Replies

1. 
   Riverprof | Jan 05, 2007 03:02am | #1

   Take a piece of scotchbright and place it between your table and your sander. Wet the table lightly with kerosene. Run the sander. Repeat as needed.

   When you are done, polish the table with cotton rag until any haze is gone. Then take a crumpled piece of waxed paper and rub down.

2. 
   JohnWW | Jan 05, 2007 03:03am | #2

   I would recommend against it, though others do it, and I have done it myself to clean up a badly rusted table.  The sanding will leave grit in places it shouldn't get into and can, if done repeatedly, start to affect the flatness of the top.  Cast iron is a relatively soft metal and can be easily worn away especially at the corners and along the miter slots.

   The saw surface only needs to be clean and smooth, a saw isn't a show car and doesn't need to have a mirror finish to work properly.

   John White, Shop Manager, Fine Woodworking Magazine

3. 
   DJK | Jan 05, 2007 03:52am | #3

   I agree with John. Do you want to be standing over a shiney saw top with the light reflecting back in your eyes as your fingers pass within inches of the blade. On the other hand, if you stand around with the guys and just look at the machines and fantasize, then polish away.]

   DJK

4. 
   Omah | Jan 05, 2007 05:32am | #4

   Never sand,it. I ocasionally wax it.

5. 
   hammer1 | Jan 05, 2007 08:05am | #5

   At the risk of being soundly thrashed, I admit my table saw gets used as a workbench. Once in a while somebody sneaks in and leaves a wet glove, 2x4 or a leaky coffee cup on it. For the first three or four years I dantily cleaned the work of these gremlins with gentle 0000 steel wool. Then I started to use 400 wet/dry sandpaper, dry. Eventually I moved to a Rockwell 505 with the 400. Now I slap 220 on my RO and have at it. My saw is 35 yrs. old, a 10" Rockwell. The table has machining marks from the surfacer, as do most cast iron tops. I guess I might sand it six or eight times a year, more if the gremlins have been there, often just by hand. I wipe up with a rag dampened in mineral spirits and apply a light coat of paste wax and buff it.

   After all these years I have yet to remove 50% of the original machine marks. Around the throat plate and the edges of the miter ways, it's obvious those were high. I think it would take me another 35 yrs., with a lot more sanding, to bring thoses areas down .001. My goal is to have a clean top with smooth edges that won't mark any lumber and will work with a minimum of friction. It looks nice, too, but it isn't reflectively shiney. You would have to grind on a quality cast iron top with a 60 grit beltsander to do any damage, and that would take some work. If you want to sand your top, don't hesitate, start light. As the years pass, it will likely need it. My saw is flatter and smoother than it was when new and cleaning up only takes a few minutes.

   Beat it to fit / Paint it to match