Bosch 4100 Top Issues

[John Mark Lane]

Hi Guys,

Been a while since I've posted. Wife has cancer. Life has been challenging this last year or so. But we're hanging in there.

Anyway, I've been trying to get my hands dirty a bit. Lots of things that need to be done, plus it keeps me moderately sane. A year or so ago, based partly on the kind help of you folks, I chose a Bosch 4100-09 as my table saw for my small home shop. (I'm a former full time cabinet-maker/carpenter, but changed course professionally years ago and now it's just a hobby...but one that I love very much.)

I've added the outfeed extension and the left side extension. With a good blade, the saw is awesome. I'm constantly impressed with the engineering. It's a well designed tool.

But the one thing that I HATE about it is the top surface. What in the world were they thinking? What's wrong with just plain aluminum? I have found that this surface scratches very easily. It can't be smoothed or touched up. It has this dumb plastic-like coating that is just useless.

So, latest issue... I somehow got something sticky on the top today. And so I did what I always do when I get something sticky on something...I poured on the Goof-Off. Oh boy was that a mistake. I immediately noticed that it discolored the surface. Yikes. Tried to wipe it off right away, and lo and behold, the Goof-Off disolves the top coating. That's right, whatever it is Bosch puts on these tops, it's weak enough that simple Goof-Off takes it right up. Not totally, mind you. But it orange-peeled in places, came off altogether in places, and otherwise just make a big mess.

Freakin' nightmare.

I'm kinda wishing I had gone with the Jet.

Anybody else have a similar experience? Any suggestions? I'm tempted to take the top off and have it bead-blasted and honed smooth. It looks like simple aluminum under this plastic, and that has to be better.... But what a pain!

Ideas?

Mark

[Phil Thien]

The first time I saw a Bosch I thought they had hard-anodized the top, it looked sorta similar to my Inca tools that are cold anodized. But the Bosch looked so even compared to the blotchy Incas.

Maybe the Bosch is painted?

[Bill Huber]

I think I would just forget about it and do a little sanding on the whole top and then put some Formica on it. It is smooth and cleans very well, this would give you a much better surface to work on.

[Neil Brooks]

I've done nothing with the top of MY 4100, other than paste wax it periodically, so ... I haven't seen what you've seen.

If you're at a place where the "damage" is NOT affecting the function/cut quality ... I might be tempted to just leave it alone, AND .... reach out to Bosch.

Maybe they'll fix/replace/suggest something for you.

My only complaint about the top -- as the brother of the guy who used to do all the sales for MagSwitch -- is that it's not-magnetic, so ... there was no real impetus to mooch product off of my brother ;)

Aside from that, I agree with your opinion of the saw, thusfar: a true gem for the money. It's not, and will never BE a Uni, a SawStop, a Grizz 1023XX, or a PM66 or 2000, but ... it does a darned fine job with pretty much everything I throw at it.

Good luck !

[Julian Tracy]

I have the 4100 - my top's not done that yet, but I know what you mean about it having a coating... just one more thing to flake off...

After restoring quite a few cast iron tops, I'd suggest you use some heavy duty paint stripper on it and get most of it off, and then simply sand it starting with 80 grit and ending with 320 or 400 grit.

You'll end up with a smooth matte finish top that wood will glide across and it'll look nice again.

Use a random orbit sander with good dust collection - makes the paper last longer. Use 3-4 sheets of every grit, especially the high grits, not so much the lower ones.

Take about an hour and you'll have a top you can be proud of again.

JT

[Phil Thien]

Aluminum in its uncoated form is rather soft, and will leave black streaks on your wood. I wouldn't remove the coating unless you were planning in replacing it with something else (the laminate, for example).

If it wasn't too much work, removing the top and having it cold anodized would give it a very hard coating.

[John Mark Lane]

Thanks for the replies and suggestions. I haven't decided what I'm going to do with it. It annoys the heck out of me, but I otherwise really like the saw. I added the outfeed extension, which changed my life. Also added the left side extension, a great addition for the price. The saw is strong, moves around easily, has well thought out features (blade and wrench storage, fence and miter storage, etc. A few things about it are less than ideal, but the price is good and it works well.

I sanded the top a little bit and put some paste wax on it. I thought about stripping it down and sanding it to smooth aluminum, then paste waxing...but that's a lot of work, as I think the only way to do it right would be to disassemble the saw and get the top off (remember, it's a sliding right side, the fence is attached etc).

The good news is, it has me thinking again that it may be time to just bite the bullet and get a cabinet saw....

[Julian Tracy]

Not sure why this silly forum won't allow links, but if you go to my profile, I'll post a link to a web directory showing a router table insert installed on my Bosch tablesaw.

It's one of the few jobsite saws that have a design that'll work for this and it's simple and easy and bullet proof.

Julian

[Julian Tracy]

Oops - this forum won't even allow a web link in the member's personal section... They sure are touchy around here...

Anyways, PM me and I'll email you a link.

JT

[Neil Brooks]

Having seen Julian's pics before, and admired his work with HIS 4100 ... maybe I can format the link so that it meets the SMC standards:

www[dot]juliantracy[dot]com/Bosch%20Tablesaw/index.htm

Great job, Julian !

[Bruce Page]

Neil, you, or I, can link directly to Julian’s website: http://www.juliantracy.com/Bosch%20Tablesaw/index.htm

The rules do not allow members to link directly to their own website. However, Julian can list his website in his profile and direct people to it.

[Julian Tracy]

Thanks. I looked around my profile settings and couldn't see where to put a web address. It's not really a website - more of a file depository.

Anyways, I have nothing to sell, just had the saw pics up to show some folks over at JLC forums that had the Bosch saw.

I can't take credit for the idea - I got it from a guy at the old Breaktime forums.

The router plate support is simply two 1x2 Oak lengths that are cut to fit inbetween the front and rear rail recesses. I cross-notched the corners to be able to tightly slip them into place and had to shave just a bit off the 3/4 width to get them to fit and align properly.

Same design as worked with the 4000 saw works with the 4100 saw, except you have to cut out a little notch to accomodate the 4100's table latch indicator.

The Benchdog fence fits as is with just a little tweak to make it easier to fit on, though I've since made a router plate mounted fence that's much simpler and probably will get used a bit more often due to it's simplicity.

Here's a pic showing the simpler homemad fence:

Julian

JT

[Bruce Page]

Julian, click on “Settings” at the top of the page, then “Edit Profile” you will see “Home Page URL:”

[Bill ThompsonNM]

T

The good news is, it has me thinking again that it may be time to just bite the bullet and get a cabinet saw....

Now this isn't the place to find anyone to argue with that thought...