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How to treat a cast iron table saw top?

Vaughn McMillan said:
Kevin, I've often used WD-40 and steel wool to remove surface rust from the bed of my lathe after turning wet wood. I follow it immediately with Johnson Paste Wax, and haven't seen any signs that the WD-40 was getting in the way of the wax. If in doubt, I'd say let the saw table sit for a half hour or so after wiping off all the "loose" WD-40 with a paper towel. It should be good to go after that.


Jeff, per the WD-40 website:
Click to expand...


And it helps arthritis too! ;):D:eek::huh::huh::huh:


Boeshield works great!
 
I've done nothing to my TS top in six or seven years, no rust at all........... wait a minute, my TS table is Aluminum coated with Teflon........ :rolleyes:

Now on Big Blue and the Green Meanie (Large Re-saw bandsaw and my 10" jointer) I use just plain old paste wax, I did use various grits of sand paper and my ROS to take the rust off the jointer, as it was BAD.........

jointer_sanding1.jpg

Near table is done, far table, not yet

Since then I just use the wax. Make sure that you DO NOT use car wax, almost all of it does contain silicone.

Cheers!
 
A testimony to JPW; I just spent some time with mineral spirits and paper towels to remove the old wax, re-waxed, waited till it just starts to fog and buff.

This is summer of 2007:

waxed-top-1.jpg

And this is tonight:

TS-Wax-Job-at-3-yrs-002.jpg
 
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Jeff Horton said:
I can not remember and sure someone will know. But does WD-40 have silicone in it? If so I would want to clean up an residue so it doesn't get on the wood. Can make finishing a real pain.

I would just wipe it down with mineral spirits or something similar and then wax it.
Click to expand...

The urban legends and rumors about WD-40 are many. Some believe it is fish oil, others say it is mostly silicone and on and on.
But, fact is, it is a PURE petroleum product.
But, it will coat metal it is used on, that's what it is supposed to do. I wouldn't use it on the tool surfaces that come in contact with wood.
 
Parifin works well also. The paste wax is easyer unless your cast can be heated to open the pores slightly. then it really gets into the metal and won't rub off as easy
Reg
 
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