Replies

1. 
   YesIWood | Nov 17, 2005 03:01pm | #1

   Ok,

     So I'm at work and the young manager is getting into wood working and has a small 6 inch jointer.  He wworks in spurts, since I don't know why....  He told me that he looked at it yesterday (must of had it covered up) and the bed was orange with a little layer of rust.  He did remove the rust but wished he knew how to prevent it from happening again. 

     I have tried many products and even some of my own concoctions.  I have found that if you use Johnson Paste Wax (in the yellow can) after use or before storage rust will not appear.  I just lightly coat exposed metal and than "lightly" buff it.  And your good to go.  The film has never ruined a finish, actually it allows my material to glide on the metal surfaces.  You could re-buff prior to use to make sure you don't contaminate your wood.

     Trust me I used to work for the Government....

   Joe

   Is it really saw dust or wood dust?

1. 
   Frank | Nov 17, 2005 03:16pm | #2

   Yes, I second you on Johnson's.  I use it on all the tool surfaces in my unheated garage shop and it works great.  My question, however, really is not about how to protect the top, but what to use to clean the top before you wax.  The FWW article seems to cover everything, but doesn't say exactly what solvent Roland uses.  He had good recommendations for everything else, so I am curious.

   Edited 11/17/2005 7:19 am ET by Frank

1. 
   YesIWood | Nov 18, 2005 12:16pm | #9

   Frank,

     I agree with Artagain.  I sand my table tops with 400 wet/dry paper with a little WD 40.  Just make sure you use a block and sand the entire surface, so you don't sand in any low spots.  You'll see that the milling marks will slowly disapear.  Which, means a smoother surface and less drag when moving material across it.  I did ponder once, is it possible to get my table tops chromed?  It would protect it from rust and polish up nicely.  Then again, it is just a tool.Joe

   Is it really saw dust or wood dust?

2. 
   artagain | Nov 17, 2005 03:24pm | #3

   I recently picked up a used 8" delta jointer that need a tiny bit of tlc.  I removed minor surface rust off the bed with 400 grit wet sanding paper sprayed with wd-40. It worked well.  Just light pressure with long even strokes.  I wiped off the top and sprinkled it with a little bit of baby powder.  This seems to keep the top dry and doesn't affect the wood. 

3. 
   PHM | Nov 17, 2005 07:19pm | #4

   Here is something that may help, that I found on another site.

    

   Pat

    

    

   "Dave's dirty dozen"

   1) Scrape as much of the sludge as you can off with cardboard from the shipping container or a plastic scraper.
   2) Use Simple Green right out of the container and tons of paper towels to get the rest off.
   3) Wash off the Simple Green with more paper towels and clear water. Dry off with even more paper towels.
   4) Spray the top down liberally with WD40. The WD in WD40 stands for Water Displacing, by the way.
   5) Take a finishing sander, like a Porter-Cable 330, and put it on a ScotchBrite green pad. Random Orbital will work, but makes a hell of a mess.
   6) Sand the top evenly until you feel like you've "massaged" the WD40 in very well. This also will knock some sharp spots off your top, a good thing.
   7) Take even more paper towels, and wipe the top until dry. It will feel slightly oily.
   8) Using a quality furniture paste wax (Johnson's, Minwax, Butcher's, whatever is available in your area), wax the top thoroughly and allow to dry.
   9) Wipe off the bulk of the excess wax with paper towels.
   10) Wax it again.
   11) Buff well with paper towels.
   12) Last step. Take a piece of wood with straight edges, and rub the surface of the saw in the direction of cut with the wood, as though you were cross-cutting it.
   It's a damn sight more steps than "wash off with kerosene", which is what all the manuals say. But, it leaves a top that is seriously ready for work, and won't need to be screwed with every couple months. I rewax my tops every year or two, and they ain't rusty...

   Dave Arbuckle
   [email protected]

   Many thanks to Bri G at WoodNet, who had the presence of mind to save this, when I didn't ;-)

1. 
   jazzdogg | Nov 17, 2005 09:29pm | #6

   Denatured alcohol can also be used to displace water.

    -Jazzdogg-

   "Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie

4. 
   PlaneWood | Nov 17, 2005 07:51pm | #5

   mix 1 pint of latex paint, 1 cup of coffee, 1 cup of blood, one half cup of sweat.  Coat the cast iron table top with a thick layer of this mixture and let set for a week.  Then scrape off, sand smooth, and enjoy the new patina!

   PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)
   PlaneWood

1. 
   AndyE | Nov 18, 2005 12:05am | #7

   What kind of blood? The cats won't come near me anymore.Andy"It seemed like a good idea at the time"

5. 
   WillGeorge | Nov 18, 2005 11:21am | #8

   Forget all that 'fancy' stuff.. When I'm finished working I just wipe some paste wax on the TS top.. And other tools I have used..

   I do not bother to buff it out.. Next time I use the tool.. I wipe it with a clean rag and away I go.. But then again I do not live in a swamp.. May change things a bit.. Chicago is just ALMOST a swamp in summer...

6. 
   Elcoholic | Nov 20, 2005 12:57am | #10

   Green Scotchbrite pads (real cheap bought in qty. from Costco) and then rewax with whatever wax is handy.  K.I.S.S. works for me.

   John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking

   The more things change ...

   We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized.  I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization.

   Petronious Arbiter, 210 BC

1. 
   highfigh | Nov 20, 2005 02:42am | #11

   I personally wouldn't use an oil to clean the tops off unless I used a solvent to remove the oil when I was done. I have been using Top Coat, from Rockler and it generally works fine, unless I don't bother re-applying it. I'm in Milwaukee and in winter, when I use my propane heater or early spring when it gets warm and squishy immediately after being really cold, I have had a lot of moisture on my machines. The jointer was neglected last fall, the others weren't. The jointer had a pretty good coat of rust on it and I was dreading cleanup. Yesterday, I decided to do cleanup on all of them and started with the tablesaw, since I wanted a happy ending. The brown ScotchBrite pads, which are made for cleaning metal, kick butt! That's what I started with and it literally took a few minutes for the whole top. Then, I did my tenoning jig, which took more time to disassemble/reassemble than to clean. Bandsaw top took a minute, maybe less. I finally worked up the nerve to do the jointer and with the brown pad, the top and fence took about 5 minutes. Three coats of Top Coat, with buffing, and I was done. They look better than ever and I had used sanding discs on my PC random orbital, with my Shop Vac hooked up to the port where the filter normally goes(I bought a grey washing machine outlet hose at HD a few years ago. The PC hose is about $25 and the HD hose was about $8.00) I placed a 4"x6" piece of 3/4" plywood over the pad and scrubbed away the rust. I strongly recommend wearing a dust mask when doing this. The rust comes off, goes airborne and I don't think it's good to breathe in.
   "I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."