Thoughts about rusty machines

[Jim Andrew]

After reading the thread the fellow from Nome Alaska posted, and the pics of the amazingly rusty machines, I thought of the paint I use on farm equipment to make metal slippery. Bought this paint at TSC, and used it to make a folding rake workable for me. I'm getting up in years, and do not have the strength I had when I was younger, and also don't have much left for a back, due to over doing it years ago. Well, anyway, seems like you would want your boards to slide easily across your table tops, and if you have an unheated shop your machines will pick up some rust, probably not as bad as in Alaska, but they will rust. I was thinking that in extreme conditions it might work to coat your table tops with the graphite paint from Tractor Supply. Any comments? Call me crazy?

[Lee Schierer]

I think graphite paint would be bad news for wood as if it rubs off, getting the graphite off the wood would be a major pain and if it is not completely removed would cause finishing problems. I think I would try coating the table with a wet coating of Boeshield T-9 and leaving it on the surface of he saw until I was ready to use it. Then before using the saw spray on some more Boeshield and wipe down the table. Do my cutting and then respray the table leaving the wet Boeshield on the surface to protect it until the next time the saw is needed. The thick coating of Boeshield should significantly reduce the amount of rusting.

[Jim Andrew]

Lee, I bought some boeshield last winter, and coated all my machine tables, it is very thin and I used a china bristle brush to spread it out, and it has never completely dried. Does the stuff get spoiled if it freezes? It has come off on the jointer where I edge boards, but feels a little sticky where it still has a decent coating.

[Lee Schierer]

Normally if you are going to use the machine you spray on a light coat and wipe it off. Don't leave any visible product on the surface as it can mar your wood. If you are going to store a machine you spray on a heavy wet coat and leave it set until you are ready to use the machine, then you spray on a light coating to soften the original layer and wipe it off.

I don't think freezing it matters, just shake it up well before spraying it.