Crescent 12" Jointer

[Josh Hulit]

Finally got my jointer back home. No easy task, this thing is a beast. Has some pretty significant rust on the beds and I'm wondering what the best approach would be to clean it up? I've used mineral spirits in the past, but I've also read about using vinegar, wd40, among other things. Thanks.

[Charles Taylor]

Scrape away as much as you can with a razor blade, and follow up with steel wool or a Scotchbrite pad and WD-40.

[Josh Hulit]

Thank you Charles, I'll give it a shot today.

[Matt Day]

This thread is from a day or two ago and mentions a few methods.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?254503-50-dollar-DJ-15-REALLY-RUSTY&p=2687070&highlight=

[Josh Hulit]

Thanks Matt, very helpful.

[Bradley Gray]

I have an old jointer that sat outside for years before it got to my shop. I cleaned it as best I could with scrapers and a ROS and wiped it down with solvent. I then applied paraffin by heating the jointer bed with an electric iron and rubbing with a block of the paraffin to fill the rust pits. I redo this every year or two.

[Josh Hulit]

Thanks for the maintenance tips Bradley. Got a pretty good start on the top today with WD-40 and a scotch brite pad. Followed that with some mineral spirits and I'm starting to see some progress. Thanks everyone for all the advice.

[Josh Hulit]

Made some progress on the cast iron top this weekend. Thanks to everyone for the cleaning suggestions, I think I tried just about every option put out there. The scotch brite pad really help cutting away at that surface rust. Still have a ways to go, but getting there. Fired up the motor yesterday for the first time, jointer sounds nice and smooth. Thanks everyone!

[Allan Speers]

Another way, rarely mentioned, is to wrap duct tape all around the outer edge of each full surface, with some of that tape extending above the surface. Then just fill it with Espirit, or any other chelation liquid.

You have to first de-grease the surfaces, and then afterwards to you have to "very quickly" treat the surface with wax, or some other rust preventative, as the exposed metal will rust again quite quickly.

[Randall J Cox]

I once totally rebuilt a 15" delta planer that had sat inside a shop at the Calif coast and the roof leaked down on it and into it. I worked on the table for days trying to derust before a fellow woodworker let me use his angle grinder with a slightly abrasive scotch brite type pad on it that he got at a welding supply house. Welders use this to clean off rust on steel stored outside before welding - really does work!!! I did in 30 minutes what I did in the previous 4 days.... Randy

[Matt Day]

I've suggested that method many times Randall, nobody seems to listen!

[Frank Drew]

Lacking a grinder, I think you could use scotch brite pads with a random orbit sander.

[Tom Howarth]

I met a guy who swears that a Scotch Brite belt on a belt sander works great...