Empire TopSaver?

[Doug Shepard]

About a month ago I was snowblowing the drive and left the garage door open. My PM66 was about 8 ft from the door as I had been using it. I didn't notice until too late that I was getting a bit of blowback from the airborne snow and got a bit of fine powder on the TS top. At the time I wiped it down but obviously not good enough. Then I was the lucky recipient of the flu and didn't do any WW for 2 weeks. A week ago I notice a layer of surface rust. So I steel wool'ed and WD-40'ed the top and got the bulk cleaned up. But I've still got some spotting stains that are being stubborn. I've read good things on Empire TopSaver. Will this stuff work to get the rest of the rust stains out?

[Joe Spear]

It works very well. You spray some on the cast iron and use one of those rough 3M scrubby pads to get the rust off. Then you use a finer pad with it to smooth it further. Then you use a rag with it to coat the top and polish off the excess. I also put a coast of paste wax on the cast iron for further protection, which may or may not be necessary in your situation.

[Jon Bonham]

What about something like Navel Jelly? It's cheap and easy. Just spread it on thick and cover the saw with plastic overnight.

[Joe Spear]

Naval jelly would be overkill for the stage he's got his top to now. Also, naval jelly, being an acid in a gloppy suspension medium, might do some serious staining to the cast iron. It's usually used to clean the rust off something that's going to be primed and painted.

["Gary Brewer"]

Doug: Topsaver has worked best for me. What Joe said plus: I use an old plastic jointer push block to push down and around on the scotchbrite pad. Both hands go on the plastic block which give a lot more force and effectiveness to the topsaver and pad. You also have a lot more control and the job goes faster. The non-skid foam on the bottom of the push block gives a lot of grip so the pad does not slip off the push block.
Gary

[Doug Shepard]

Thanks guys. I'm going to poke around pricewise and order some from somebody today. I do have some naval jelly but from what I read on the bottle it would likely stain the top black. What I have right now is some black spots that are left after the orange rust was removed with WD40 & steel wool (olus 600 grit paper and sanding block). I get the sense the the steel wool & WD40 might take it off if I invested a solid weekends worth of elbow grease but have to believe there's something quicker/better. I'm hoping that's where the TopSaver comes in. I like the push block idea too. Next time I'll either throw a cover on it or shut the door when snowblowing. Thought I had wiped this down before anything could have melted but...? There's always the possibility too that my brother stopped by to work on one of his snowmobiles which are trailered next to the garage. He may have left the door up while it was snowing & blowing. Going to have to talk to him about that. Normally I've got a good coat of TopCoat on it but it was likely all worn off from the use it had been getting prior to that. Oh well - stuff happens.

[Jon Bonham]

Naval jelly would be overkill for the stage he's got his top to now. Also, naval jelly, being an acid in a gloppy suspension medium, might do some serious staining to the cast iron. It's usually used to clean the rust off something that's going to be primed and painted.


Good to know. We use it on our machines where I work, but we're not super concerned with their appearance.

[Scott Kilroy]

What about something like Navel Jelly? It's cheap and easy. Just spread it on thick and cover the saw with plastic overnight.

I would recommend only using it as a last resort. It has a really strong acid smell that made me sick (and I was using it outdoors).