Top Saver = good stuff

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I was reluctant to put out 20 bucks for a top cleaner, but it is worth it.

My saw had been protected with was. Did not hold up very well after a couple of months when the moist air rolled into my shop one day and I could see the iron rust before my eyes.

Cleaned it up and bought a can of Top Kote. Much better, but not perfect. Easy to apply, it worked fairly well, but some rust still came about. No matter what I used to clean the rust, some spots just did not go away after scrubbing with green pads or steel wool.

The Top Saver, however, did a fantastic job of cleaning up the table top. It comes in a kit and even h as plastic gloves that fit my hands. Sprayed it on, scrubbed with the pad that came with it, then wiped it off. Lots of gunk came up so I repeated the process. WOW! looks great. Applied a protective coat, let it stand five minutes and polished it up.

My table saw and band saw both look as good as the day they ere unpacked. The real proof will be how it holds up over time, but from the initial application, I'm impressed. -- Ed [e-mail]

[Leon]

Does that strff have a web site and or where did you get it?

[Edwin Pawlowski]

They have a web site, but do not sell directly. I got it at Woodcraft.

[Jim Bailey]

Wood magazine just did a test of several of the clean/preserve products. They actually put cast extensions in a homemade 'steam box' with the thought being (I guess) to accellerate the process - sort of a worst case maybe ? Anyway, very timely as I was putting my nw Jet TS together today (more in another thread). I opted for the Boeshield per the Wood write-up - they said that nothing else came close to the level of protection. I put it on so I guess time will tell. It was about $12 for the aerosol can.

I'm still not throwing away my Johnson's though.

jim bailey

[Edwin Pawlowski]

The write up convinced me to get the Top Saver. I may get the Boeshild down the road, but the Top Saver got rid of the existing rust fast and easy. Starting from band new, Boeshield may be best, but if you have some rust already, maybe both is the best deal. -- Ed [e-mail]

[Jim Bailey]

After re-reading your post Ed, I see that your focus was on removal - I've got a couple of tools I may very well try the topCote on since you had such good luck.

jim bailey

[Leon]

Jim, I have used TopCote for about 15 year now and originally bought it because it was marketed to make you TS top more slippery. It made the top very slippery. I was satisfied with that product for 12 years and for some reason decided to try Boeshield on my new cabinet saw. The next morning I saw rust. I went back to TopCote. I live in humid Houston. If I spill water and not wipe it off the surface I still get rust. So now I make sure that I do not leave water on the surface. The trick with TopCote is to put down 2 very heavy coats at first and I followed up again in another week. Now I apply it about once every 6 months. A can will last me 2 to 3 years.

[Bob Davis]

I'm getting confused between TopCote, TopKote, and Top Saver mentioned in this thread. OP talked about using Top Saver.

Bob

[Bob Davis]

I'm just wondering if the TopCote blocked the effectiveness of Boeshield. I live in Houston, too and have been using Boeshield for several months, but I sure don't have the years of experience you have Leon.

Anyway, sounds like you found the trick with TopCote. I'm impressed that you only do it only every six months after you get it "seasoned" correctly. I need to do that as I'm relocating to Los Angeles for a job and will only be back here ever couple months or so.

Bob

[Leon]

The first coat to go down on the new saw was Boeshield so TopCote did not block the effectiveness. As for TopCote or Top Kote, I have never heard of a TopKote and or it may be the way some people spell TopCote. When a word or words are misspelled to start with it is hard to remember the correct way to misspell them... Huh?? TopCote is strictly a TS dry lubricant and protectant.

Anyway, as I indicated in my post and after rereading the article, it seems that our conclusions about the TopCote product are very similar. It works better than most and not very well if water is left standing on the surface as demonstrated in the tests. Apparently Boeshield does protect for a heck of a long time with that water bath. 380 hours IIRC.

Now that said, I may have not put down a proper layer when I first used Boshield. So, my question to you Bob and those that use Boeshield in a humid area, Did you put down a heavy coat? Do you have to wipe Boeshield off before using the saw? My layer seemed to not dry and leave a soft residue. How often do you have to reapply? I may give it a try again as sometimes in my garage the TS top gets a drop or 2 of water on it.

