Rust!

What a strange 24 hours it has been here. The current temp is 18C, at 10:30 pm in November!! There's heavy rain and a hot, humid wind blowing from due south (that's NOT a political comment, just relax mods) It's forecast to continue through tomorrow, winds 50kph gusting to 90.
Noticed after chores tonight (the shop is also the change room for barn clothes) that all the cast iron tops have a light rusty haze (except your jointer Mack, which was covered up). I haven't had any heat on yet as it's been good to be able to slide the exterior door open on nice days, which I can't do once it's sealed up with styrofoam for the winter. I guess maybe I was stretching the season too far and should have been keeping those surfaces warm.
It'll be rub-down time tomorrow. Anyone have any favourite surface treatments to share?

Have a great weekend.
Peter

I typically will just take my ROS and put 220 on it, light sand and then put a coat of wax on it.

Hi Peter

Try this stuff from LV I have a tin and it lasts a long time works real well and has a cleaning and protecting action. I bet you could use it and a good rag and rubbing and it would clean off the light rust. Leaves a nice protective coat.

Sometimes i then will spray on some Boeshield and let it settle in before buffing it out.

Thanks. I have some Waxilit too. Hadn't thought of it for that pupose.
Enjoy the weekend.
Peter

For light rust, I've had good success with paste wax and steel wool (or the gray synthetic steel wool). I just scrub the wax into the surface a bit, let it set a few minutes, then wipe and buff it clean.

If you take a green scrubby pad, or gray or whatever you have on hand, and cut it the same size as your ROS sanding pads, it will stick to the velcro on you ROS. I use that and some paste floor wax (check the label to make sure there is no silicone in it) and it works well....... not that this ever happens to me, no WAY I'd let the SawStop ever get a little rusty.....

I clean with steel wool and WD-40, wipe down then apply Johnson's Paste Wax.
Works fine for me.
Interesting to see how some cast iron tools react differently than others. When I had my recent mini-flood from a bad pressure tank (lotsa humidity in the shop) , several cast tops showed rust, others didn't. I steel wooled and waxed them all.