Neglected Table Saw Gets Some Attention
Dec 02, 2009
A rusty mess. The saw's top was splattered with rust.
I confess. I have neglected my tablesaw. And it took a comment from my 9-year-old son to get me to notice. Sad.
You see, when I first moved into my house, I had planned to keep my shop in the garage, so I kept the tablesaw out there. Turns out the garage simply was too busy a place to make furniture, so I decided to set up shop in my basement.
While in the garage, the saw’s top got rusty. I had always thought I’d tackle it once I got it inside, but then my wife and I had a baby and I was too busy to care about the saw, or anything else in the house that needed attention. Over time, I guess I got used to the brown look.
That changed a couple weeks ago when my son was reading one of my blog posts. He turns to me and says that the saw looked old. I craned my neck to get a closer look, and I was horrified. The boy was right. The saw looked as if I stored it in a swamp. The top was caked with rust. Resolved to make my wrong right, last week I went at it with a green Scotch-Brite pad and WD-40. Worked like a charm.
And since a tablesaw won’t appreciate a flower apology, I went ahead and tweaked a few other things that were bugging me. I realigned the extension tables so they were actually flush with the top and tuned up the fence so it was sliding better. Two hours work, and the saw looks almost new, aside from the dust.
As an early New Years resolution, I promise not to take the saw for granted again. I hope she forgives me.
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A rusty mess. The saw's top was splattered with rust.
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Rail adjustment. I tweaked the fence system, too, realigning the rails so the fence slides more smoothly. I also realigned the extension tables.
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Smooth as silk. After cleaning, the top shines, and boards glide across the surface.
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WD-40 does the trick. Spray it on and scrub with an abrasive pad.
Comments
I had been doing some welding in my shop for a year or two helping family with their business and my Griz got more and more rusty, neglected and nasty looking. All manner of weld splatter and iron filings from grinding welds etc, fell on it. My metal working period is now done so a week or two ago I stripped the 1023. Removed top, cleaned and graphited the trunions, ways and screws then realigned the top to blade, burnished the top and paste waxed it. Checked the fence (Biesemeyer) and it was still right on. The Griz is shiny and happy again and purrs through the work. Nice to be making shavings again instead of weld splatter!
I had a rusty jointer and I used T-17 bore cleaner, used for muzzle loader guns for rust removal. It is a foaming cleaner and should be available at most sporting good stores. It worked real well. BUT.... you must wear gloves and protective eyewear too!!! But this does not leave an oily surface. I used this with 0 steel wool, it came out real nice. Just a thought as an optional rust cleaner.
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