Concerning how often I reapply TopCote, I use the friction test to know when to reapply. If the boards seem to be dragging I reapply the TopCote. I do not reapply because of the presence of rust unless that drop of water sat on the top over night. Other things that can cause the top to rust is damp treated lumber and or treated lumber in general if left setting on the surface over night. I make sure not to leave treated lumber setting on the saw and to wipe the surface off after cutting treated lumber.

[J Pagona aka Y.B.]

When I use Boeshield, I spray it on heavy, let it sit for a few minutes and then wipe it down well with a rag. For things like table saw tops, I follow it up an hour or a day later with a coat of paste wax. My tablesaw gets light to moderate use, and I usually don't have to recoat for a year.

David

remove the key to email me.

[Leon]

According to the test in the magazine, past wax, and or Johnson's wax is inferior to Boeshield as far as protection is concerned. Do you put the wax on for more protection or to make the surface more slippery? Seems using both might be redundant.

[Lawrence L'Hote]

FWIW when I was walking around the Woodworking Show in KC yesterday taking pictures and buying stuff. I passed by the very lonely Boeshield booth. The fella yelled, "take my picture." and I accommodated him.

gave him one of my cards with my websites and he scurried behind the screen and dug out a 1 oz. sample of the T-9 and gave it to me. I said that I usually use Johnson's paste wax and he replied that Boeshield is much better, it was developed by Boeing and they used it to protect aircraft bodies. I told him it didn't matter to me about aircraft bodies(smarta-- me) but what it does for my Unisaw. He remained smiling and friendly saying Boeshield is much better and so on. I dunno, the stuff smells just like injector cleaner..probably because of its kerosene base. For about $13/12 oz, is this stuff really that much better than ole Johnson's? Is there any study out there that presents more than just anecdotal data? I'll try the stuff on a section of my saw top and, next to it, a section with Johnson's and another control section and see for myself.....(my science background and all that)..

Larry

[J Pagona aka Y.B.]

Either, both. My saw was a floor model at a local woodworking store that is no longer in business. I brought it home and put a coat of wax on the top. A few months later, I was in the store talking to the owner's wife, and she told me that she had given it a coat of Boeshield right before I picked it up. So I bought a can.

Fast forward to a year later. I left a piece of green oak on the bandsaw overnight. The bandsaw table rusted. As I'm cleaning the rust off of the bandsaw, I realize that I haven't done anything to the tablesaw top in a year. So I cleaned both tops and gave them both the Boeshield then wax.

If I had to guess, I'd say that the wax helps keep the Boeshield from being rubbed off. Just a guess though.

David

remove the key to email me.

[John Crea]

Larry

For long term protection, BoeShield is definitely BETTER than paste wax, but if used the way they recommend, it leaves a soft waxy film on the table saw surface.

I use Boeshield on the pieces parts that are NOT in contact with wood, and use a mix of Johnson's pastewax plus extra carnuaba applied weekly to the cast ironi table/tool tops and once you get several coats of that hard wax on the table top, it does a good job of rust prevention on tools that are USED. Again, if I lived where the workshop was not useable for months at a time, I would go with the Boeshield

John

[Leon]

You might want to reread the article as it also indicated what your last sentence said.

[Bob Davis]

Well, I'm guilty of never having read the review and never read the Boeshield instructions. Basically I was the owner of a new table saw (my first) and just paranoid about it rusting up in Houston.

When I first got it, I sprayed all cast iron surfaces liberally, then took a terry cloth towel to spread it around and be sure all surfaces were coated. I did this before quiting for the night and probably left the surfaces somewhat wet with the Boeshield. It seems to dry, if you leave it. I did this several times a week for a few weeks, then I got lazy and went for about a week and a half. Now I get around to it about every two weeks.

I would guess that just about any product would have worked well, the way I slathered it on there initially.

Anyway, my sense is that the cast iron gets impregnated with the stuff and then you don't have to apply it very often.

Bob