Wisdom passed down

Darren Wright

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Springfield, Missouri
I was speaking with my dad tonight and had asked what he did with his old RAS and tablesaw. He said they were stored over at my sister's place in her basement, but said if I wanted them that I was welcome to them. I was hesitant as my shop isn't climate controlled like her basement/house. He said he didn't have a problem with me keeping them "as long as I kept a piece of paneling on top of them when they aren't in use."

Asking him what he meant, he said that with the climate changes from hot to cold, the metal will draw moisture, but the bare wood of the paneling will suck up any moisture that may condensate before it has a chance to do any harm to the metal.

Keep in mind, he also waxes the tops and takes care of them as any of us do, the paneling is just an extra insurance against any condensation issues. He's stored his for years that way and for the past 10 or so hasn't used the tablesaw much. It looks as good now as it did the last time he used it.
 
Wise man, your dad... but doesn't RAS have wood or MDF or Plywood tables? A good wax job on the iron and a good finish on the RAS will work well. I find an old Terry cloth on the iron works well also. :thumb:
 
Yup, guess I meant the tablesaw. I remember him doing in the old shop, but never occurred to me why he did it...other than to keep a dumb kid like me from setting my pop can down on it. :D
 
Darren,

I wax my saw tables and jointer tables too, but I cover them with cut to size sections of an old evolution 3 car cover. Seems to work quite well protecting the 3 machines with cast iron I have here now.

Worth a try anyway.

Aloha, Tony
 
That's pretty interesting. In the summer I have to keep a dehumidifier running in the basement to control the humidity. I use Top saver on my tools every 2 weeks but adding a piece of scrap paneling will be some added insurance.
 
I often have a large piece of cardboard covering my tablesaw. (My assembly table,) :p I hadn't thought about it helping to prevent rust, but come to think of it, when I had the acid spill in my shop that rusted every piece of exposed iron in my shop last year, the cardboard-covered tablesaw was untouched.
 
It's kind of far off this, but that's why salt boxes are unfinished on the inside. The open grain helps wick the moisture from the salt
 
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