Cast Iron top maintenence

[Ted Baca]

I have a SawStop and it seems that the top always developes a thin rust coat on it. On Christmas afternoon I took an air grinder with buffing wheels and cut the rust off to a clean top. Years ago I have bought some KitySpeed tool wax at a WW show. I applied 2 coats and buffed the last coat with a wool buffing disc. I never see the KitySpeed anymore, but I am curious in case this fails and the rust returns what do my fellow creekers do. Also is it wise to cover the top with a HTC tool cover or is that sealing in moisture even though they claim it doesn't? Or am I just not doing it often enough? What regiment do you all recommend?
One last note I am in Colorado so not a real humid climate.

[Scott Conners]

The product I've had recommended the most to me is Boeshield T9 (http://www.boeshield.com/). Haven't had a chance to order some yet, so I continue with my Johnson's paste wax, which works fine but wears off more quickly than I'd like.

[Gary Lange]

I have noticed a few on here use a good furniture paste wax and that seems to work well. That is what I have been using and don't get the rust.

[Paul Demetropoulos]

After cleaning, I bunch up a piece of wax paper, put a small ROS on top of it and have a go at the CI top. Takes about two minutes. I've used the Boshield (is that it?) type products and the wax paper seems to work just as well for me, and a lot cheaper. My shop gets fairly humid in the summer.

[Joe Chritz]

It has to be humidity causing a tad of condensation. I have the same problem in the summer time. Now I run a fan 24/7/365 (just a small household fan) and the problem has all but disappeared.

For protection I use whatever can of wax is closest to the front of the cabinet. Either Johnson's or minwax. Boeshield works good and is a tad easier to apply.

Joe

[glenn bradley]

T-9 is too sticky for my taste although folks in other climates really like it. I do use T-9 on blades just to use it up since I paid for it. Johnson's once a month or so has kept me rust free fro years. Its easier to remember to wax more often after spending an inordinate amount of time "repairing" vs. "maintaining". DAMHIKT.

I use mineral spirits and a gray syntho-pad on my ROS, wipe it down with paper towels till they come away clean, wax, buff, wax and buff again. I don't let the wax dry completely between buffing; I wipe it down just as it starts to fog.

[Gary Lange]

I used to use the T-9 on my Mountain Bike Chain and it was great because it didn't collect the dirt like other lubricants did. I still have some in my Bike Toolbox. Very good stuff.

[Von Bickley]

I used to use the T-9, but now I'm using Johnson's paste wax.......

[Philip Florio]

I've had great results using Bostik's Topcoat followed by Johnson's paste wax.

Phil

[Roger Jensen]

Does anyone use tool covers like this one from HTC?
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71JQ9X1RTRL._SL500_AA280_.gif

Thanks,

Roger

[Peter Gregory]

I thought I read that you don't want Boesheild T-9 on your wood. Something about messing up you finish? Anyone else know the story?

I think that 5 or 6 heavy coats of wax would do the trick, either way.

[Noah Vig]

Renaissance Wax works well for me.

[Alan DuBoff]

T-9 is too sticky for my taste although folks in other climates really like it.
I've been using T-9 for years and have never noticed it being sticky. In fact, WD40 is sticky to me, and eats the plastic on electrical wire, so I got in the habit of using T-9 when I raced sailboats. You can spray it on electrical with no worries.

T-9 is not a rust remover, it is only a rust preventer. There is another product to remove rust called Rust Free, and it works well.

I use T-9 and Johnson's wax over the top of it. I have also been using Johnson's wax for years on many things. I had put 2 large chunks of redwood on my table saw, they had been sitting there for about 2-3 months. When I just pulled them off last week there was an incredible amount of rust...so I got to spend an hour cleaning things up, kerosene, Rust Free, T-9, and some Johnson's wax.

A friend of mine gave me the redwood chunks, he fished a 11' diameter redwood tree out of the eel river.a couple years ago...11' at the base, 60' long, he got about 10,000 bf. of timber. He still had the bottom of the base section out in his meadow, so sawed me off some of the figured area. I haven't cut it up yet, but my son used a piece for his art portfolio. I won't be putting them back on the table saw...:o

I have always used mineral spirits with a scotch pad, using a ROS if possible in the past. But a friend of mine that works a lot of metal, recently told me that kerosene is much better for metal and has oil in it, so it actually acts as a protector for metal. He said it's the only product that does that with metal. More importantly he said that mineral spirits is too strong and will remove rust deposits that form in the metal, so will leave voids where kerosene won't. Oddly, I did use kerosene on the table saw top, and he was right about one thing, that it doesn't bother your hands like mineral spirits. When I work with mineral spirits it always bothers my ring finger. I picked up some kerosene at OSH, and will be using it for a bit to test it out more. So far, I think it's better for this purpose than mineral spirits.

