Polishing the Table saw


jgfore

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Ok. I have researched and purchased what I have found to be the best table saw in my price range. It is a Ridge TS3660. I have now cut a good bit of wood with it, and really would like to get it looking bright, shinny and "slick as glass" again. I have used a 000 steal wool (extreamily fine) with oil to polishit, but it is just not getting that luster back. NOTE: Even though I purchased it still in the box, it was in someones basement for a year or so with out anything protecting the cast iron top, so some discolorations are there. I really need to give it a GOOD cleaning, a GOOD polishing and finally a GOOD finishing protectant. What should I use for these three stages?

Cleaning?

Polishing?

Finishing?

I plan on keeping my tools in TIP-TOP Shape, so please help.

Thanks Jeff

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Unless you plan on shaving in your reflection on the TS... I wouldn't stress it too much. In my mind... as long as there is nothing binding the wood while it goes across the table.... you are good to go.

I typically flood the TS with WD-40 and let it "soak" for a few weeks when not in use. Then I wipe the excess off with a paper towel and then clean up with some simple green. I dry the simple green off with more clean paper towels.

Then wax the ever loving crap out of the surface. I think Marc uses Rennesaince (sp?) wax.... I have never found that stuff around here so I use the SC Johnson Paste Wax that you can use on hardwood floors. I tried the minwax paste wax... nowhere near as good/durable. Wax it up... let it dull... buff it out with some clean terry cloth.

I can shoot a board across the table with no effort after that.

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My friends make fun of me and my shiny cast iron. I use an air powered DA sander up to 2000 grit with WD40. Then I use 3M buffing and polishing compound(s) with a car buffer. A real buffer, not an orbital polisher. Then wax and treat like others do. You can shave in my tools. ;)

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My friends make fun of me and my shiny cast iron. I use an air powered DA sander up to 2000 grit with WD40. Then I use 3M buffing and polishing compound(s) with a car buffer. A real buffer, not an orbital polisher. Then wax and treat like others do. You can shave in my tools. ;)

I bet your garage is organized also. Prolly can eat off the floor of you car too :D

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My friends make fun of me and my shiny cast iron. I use an air powered DA sander up to 2000 grit with WD40. Then I use 3M buffing and polishing compound(s) with a car buffer. A real buffer, not an orbital polisher. Then wax and treat like others do. You can shave in my tools. ;)

I have a buddy who details cars and he went to work with his industrial buffer on my TS recently. He told me hand buffing won't generate enough heat to make the wax a hard film and thus impenetrable to moisture. It was all pops and whistles to me but I do know that my table is almost TOO slippery. Wood wants to slide toward the blade and I barely have to touch it. He also proved to me that he had completely sealed the top by setting an ice cold beer bottle on it. No ring whatsoever.

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Unless you plan on shaving in your reflection on the TS... I wouldn't stress it too much. In my mind... as long as there is nothing binding the wood while it goes across the table.... you are good to go.

I typically flood the TS with WD-40 and let it "soak" for a few weeks when not in use. Then I wipe the excess off with a paper towel and then clean up with some simple green. I dry the simple green off with more clean paper towels.

Then wax the ever loving crap out of the surface. I think Marc uses Rennesaince (sp?) wax.... I have never found that stuff around here so I use the SC Johnson Paste Wax that you can use on hardwood floors. I tried the minwax paste wax... nowhere near as good/durable. Wax it up... let it dull... buff it out with some clean terry cloth.

I can shoot a board across the table with no effort after that.

I tried Rennaissance wax on my Delta saw when I got it, and that stuff's just too fine and thin. Leaning my arm on my saw top during the Texas AUgst leaves a rusty arm mark. I went to Boeshield, and that stuff leaves a stick residue, so I wipe most of it off. Needs retreatment occasionally, but it's not bad, just wet/sticky. Once I can find some Johnson's I'll likely switch to that.

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I tried Rennaissance wax on my Delta saw when I got it, and that stuff's just too fine and thin. Leaning my arm on my saw top during the Texas AUgst leaves a rusty arm mark. I went to Boeshield, and that stuff leaves a stick residue, so I wipe most of it off. Needs retreatment occasionally, but it's not bad, just wet/sticky. Once I can find some Johnson's I'll likely switch to that.

Oddly enough... I had a really hard time finding the SCJ stuff. A buddy of mine works for SCJ in Racine, WI and happened to meet me in Daytona for Bike Week in 2007... He actually brought me a HUGE can of the stuff. LOL I am not even a 1/4 of the way into that can yet.

Now... I have finally seen it at Lowes. They have it in the cleaning products isle of all places.

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I bet your garage is organized also. Prolly can eat off the floor of you car too :D

Ha, far from it. I'm really a slob in the shop. Crap strung out everywhere, saw dust on the floor, dust collector too full to work...artist at work. B)

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I think I'd be afraid of a really slippery surface. I need to feel a little resistance to know that I have control.

I hear ya! I've been tempted to try to scuff it up a little with some steel wool but it's been rainy and damp here in Socal and I don't want to take the chance with rust. Besides, it REALLY looks nice. I tried to take a photo but the fluorescents in the garage don't do it justice.

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I too like my tools kept in better than new condition and yes my shop is immaculate, you can eat off the floor, and yes I do actually work in there-it's just who I am- and that's Mr. obsessive compulsive to you :D. That being said I had always used Johnsons floor wax. and recently switched to Boshield coated with Renaissance wax and I am very pleased. I coat the cast iron with WD40 and use progressive grits starting around 400 grit through about 1500grit. After that I wipe the surface with Naptha or Acetone because it flashes off very quick, then the Boshield followed by Renaissance wax. I usually set aside a day for doing the cast iron and tune ups. Crank the music and go to town.

Nate

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600 grit and wd40, old palm sander. Recipe (sp) works for me . I do not wax my TS top, but I spray wd40 on it and wipe it dry with paper towels. It stays in good shape for the spring summer and fall. I have to keep after it in the winter, no heat in the shop and fluctuating humidity makes for more time spent keeping the top smooth.

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A few years ago I accidentally left a piece of pressure treated decking board on my table taw while I went in to eat lunch. When I returned about two hours later and moved the board there was a nice brown rust mark on my table saw top. I used a set of Sandflex blocks to remove the oxidation. It worked better than I could have hoped because that area looked so much better than the rest of my top so I went to work on the rest of the top too. When I was done it looked spectacular and it was really nice and slick. After that I couldn't stop so I strapped a piece of Mirka Mirlon synthetic steel wool (360 grit) into my finish sander and ran over the whole top with that - dry. After a coat of wax it has been trouble free and looks great.

If you are not familiar with the Sandflex blocks they are hand blocks which have an abrasive impregnated into the rubbery carrier material. The block is completely impregnated all the way through, so as you abrade the block, new abrasives are revealed. They are made specifically for cleaning metal and work quickly. I also use them for cleaning up my hand planes. They're recommended by Lie-Nielsen and sold on their site as well.

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