getting rust off a table saw top

[Chip Olson]

What with the nasty humid weather we've been having lately here in MA, I wasn't surprised to find some light surface rust on my table saw the other day. Steel wool and elbow grease took care of some of it, but I'd like to get rid of it all before I rewax the top. Any recommendations for de-rusting supplies/techniques?

[John Branam]

I used a product called top saver on my tablesaw top. It worked well, Empire is the manufacturer, I picked it up at Rockler.

[Andrew Ault]

Rust conversion products convert iron oxide to a black phosphate (I think). In my experience, it is good to get loose rust off, use the phosphoric acid solution and scrub it well with an abrasive pad, repeat as needed, then clean off the solution and treat with oil, Topcoat or Boeshield. I live near the ocean in San Diego, so untreated surfaces get rusty pretty quickly.

Another good tool for iron tops is a Wonder Bar, which is a block of silicon carbide impregnated rubber. It's like an eraser for rust. This is great for the first step of removing rust - really efficient.

The combination of abrasive and chemical treatment leaves a smooth, clean surface with rust in pores and other flaws converted and rust resistant.

The Rockler product mentioned in the above post works fine, but comes in a small container. Another good choice is Jasco, available at some big box stores. Naval Jelly is also good and is a jell, which is sometimes helpful and similarly available.

Just my two cents worth.

-Andy

[Jeff Fritzson]

I have used a thick coat of WD40 with a scotch brite pad powered with a finishing sander. Once I scrub that down I wipe it all off and see if there are any other areas. I use a second lighter coat and repeat for any other problem areas. Then I clean off the top as dry as possible, spray with a little boeshield and finally two coats of paste wax. I learned this from a fellow WWer. It keeps my CI smooth and clean.

[Ken Garlock]

I second "top Saver" by Empire. It is not magic, you need a little elbow effort, but it does get the rust off. It comes with a couple Scotchbrite pads, gloves. Just follow the directions, and it will work fine.

[Douglas Robinson]

Take a scotch brite pad and attach it to a random orbit sander. Run the sander over the surface. This should get rid of a lot of the rust making the use of Topcoat ot other products easier as the amount of rust should be a LOT less.

Doug

[Wes Bischel]

I've used Oxisolv in the past. Discovered it when doing auto restoration.

http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=1122&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=379&iSubCat=380&iProductID=1122

It does turn the area a dull grey, but it can be buffed back with a scotch brite pad. This stuff has worked wonders on really nasty parts - my TS was an easy job.

Good luck which ever way you go.
Wes

[Jeff Sudmeier]

I have also used the WD40 and scotchbright pad trick. It worked great! I followed up with simple green to clean the surface and then good old fashioned johnson's paste wax.

[Jim W. White]

I usually resort to WD-40 and the ROS as well; however, I just recently saw a VERY "Over the Top" commercial for this prodcut recently <Easy-Off BAM>

At first I thought it was a spoof, but I guess you can really buy it at Walmart. I haven't tried it yet but they claim it works well on rust stains.

http://www.teebop.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?item=RB78056-2PK

[Doug Shepard]

I bought a used Delta Sanding Center about 5 yrs ago that had some pretty serious surface rust on all the cast iron and a lot of the hardware too. Took me about 3 days to get it into shape, but WD40, abrasives, and elbow grease seemed to do a pretty good job. I used quite a few things for abrasives - the WonderBar worked pretty good, very fine grit wet/dry paper on the ROS worked well, and some sheets of PSA steel wool cut to fit on the ROS really worked well. I think that last one is probably pretty comparable to using the Scotch Brite and ROS. I would have tried that too if I had it.
Once I had it mostly cleaned up I also tried the ROS and steel wool with some automotive chrome cleaner - just because I had some handy and thought I'd try it. That really polished things up pretty nice.

[Kent Cori]

I use Rust Off which requires very little elbow grease. I then follow it up with Boeshield T-9 to avoid any rust to begin with. I add a coat of paste wax over the top of the T-9 to make the surface slick. The T-9 is good for as long as 9 months in my hot, humid Florida garage shop. Rust Off and T-9 are made by the same folks and available in most woodworking stores.

[Steven Wilson]

I generally use various grades of Sand-Flex Handblock's with WD-40 as a lubricant. This works very well for light rust. For serious rust cleaning I let mineral spirits sit on the top for awhile, wipe up the excess and then use 3M scotch brite disks on an angle grinder - wiping the swarf away frequently with a cloth damped in mineral spirits.

[Phil Ordway]

I use "surface conditioning discs", medium then extra fine with a body grinder. Works great. You can get smaller rol-loc discs for an electric drill. Don't use oil. It will clog up the discs.

[Bob Weisner]

If you can get a plastic container large enough to fit the top into the plastic container, I would just fill it with plain old white vinegar. Leave it set in the vinegar for a few day maybe a week. then, pull the top out of the container and wipe it dry and then coat it with wax.

[Corey Hallagan]

I follow the same procedure exactly as Jeff S does, works great on my table saws, dril press table, scroll saw.

Corey