New Iron in the Shop :)

[Michael Mahan]

I asked this in someone else's thread & I don't want Hi-Jack his thread , So here goes ;)
Question :
I have a new MiniMax 16 Jointer/Planer & a MM20 Band Saw .
what do I do to prepare the Cast Iron surfaces for use ?

I read some where that a green Scotch Bite is used to reduce the milling swirl ? Is that correct ?
I know I have to clean off the shipping grease but I don't want to leave the surface unprotected for humidty & have rust set in .
AND would want the best sliding surface as well . That & not mar or contaminate the wood that will be slid over the cast iron
And I don't want to contaminate the rollers on the planer
(read on the MiniMax forum) that a guy bought a used FS41 Elite & the shipper over sprayed some silicone on the rollers & the machine stuttered when planning boards to the point the wood stalled inside the cutters

[Mike Chalmers]

Paste wax for hardwood floors.

[William C Rogers]

Congrats on the purchase. Johnson's paste wax for protection. I give all my surfaces treatment and this works best for me.

[Mike Cutler]

Regular paste wax should work just fine to protect the surface.Clean the surface with lacquer thinner first, followed by acetone.
As for taking out the "milling swirls", I'm not sure that the green Scotchbrite would be my choice, it's pretty darn abrasive. If I was going to knock down the swirl ridges, I'd probably start with 600 grit sandpaper, a granite stone, a can of WD40 or Aero-Kroil, and work up from there.
How bad are the milling machine marks that you need to sand them out?
I believe, and I only speak a few words of machinist, that those marks are a particular type of grind. I'd be careful trying to grind them out, or you could mess up the surfaces of your new jointer, or bandsaw. Clean the top, apply the paste wax, and let her rip!

Congrat's on your new bandsaw and Jointer. ;)

[Peter Quinn]

I use bowling alley wax or bostik top cote on most table tops. I think the minimax tops have a blanchard ground, all those swirls are a nice upgrade, they indicated the tops are very flat and greatly reduce friction. I have them on my shaper (minimax) and BS (not minimax) and have used a lot of SCMI stuff with the same swirls. My opinion....don't take any measures to eliminate those swirls, they let stuff float over the table like and air hockey puck, much less sticky when well waxed than the shiny polished surfaces of most american and asian imports. Congrats on the purchase....leave the tops alone!

[Larry Edgerton]

Ditto what Peter said, leave the swirls alone, they serve a purpose. Shiny flat is not better no matter what you hear.

Larry

[Thomas Hotchkin]

Congrats on the purchase. Johnson's paste wax for protection. I give all my surfaces treatment and this works best for me.

What William said Johnson's paste wax is all you need. Tom

[Myk Rian]

Paste wax, (no silicone) melted into the surface with a heat gun or hair dryer. Buff it up.

[Michael Mahan]

I take it you Have to get 'All" of cosmoline off , Does that mean everywhere it is ? Not just the table surfaces ?
So that swirl pattern keeps the wood from sucking down on a polished surface ,is that the drift ?

Johnson Paste Wax it is then & the swirls will stay , I found a huge tin of that wax in the garage when cleaning it out to prepare for the electricians to add power lines in the shop ( amazing what you find after years of rat packing things away )

another point :
I have read that some guys sand the tires (I know the MiniMax tires are flat)
BUT I don't want to do anything that would bbrok my new Italian beauty .
I built a nice stout & sturdy pallet (4x4 & 4x6's bolted to the frame ) for the BS so I can move it around with my pallet jack
got some levelers from Enco with vibration isolation pads & the pallet is built so I can load some sand bags on it to balance the weight load
My floor is not as good as it should be (cracks & slight heaves ) & it's too expensive to replace it
So a pallet jack works better than the machine mobility kits
ThanX Guys !

[Mike Wilkins]

Don't try to remove the milling swirl. This type of surface allows the wood to glide across the tables easily. Just paste wax and start making some sawdust.

[Erik Loza]

Mike, I use turpentine to get the grease off. There are other more aggressive solvents but it's cheap and safe to breathe in confined spaces. I did use some type of aerosol citrus-based cleaner at our last trade show. It worked great but was probably $$$$ compared to turpentine. Many options. One FYI: Spend a good amount of time cleaning the channels in the Tersa head. The knives, channel, and gib bars want to be as dry as possible.

Regarding the cast iron tables, I use a RA palm sander, a scotchbrite pad, and some cutting fluid to knock the grain down. Then, strip the solvent and wax it. IMO, this is especially important on the planer table. I'm going to be in Atlanta all week for a dealer meeting at headquarters but call me if you like.

Best,

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[nicholas mitchell]

Wow, I've never heard anyone recommend to get rid of the milling marks. Just how rough are mm cast iron tables?

[Larry Edgerton]

Wow, I've never heard anyone recommend to get rid of the milling marks. Just how rough are mm cast iron tables?

They are exactly as rough as they need to be.......

Larry

[Michael Mahan]

Wow, I've never heard anyone recommend to get rid of the milling marks. Just how rough are mm cast iron tables?


they are Not rough at all 'To The Touch' , MiniMax machines just have a swirl pattern from the milling they use
I asked because of the various things I've read about new machines & preparing the surface ,
"As with anything on the "InTer-Webby"
awhole bunch of 'Mis-Info' is out there :rolleyes: & a Huge herd of 'Know-it-alls' with their Neenerweebby diplomas saying they know better ! :p

;)

[Myk Rian]

"As with anything on the "InTer-Webby"
awhole bunch of 'Mis-Info' is out there :rolleyes: & a Huge herd of 'Know-it-alls' with their Neenerweebby diplomas saying they know better
Then why are you asking this crowd?
:confused:

[Troy Turner]

All these posts and ain't no one asked for any pics yet so we can see how "rough" these surfaces are so we can better answer his questions ;)

[Michael Mahan]

Then why are you asking this crowd?
:confused:

cause most of you guys do know what their talkin' about :)
I wasn't out to pee anyone here off .
Sorry IF you took me wrong that wasn't my intent

[Michael Mahan]

All these posts and ain't no one asked for any pics yet so we can see how "rough" these surfaces are so we can better answer his questions ;)

I'll post one of the MM20 table BUT the FS41 still has it bubble wrap on the tables not to mention the cosmoline :D
I didn't want to remove till I knew what was best

[Rod Sheridan]

Wow, I've never heard anyone recommend to get rid of the milling marks. Just how rough are mm cast iron tables?

I don't think anyone has suggested removing the milling marks.

They feel slightly sharp if you rub them with a rag, nothing more.

I simply waxed my machines after a quick rub with a pad on a hand sanding block..............Rod.

[David Hostetler]

Don't bother removing the milling marks.... clean the shipping protectant off of the surfaces with something like rubbing alcohol and plenty of paper towels. Once clean, and dry, use paste wax, applied with great care, let it haze, wipe it off, reapply until you are just smearing excess wax across the surface.

Keep things OFF of your cast iron, and keep those that are prone to putting things that don't belong on your cast iron, out of your shop if you can. I recently had to de-rust my jointer due to my lovely bride not understanding jointer tables are not places to store potting soil bags...