how do you get rid of stains on table saw top?

[Rafael Carias]

hi all

i'm new here, i've been lurking for a while but it looks like i'll be posting often here. anyhow, my boss gave me an ear full just last friday when he saw a drinking cup stain on the company table saw (little does he know the stain was made by one of his "out of the shop guys"). there was no time left for me fix that on friday so i though i do some thing about it monday morning.

anybody got any tips on how to go about clearing out that stain?

[Gary Swart]

May I assume this is cast iron? If so, what I do periodically is to take my ROS with 220 grit and go over the whole top. If there are specific stains, I spend a little more time on them. When the whole top is nice and clean, I give it a good coat of Johnson's Paste Floor Wax and buff it. While I'm at it, I use some lacquer thinner on the extension table and then wax it too. Don't use a wax with silicone, it could get on your wood.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

I've never been able to completely remove any stains from the saws I had. 220 and the ROS did a good job of hiding them for sure, but they remained nonetheless.

[Steve Clardy]

Ros sander

[Dan Cameron]

I'm remembering a posting on a woodworking forum years ago from a chap whose new unisaw top was stained by a misbehaving neighborhood cat. He tried every chemical and abasive means to remove the stain but to no avail. Finally, someone suggested the ultimate solution... simply buff it with a newly tanned cat hide.... and get on with life!

[Joe Chritz]

I have found this works well....

Joe

[CPeter James]

I bought a "kit" at Woodcraft the other day that is made just for this purpose. I have not tried it yet, but they had a sample with half done and half not and it was impressive. Cost was $20. I have a couple of older tops that I want to try it on. I'll look up the name after lunch.

CPeter

[Corey Pionk]

I used Easy off oven cleaner to get rid of the stains on my saw. Just spray on and let it sit a few minutes. Then work it around with some steel wool or wet dry sand paper then wipe off. But immediately after you wipe it off clean with mineral spirits followed by brake cleaner or carb cleaner. Also try not to get any of the chemicals on the painted surfaces. Then after everything is clean and dry apply a coat of paste wax.

[Bill Lewis]

The other day I caught my wife leaving a soda bottle on the TS :eek: . I just pointed at it and told her "never again please". She did put it on something to act like a coaster and protested a bit, but I told her I still didn't want it there under any condition. She understood.

[John Hebert]

I had some stains that wouldn't come out, and I just left them. What the heck...... who cares anyhow, right?
Having moved and stored my equipment for 2 yrs while I build, naturally my tops rusted out. Tried WD-40 with steel wool and good old elbow grease and.......sure it worked, but slow and pains taking, as well as a kit specially for this that I got.
I finally smartened up and put a 150 grit disk on my orbital, and sanded the damned thing, in one direction only!! The I switched to 220, then a 500 abralon pad, and finally a 1000 grit abralon.
If this sounds like allot of work? Ha.......that’s the best part!!! It took an average of 6-8minutes per top to have it BETTER than new condition and now the tops was slicker than snot.
I used some finishing wax by MinWax, and done. Couldn’t tell you where the stain was because I couldn’t find it. I got the finishing pads from woodworkers supply for buffing out finishes.

[Rob Will]

I bought a "kit" at Woodcraft the other day that is made just for this purpose. I have not tried it yet, but they had a sample with half done and half not and it was impressive. Cost was $20. I have a couple of older tops that I want to try it on. I'll look up the name after lunch.

CPeter

I bought the same kit. Instead of using elbow grease I attached a scuff pad to a DA sander with a hook and loop pad. This did a good job of cleaning a PM225 planer. Simply spray the cleaning solution on and go at it with the DA. Then use another scuff pad to apply paste wax. I tried applying paste wax with steel wool but I did not like that approach.

Rob