I have a Delta Unisaw that was given to me by the company I work for. The saw was stored in a metal pole building that was not climate controlled. The result is that the table top has rusted over quite badly. I want to know if anyone has some ideas as to how to go about cleaning the rust off and to get the top to as near as original condition as possible?
Thanks
Replies
The cheap way is using a random orbital sander with a filter attacment the same size as a Porter Cable with a vacuum hooked up to it. If you have a PC sander with the plastic filter, go to Home Depot or equiv and get a flexible washing machine hose with the rubber sleeve. It has a plastic piece to create the bend for hanging it over a tub wall and this happens to be the same size as a small Shop Vac tube end. The end that normally goes into the tub is the same size as a PC sander dust outlet tube. No clamp needed.
I had some rust on my saw and jointer from a roof leak and started with 100 grit, going over the whole top slowly, without very much pressure. After it cleaned up a bit, I went to progressively finer grits till it was clean.
Yeah, yeah, I know emery cloth is usually for cleaning metal, but it was after hours and I had sanding discs. It worked really well. When I was done, I applied about 4 coats of Top Dressing spray, buffing it in before it was dry. I have had no problems since and have checked it with a metal straightedge for flatness. It was a whole lot easier, cleaner and flatter/smoother than dong it by hand, too.
I had stored my Jointer in a shed for several years and the top rusted pretty bad. I used wire brush to remove the rough stuff. Then used naval jelly to get it down to white metal. I used steel wool to brighten it up and waxed it with Johnson floor paste wax. A lot of elbow grease and kicking myself for letting it get in that condition and it looks as good as new except for one area that pitted a little bit. It's way out that end of the outfeed table, so it will have little impact to the top. You are a luck man to have a freebie. I bet you have it singing in no time. Take some before and after pics and post them. It will be interesting to see the transformation. Good luck.
Cover the top in light oil, let it soak for a day or so, scrape off the rust with a 4 inch plaster knife. Wipe clean, then re-coat with oil, sand down with silicon carbide w/d paper on a block. Repeat last step until smooth. No dust to worry about, but I'd put news paper or a tarp on the floor around it.
Good luck,
I'd soak the top with mineral spirits..instead of oil or something that's going to mess with the wood you eventually finish. I too use a block and wet-or-dry sandpaper after the RAS with 320..do 400 then 600 and generally don't have to go any finer..then top dressing..I like Boshield..but it's expensive!
lp
Thanks for mentioning the Naval Jelly. I had forgotten that I used it. One thing about the hose I used- if you want dust free sanding, hook one of them to a Shop Vac(whatever brand you have) and sand away. Like I said, the rubber end fits like a glove on the vac hose end and the other fits right onto the sander with no clamp. For woods like walnut, maple, mahogany and anything with very fine irritating or toxic dust, it works great.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
I've done this process (rust removal) on several machines. Soak the top with WD-40 and let it sit for an hour or two. Re-spray the top and use 100 grit w/d sandpaper and a firm sanding block, sand North-South, East - West, NE-SW, and NW-SE. Add WD 40 as needed. Wipe the whole thing dry... mostly to remove the grit and grunge. Repeat the process with 200, 300 and 400 wet/dry sandpaper. If done properly, you should have invested about one hour of time. The machine top should be a nice 'plumb brown' color, not unlike an antique gun barrel which was browned, unlike todats guns which are blued. They are both the same process... controlled rusting! Finally, wipe the whole top down with alcohol or laquer thinner to remove all the WD-40. Use Johnsons Paste wax or Butchers Wax to finish the top. I usually apply 3 coats, about 15 minutes apart. Depending on the climate in your area, all you should have to do is rewax every oyher month and the top will be as smooth as a babys backside. If this seems like a lot of work, you can always give the machine to me, as I'm in the market for a Delta Unisaw.
SawdustSteve
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I will post the pictures hopefully before Christmas. Once again thanks for the help.
Edited 11/21/2004 7:04 pm ET by marshmike
Marshmike,
I have used WD40 and wet and dry sandpaper to remove rust from the surface of table saw tops. Most of the time 400grt will remove the rust. After removing the rust, wipe off all the WD40 and coat the top with paste wax. You don't want the oil to get into any wood that you cut, it could cause problems with your finish.
Many good suggestions here.
I would use a RO sander with progressively finer grits, as mentioned by highfigh (I think).
Once you have gone through those steps you could use a Scotch brite pad (red or green) -- leave a piece of sandpaper on the machine, and just lay the SB under it. Use plain old paint thinner as a lube (instead of WD 40, which might leave some contaminants behind).
Finish up with furniture wax.
I would use naval jelly only if the rust is really heavy.
on old woodworking machines someone suggested "planing' using a razor knife scraper to get most of it off, the idea being the blade is not going to remove anything but rust, unlike sandpaper. Have fun!
I bought a used Delta Sanding Center several years ago that was stored similarly. All the cast iron had pretty heavy rust - fortunately, no pitting. I also had pretty good results using WD40 and RO sander. One thing that really seemed to work well with the RO sander was steel wool. I used some 5" Hook & Loop steel wool discs made for use with disc sanders. Don't know who sells them. My dad spotted them at a garage sale and gave them to me. Those really seemed to scrub the rust off quicker than the sandpaper.
I havn't seen steel wool discs, but I would think they would do the job. If you can't find them, Scotch Brite will work as well.
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