[Ted Baca]

Thank you for all your advise. Roger I do have the HTC cover, I am not religious about using it, and am somewhat concerned if it traps the moisture against the cast iron. I will try the waxes that re mentioned I think maybe the KitySpeed may have been the same solution but time will tell. Unfortuneatly it doesn't seem to be available in the US anymore. They still ahave a website in Europe and I have e-mailed them for any distributership statesside. Again thanks to all who helped me out.

[Larry Feltner]

I use T-9 and it works well. I think FWW did a test on various materials a few years ago and concluded it was the best at preventing rust. I still get a little rust in winter if I am not religious about applying it every few weeks or so.

Has anyone seen those magnetic covers that claim to prevent rust? Its like a giant refrigerator magnet that you cut to fit the cast iron top. The claim is that condensation can't get to the cast iron to cause rust because of the magnetic covering. I've never tried one but often wondered if they really work. It would be an easy fix if they did. Just cut one for each surface and peel it off when you use the tool, put it back when your finished.

[Philip Florio]

I only use Boeshield B9 for my Drill press post.

Phil

[Ron Jones near Indy]

Johnson's Paste Wax does a good job for me. Summers in Indiana are hot and humid--no problems.

[Ted Baca]

Larry I looked at the magnet sheet that is available at Woodcraft and would probabaly be cheaper to contact a sign company then they could custom cut one to fit. But my concerns are 1)if any mositure is present it traps it against the cast Iron. 2)over time it will attract metal filings (my shop anyway) and that will cause points of piercing the magnet and scratches on the surface. It would be interesting to see if any one offers experience with those covers here.

[Scott Myers]

I think it is a matter of personal preference, as both will work. They both work by coating the surface, but in slightly different ways. One is "old school and one high tech. They also have different risks and properties. Let's examine the difference and then you can use what you want based upon you preference.

For the record, I'm a Johnson wax man myself, but that is just because that I what I learned years ago and it works fine. It is just Carnauba wax with a parafin solvent carrier. Nothing fancy and definitely old school. It's thicker than Boeshield to be sure and harder to apply. You have to get out the car buffer for a thick coat if you let it dry too long a time. You have to wait for it to haze up and then buff it off with A LOT of elbow grease. It can leave wax swirls on the cast iron surface which can be hard to get off if you put it on thick (or multiple coats) and let it dry too long, if you care about such things. But it is a hard finish wax, which is indeed impervious to any moisture. It also takes it a while to wear off with a lot of wood being dragged across it. It makes the surface quite slick and sawdust doesn't stick to it. If you want to remove it, I would say you would need acetone or some other very strong solvent to insure it is off, although I don't think you ever would need to do this unless you are resurfacing your top. It is not going to pentrate into the cast iron surface, but rather forms only a film on top, but a very hard film. On its MSDS sheet, it is rated as an insignificant health risk by NFPA and a slight health risk by HMIS when in contact with your skin. I personally have never bothered with gloves when applying wax. It is also quite inexpensive at $6 for a 16 oz can, which lasts a VERY long time if all you do is wax you tool tops occasionally.

I also have a lot of experience with Boeshield T-9 and have used it many times. Not on tools however, but rather because I am a bicycle racer in the warmer months. This is one of the top rated products out there to protect a bicycle drive train and other high wear metal surfaces exposed to the elements, as it won't gather dirt nearly as fast like wet lubes do. (It has to applied quite often, but all drive train lubricants do due to the high wear of the system.) It is VERY thin due to the solvent carrier and will find every little nook and cranny and get down into them, which makes it great for bike drive trains. This also is an advantage on a cast iron tool top, unlike Johnson wax which just sits on top. When dried, it is just a parafin wax with some additives. What the advantage of Boeshield would be is this penetration. Cast Iron is full of nooks and crannies on the microscopic level because it has a very jagged crystaline structure, hence the reason it rusts so easily. The jaggedness makes for a lot of surface area where moisture can get down into. So by applying something like boeshield, you are getting down in those valleys and the solvent carrier is displacing any moisture that is there. Then the solvent dries leaving only the parafin based wax/lubricant behind. Pretty cool. But the disadvantage is it a very, very thin layer and a very soft parafin wax by design, so it will wear off much easier than carnauba wax. This makes sense, as its original intent was to clean and lubricate metal to metal contact points, where it would continure to stay in place as both metal surfaces would have the parfin on them. However, because of its penetrating nature, it will leave the parafin down in the cast iron surface structure effectively sealing out the moisture down where it realy rusts in the nooks and crannies even when you wear it off the top of the peaks, unlike Johnson wax which doesn't do this. It does contain a small amount of light mineral oil. IT is probably this combination of small amount of mineral oil and parafin that give it that slightly sticky feel that some people have mentioned. I don't know that I would call it sticky as much as very slightly oily. The big downside is it is in a nasty sovent carrier. It is some pretty volitile stuff, and I wouldn't use it without gloves. The MSDS sheet reads like one would expect of any product that is mostly pertroleum distillate to read with warnings about liver damage, dermatitis, lung & eye irritation, etc., which you won't find on the sheet for Johnson wax. Strangely enough, it still only gets a 1 (slight health risk) hazardous rating by HMIS. It is also quite pricey at about $8.50 for 4 fluid oz. And I can tell you from experience it doesn't go that far, but it works very well. I've spend hundreds of dollars on Boeshield and similar products over recent years for bike racing mostly. However, because it does get down in the pores, you shouldn't need much of it, even though it is pricey.

