Preserving Tablesaw parts

[Tony]

Hey y'all,
I've got an older Craftsman tablesaw with the cast iron table. What do you coat it with to keep it from rusting (keep in mind I live in probably the rainiest area of the whole continental US, so there's lots of humidity). I thought to use WD-40, but I don't want to get it on any wood I'm cutting. What's a neutral substitute?

Thanks,

[Tim]

You can clean and polish the surface (to remove rust) with a palm sander placed atop a fine Scotch-Brite pad. Spray the table with WD40 and run the sander/pad all over to clean, then wipe the table clean thoroughly with solvent, and protect with paste wax.

I didn't answer the poll because the choice I needed wasn't there. I use a dado cutter often enough to warrant having one, but definitely not "often" or "never". With a little more setup time, a router and straight-cutting bit will do the same thing a a dado cutter, though dados are handy and accurate.

[Tim]

Oh, I guess there was an option for me on the poll...rarely. For some reason I missed that before. Duh.

[Summersdawn]

I've used wet or dry sandpaper on a sanding block with some light oil to remove rust off of machined surfaces - works great. I've cleaned the rusty oil off afterwards. Tim's wax idea sounds like a great way to protect it. If it was buffed well, it would help the wood slide smoothly.

[Tony]

Thanks.

It's not actually rusty, except a thin film in places that came off with some steel wool. I'm just interested in preserving it's condition. I bought it from a friend and have taken it apart to paint the housing and do a thorough cleaning.

I've never used a dado, but could see the usefulness of it. Just wonderin' :-)

[CharlieJ]

I agree with Tim on the sander part.

We may not get the rain you get but we certainly have the humidity- OH BOY do we have humidity. So I fight surface rust all the time on my tools.

After cleaning the tables ( on all my tools, and my hand planes also) I wax with either Johnson's paste wax, for wooden floors, or I use a fiberglass mold release wax. The mold release wax is a hard wax, which makes it harder to buff off, but that means it has more wax, so it lasts longer. I think I like it better.

One thing to be wary of- try hard to be sure your wax doesn't have silicones added. Silicone contamination can cause serious problems in finishing wood later, because silicone is forever! It can cause fisheyes in any finish put on later and they are a real pain to get rid of.

[CharlieJ]

OH- and except for cutting the rabbets on spars when building box section booms or masts, I can't think of a time I used a dado head for boat building.

I suppose I COULD cut the birds mouths with one when I build birdsmouth spars, but the plain blade cuts cleaner- just need one more pass and the saw is already set up with the first cut, so doesn't seem worth the bother.

[heartofgold]

I do occationally use a stacked dado on my table saw. More often than n ot, however, I run my dados on my router table, which is set up to be much more versitle (with an Incra Jig as a fence).

[Dan H]

WOW, that router table is pretty!
I also use paste wax on my table saw, except I use my propane torch to warm the surface before I apply the way. The cast iron will sweat out a lot of moisture. I wipe up the water as I go. It seems like the paste wax goes in deeper. My saw sits out in an unheated shop and it hasn't rusted so far.
I also wax the fence and the fence slides and everything just moves much smoother.
Dan

[kendall]

May be the moisture in the propane, I know if I hook up the propane stove in the garage on a cold day it's very quickly got the windows and all the iron fogged up.

Johnsons paste wax, not th e'pre-softened' is great for all the iron on a table saw, a lot cheaper than any sprays I've seen, and makes the wood slide a lot easier. My jointer tables are as smooth as the day they were made, and it's pure pleasure to use when it's waxed up, same with the table saw, scroll saw and band saw, the miter saws it's good also, but doesn't work as well as they both have aluminum tables, Drill presses, and router table are all waxed up as well.

I keep a tin in the shop, and one in my tool box for work, wax up the hand saws, and plane soles and it makes them work smoother too.

It's also good because it doesn't transfer to the workpiece like some of the silicone based sprays do, so you don't have any problems with finish or glue-ups, when sanding paste wax leaves with the dust, silicone keeps re-depositing.

Ken.

[Tony]

It's also good because it doesn't transfer to the workpiece like some of the silicone based sprays do, so you don't have any problems with finish or glue-ups, when sanding paste wax leaves with the dust, silicone keeps re-depositing.

That was my concern.

I've completely taken apart the saw, repainted the steel body, stand, motor mount and a variety of small steel parts, I've cleaned the table and extensions with sandpaper, a wire brush, a wire accessory for my dremel and a lot of elbow grease. I've purchase as many new screws, bolts, nuts and washers as I can to replace those on the saw and now have most of it put back together again. I'll be paste waxing the table and extensions once I'm finished with reconstruction. It's AMAZING the places sawdust winds up! I took everything apart, including the saw section, cleaned and regreased everything, etc. It's like a new saw now. I'll need to make a new zero clearance insert with a seperator (is that what it's called? The little bit that keeps the wood seperated after it's cut).

Yea yea, I know, probably overkill for an older saw but I can't do anything on the boat right now so it's sorta like boat work :-)

Thanks for your advice!

[kendall]

Not overkill at all, I like the older tools, they feel more solid, and operate more smoothly than the new ones once you get them back in shape.
Most of my stationary tools are antiques, sprunger scroll saw, A rockwell bandsaw, Atlas drill presses, and a whole selection of old stanley hand planes, A lot of them picked up free when they were replaced by new imports, some picked up at garage sales, (the bandsaw and one drill press were picked up out of a trash pile on the way into work, went in late that day!) But since I've had them they've done more work than the 'new' tools have, I've built new cabinetry in the triton, and used them many years for work.

I'm in the middle of a tablesaw rebuild myself, an old craftsman tilting arbor that was in the shed when I moved here, all cast iron, very heavy and kind of ugly(now), but real smooth running,.
I always get the "harbor freight has the same saw/drill/jointer for $X., why don't you just buy that and get rid of all this old stuff?" Some people just don't understand!

Ken.

[Tim]

I always get the "harbor freight has the same saw/drill/jointer for $X., why don't you just buy that and get rid of all this old stuff?" Some people just don't understand!

hehe...how true. Anyone comparing Harbor Freight products to old-style tools obviously doesn't have an eye for quality! Harbor Freight has its place, but providing high-quality, long-lasting, heirloom tools is not one of them!

Now, class, repeat after me: silicone is pure evil! (In ANY form, including wax!) No silicone anywhere near a boat. That stuff is the offspring of Beelzebub.

[CharlieJ]

lol at the old tools sentiments.

My Delta TS is a 1947 model! Running on a 3 HP 220 v Baldor.

My Rockwell 14 inch Metal/Wood cutting bandsaw is a 1963 , running on it's original motor.

My Delta lathe is from the 50s some time.

My old Craftsman 12 in band saw is also from the 50s- cast iron table and all.

Nobody can tell me when my shaper was built, but it's a OLD Delta. The number plate is missing.

MOST of my hand planes are reconditioned, garage sale or old tool dealer purchases- Mostly Baileys, but some plain Stanley, but for one 20 inch KeenKutter.

I often wonder, as I use these things, just who had them before, and what work did they do? Wouldn't it be interesting if the old tools could tell their tales?

[heartofgold]

silicone...is the offspring of Beelzebub.

Aye! It's the devil's brew, it is!

The outfit I work for believes it should be used far too much. I'm with you, Tim: silicone has no place on a boat!

[CharlieJ]

OR on furniture. As I said earlier it causes us great problems in refinishing furniture that has been waxed or polished with a silicone based polish. And the makers of the stuff won't TELL you if it's in there!