Turtle Wax or Top Coat

[Mark Bachler]

What’s everyone use on the tops of their machines after the cosmo is off. The old timers I've worked with swear by Turtle wax and I've used Top Coat at some of the places I've worked. Doesn't turtle wax have silicone in it? Does top coat build -up after a while?

[Dennis Peacock]

Johnsons Paste Wax......contains NO Silicone........works good too. :)

[Bill Hogue]

Johnson paste wax work for me.

[Chris Padilla]

WOOD (#154, Mar. '04) did a test on a bunch of cleaners and protectors for cast iron. Now this doesn't really address your question but it does address the steps you might want to take before waxing up that top.

Boeshield (www.boeshield.com (http://www.boeshield.com)) has two products that topped the rest:

Rust Free and
T-9

Rust Free cleans the top and T-9 protects it from rust. These products are probably good for stuff you don't use very often or plan to stow but they should be good for the steps need to polish up that top!

One thing they don't mention in the article is about the slipperyness of the coating. I guess if you polish the top really well and apply the product, you should have a smooth surface?

[Mark Singer]

Topcoat I like it!

[Ray Dockrey]

I also use the Johnson's paste wax. It is fairly cheap and very easy to get. I buy mine at my local Wal-Mart.

[Glenn Clabo]

Johnsons Paste Wax...since I can remember.

[Kurt Aebi]

Butcher's bowling Alley Wax for me!

[John Weber]

I agree with Chris, I used wax, and then switched to TopCoat. After the Wood article I tried some Boeshield - it was flying off the shelf at the Wood show. Anyway, so far so good. I haven't used it long enough to get a feel if it is better then Topcoat, but in the Wood article Boeshield did very well. I switched to TopCoat from wax, and Topcoat is noticeable better. Maybe Boeshield is better yet.

John

[Chris Padilla]

Let us know, John...I have plans to purchase some in the future.

[Kent Cori]

I swear by the Boeshield T-9 and Rust Free products. I've been using both for the last few years even before the Wood article. For once, the mags actually reinforced my personal opinion! :cool:

Having a garage work shop in Florida is akin to living in a sponge from the standpoint of corrosion. I tried paste wax and it was effective for about 48 hours. I then tried Topcote and it was good for about a week. The good news was that Rust Free quickly removed the rust that did accumulate. Then someone turned me onto T-9. I don't know how long it really lasts because I try to renew it every six months. I've had no rust in between (even when my teenage son left his leaky paper cup of soda on my TS top last week). I haven't needed to use Rust Free since I began to apply the T-9 other than if I somehow missed a spot.

The one problem with T-9 is that it is not as slick as wax or Topcote. Therefore, I typcally use wax over the top of the T-9 to make the cast iron tops of my saws and jointer more slippery. It probably adds another level of protection too. I use just T-9 on any surface that I don't need to slide wood accross such as my hand tools or cast iron parts of machines other than the tables.

If the wax approach will work for you where you live, great! However, if you want more protection or want to go longer between applications, give the T-9 a try.

[Michael Ballent]

I have used T-9 for a while (before the article) and it works as they have claimed. I did find that it was sticky on the surface, so I applied Top-Coat to my TS and is smooth as silk. I know that wax is less expensive but it is easier to apply the Top Coat, just spray and buff lightly, GREAT Stuff. I have also used their rust removal before I had the T-9 and it got rid of the surface rust... I do not have to worry too much about rust since I live in Phoenix, but it does get muggy around here during monsoon season.:D

-Michael

[Bob Marino]

Agree with Kent. I had used Boeshield for a while, without any rust on my ts and jointer in the garage/shop. Then out of curiousity, I tried some Top Cote. About a week later, both machine tops were covered with a light coating of rust. Top Coat may make metal slide real smoothly, but for rust protection, Boeshield provides better protection.


Bob

[Byron Trantham]

Top Coat for me! I sweat like a pig and salty sweat does a number on machined surfaces. I tried Top Coat about five years ago and have been using it ever since.

[Ken Salisbury]

For 15 years or more I have been using what is always readily accessible in my shop -- Minwax Finishing Wax - never have any problems. Since it is what I use to wax my projects - why not use it on my tools :D

[Mike Scoggins]

Having a garage work shop in Florida is akin to living in a sponge from the standpoint of corrosion. I tried paste wax and it was effective for about 48 hours. I then tried Topcote and it was good for about a week. The good news was that Rust Free quickly removed the rust that did accumulate. Then someone turned me onto T-9. I don't know how long it really lasts because I try to renew it every six months. I've had no rust in between (even when my teenage son left his leaky paper cup of soda on my TS top last week). I haven't needed to use Rust Free since I began to apply the T-9 other than if I somehow missed a spot.


Kent,

Glad to hear that the T-9 works well in the humid environment. I too have tried paste wax and then TopCote with essentially the same results you had. I just bought the Boeshield day before yesterday and intend to give it a try this weekend. I live in the Houston area and I'm tired of having to remove rust and recoat every other week.

I really like the way a piece of wood slides across a Johnson's-paste-waxed table, however, so I intend to experiment with Johnson's on top of the Boeshield. I'm just hoping you can apply the wax on top of the Boeshield without removing the Boeshield in the process.

Comments?

Mike

[Jim Becker]

-- Minwax Finishing Wax -

Frankly, that's what I use, too. Because I have it and it's worked just fine. I reapply two or three times a year.

[Kent Cori]

Mike,

Just wipe off the T-9 well after it has set for about 5-10 minutes and before it begins to dry. Then let it dry completely for about 24 hours. You can then apply Minwax or Johnson's paste wax the way you normally would. It will not remove the T-9.

I'm at almost the same latitude as you are in Texas and we have about the same humidity so I think you will be very happy with the T-9.

[Mike Scoggins]

Mike,

Just wipe off the T-9 well after it has set for about 5-10 minutes and before it begins to dry. Then let it dry completely for about 24 hours. You can then apply Minwax or Johnson's paste wax the way you normally would. It will not remove the T-9.

I'm at almost the same latitude as you are in Texas and we have about the same humidity so I think you will be very happy with the T-9.

Thanks Kent. It sounds like the annoying recurring task or removing light rust will be a thing of the past with the T-9. :) I'll gladly do the necessary re-application 3 or so times a year, but the at least once a month process was really getting old!

Mike

[Bud Duffy]

I am with Ken i have always had a can of Minwax finishing wax in the shop and just reach for it when i need to coat somthing, being here in the high desert in southwest Idaho the humidity rarley gets out of single digits rust isnt realy a big concern so its more of a lubrication thing for me.

[Dominic Greco]

I swear by the Boeshield T-9 and Rust Free products. I've been using both for the last few years even before the Wood article. For once, the mags actually reinforced my personal opinion! :cool:

Having a garage work shop in Florida is akin to living in a sponge from the standpoint of corrosion.

I definately agree with those of you who have used Boeshield T-9. I found out how good this stuff is shortly after my basement shop was flooded (you can read about the Tool Restoration (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/articles/5) in the Articles Section of SMC).

Months later, there was still ambient moisture in the air. The cast iron tabeltops coated with Johnson's paste wax rusted over. Thats when I switched to T-9.

Now I'm in my new shop, and have been using T-9 for the last 4 years. Most of my tabletops look as good as when I first got them.