Leave the new table saw trunion and motor covered with grease?
tgy
| Posted in General Discussion on
This is my first table saw, and I’m in the process of assembling it. (Harvey Woodworking Alpha series.) There’s lots of grease inside the cabinet on milled surfaces, surfaces where it doesn’t seem necessary, other than as a way to prevent rust.
My instinct is to wipe it all off since I don’t seen that it’s going to do anything other that collect sawdust, and I live in an area that doesn’t typically have seasonal high humidity.
Am I wrong here?
Replies
Easier to clean now than it wil be as dusty cake frosting. Check the book for maintenance lube points to avoid.
Thanks. That's pretty much what I thought, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.
I have the saw; way more lubricant than needed for everyday use, but adequate for time spent idle in a warehouse, shipping container and freight handler before it arrived to me. I removed the bulk of it, used no solvent, and all is well so far. I’ve not needed to lube yet but when I do I’ll avoid lithium spray as I’ve noticed it has a tendency to cake up. Hope you enjoy the saw as much as I do.
Harvey is definitely made in China as are most other power tools these days. That means a multi-week sea cruise before it gets to a US distribution point.
Cars that are shipped on the ocean are typically covered in cosmoline (which is a thick waxy grease) to protect them from rust during shipment. Car dealers remove this before putting them on the lot. For power tools this "prep" may get left to the customer.
You can hang the parts over a plastic sheet and use a hair dryer or heat gun to melt off the bulk of this protectant but there will still be some residue.
Kerosene, Nathalene or mineral spirits is a good solvent to wipe the remnant away with. I would clean all surfaces. You will end up with a some oily rags that should be properly disposed of in a fireproof container. Finally you can put some non-sticky lubricant (your choice) on the wear points before assembly.