.

I also wax hand planes, clamp cauls, formica and melamine outfeed surfaces, anything that I need wood to slide over or glue to release from.

I leave the applicators in the closed wax can. There's dry paste wax on the buffing rags, which I didn't know was a hazard.

I'm not trying to flame you or break your stones, it's just that this is new to me and maybe I've missed something. I'd be more concerned with breathing talcum if there was a a hazard here at all...

_SILICONE_ might spoil some finishes, but that's not in good paste wax.

Barry

[Duane Bozarth]

I agree w/ all points...espcially the joke. :)