I suppose if yo uwant the best of both worlds, you might want to use Boeshield to get down in those pores, and then rub as much off as possibile and let dry overnight. (Which is exactly waht you do with a bike chain when using Boeshield.) Then use Johnson wax after that to get that hard wearing and very slick shell. I will not go to the Boeshild on my tools myself (due to the price and volitile nature) as I have had good luck with Johnson wax. Boesield also isn't going to get you that hard finish and always seems to leave a certain waxiness due to the parafin I don't care for. But on tools other than a large flat surface like a table saw or planer, I would be inclined to use Boeshield.

As far as covers, I believe in letting it breath. I use corrugated cardboard to protect large flat cast iron surfaces and drop cloths. But above all, I keep it waxed. I don't want anything that would trap moisture if I have a temperature swing and the surfaces sweat, which can happen often here in Ohio.

[Leo Zick]

I like WD40, but never see it mentioned..

:confused:

[Matt Lillie]

I like WD40, but never see it mentioned..

:confused:


I also use WD40, and fine steel wool. When I leave the saw, I spray and then spread with the steel wool. I have a "special" towel that hangs next to the saw for cleanup on use. I use a ventless heater, moisture is an issue. I have had no rust as of yet.

[Brian Kincaid]

Another vote for Renaissance wax. I use it on hand planes and CI tool tops. Lasts longer than Johnsons wax for me.

Brian

[Will Scott]

I started using mineral oil this summer with pretty good results.

[Myk Rian]

Got rust?

WD-40 and 0000 steel wool on a ROS.
Wipe off and redo till cloth isn't showing rust.
Mineral spirits wipe a couple times.
Wipe with alcohol.
Johnsons paste wax. Use a heat gun or hair drier to melt it to the table.
Wipe to get excess off.

[Paul Mathers]

I use johnson paste wax once/month and have a magnetic cover from toolclad.

[Russ Hauser]

I use Minwax on my CI table tops. I also keep them covered with old Turkish Towels when the tools are idle. I got this idea from a web site. I have not had rust on any of my tools since using this method.

Russ hauser
Tavares, FL

[Roger Bell]

I now use Renaissance wax on my TS, preferring it to Johnson's. It is easier to use and to hand buff out and I think it lasts longer. Buffing out J-wax by hand is a good way to get cast-iron-elbow.

We also have a house at the coast where I keep a second small garage shop and a few cheap used machines. (Walking on the beach is just not my scene). At the Oregon coast, everything rusts and rusts bad unless it is in a heated environment. The severe ocean winds whip the moist salt air into every crack and cranny. Here I use Boeshield T9. The best results occur when I saturate the iron with T9, let it sit and dry up thoroughly....and then I hand buff it out. And then I do it again a second time. I then place paste wax over those base layers from time to time.

And then, over that, I place an HTC cover. You will get very little moisture under one of these covers. But alone, it is not enough. You need to treat the iron itself. Uncovered iron at the coast, even if treated, will rust at least somewhat. Treated, covered iron does well. If you don't want to go HTC, I have had pretty good luck with cheap all-polyester shower curtains.

[Dennis Puskar]

Never used Boesheild T-9, just bought the cheapest wax the was available and never had a rust problem.

Dennis

[raul segura]

My friends like to leave beer rings on my cast iron tables ! I use Jasco's prep and primer on a new table, then use it for spotting areas. Phosphoric acid . I usually wipe some on with gloves,then use steel wool. It will smock a bit then turn the metal to a slight gray patina at which time I will wipe of with new rag and water several times until (completely) clean, then I use WD40 or cheep o wax from those toilet bowel seals and buff out. This I do not due often unless I have friends with beer around! But I have found it creates a protection seal along with the patina .I wouldn't let it creep between joints or seems. Great stuff for prepping galvanized metal. It sounds drastic but works very well for me. :D P.S due not drip on cement or use on aluminum it will eat both.

[Bob Genovesi]

I used to use the T-9, but now I'm using Johnson's paste wax.......

Hey Von,

When temperature and moisture swings in my garage was a problem I used T-9 as well but now that it's insulated with new doors this isn't a problem. For the most part I use a product called Slick-It. I got it through Grizzly but it can be purchased all over the place. I like it because it's not silicone based and makes those cast iron tops nice and slippery!

[Peter Quadarella]

I had ridiculous rust problems. Now I use Boeshield and then wax (either Johnson's or Renaissance, the Renaissance stuff seems to last longer but the Johnson's is cheaper and is always sittnig there). I haven't had any issues since starting to do this.

I used to wipe off the Boeshield but now I just spray a bunch on and leave it overnight, then I put wax right on top of it. It seems to have a thicker coating and last longer that way.