# table saw top, cleaning, buffing etc



## Pabs (Dec 10, 2008)

just curious to hear what you guys use to clean and maintain the tops of your table saws

I have some spots on my top right now (a bit of rust, glue, ect)... I normally give the top a few passes with a scouring pad 
then I used to put some spray (forget the brand) that would give it shine and make slick ..

but I ran out and wonder what is the best thing to use… .heard some people using wax, is that the best?

and, if possible, I would prefer using something that is non toxic… both for cleaning and buffing… I don't mind putting some elbows grease behind it to get the job done! 

thansk


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## FEDSAWDAVE (Jan 1, 2009)

Pabs, is the spray TopCote?


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## jcecil (May 28, 2008)

In the past I have always just used wd40 and steel wool to clean and then a paste wax to coat it. Recently I used the boesheild t9 products and the cleaner worked well and the boesheild protectant seemed good at first then I don't know if it was the low temperature in my garage or what but it gummed up really bad. I thought I did a pretty thourough job of buffing off what I could but who knows. maybe the temp slowed the evaporative nature of the chemicals used to liquify the waxes in the product.


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## marcb (May 5, 2008)

I've been recommended a number of times, but have yet to try, paraffin wax (or Gulf Wax, look in the canning section) melted in solvent.

Supposed to get in the pores a lot better than paste was as you brush it on.


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## mgradwohl (Dec 17, 2007)

I first scrub it with WD40 and either steel wool, a scotch pad, or high-grit sandpaper in the ROS.
The WD40 is a good solvent and cleans the top well. I can get the top to shine.
Then I wipe it clean and use Johnson's Paste Wax or Renaissance wax on the top.

I also wax the faces of the fence, and I clean the fence rails but do not wax them.

I recently took apart my PM66 (basically down to every last bolt and screw) and even though it was very scary, heavy, and time consuming, I'm glad I did!

(Johnson's Paste Wax is not from Johnson & Johnson the medical company it is from SC Johnson and Sons, the Windex and cleaning products company.)


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## Pabs (Dec 10, 2008)

hey fedsawdave….yes , i think it was topCote…looks pretty familiar

a couple of you mentioned w40…what would you use to clean i up before putting the wax on?

won't it leave a greasy/oily residue?
and mgradwohl. you mention using heavy grit sand paper in the ROS….what is the ROS? and what grit are you using?

and after you sand with heavy grit do you san d with lighter grits to remove the scratch marks?


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## mgradwohl (Dec 17, 2007)

I wipe it with mineral spirits to clean off the wd40 residue.

I am using 320 in my random orbital sander to polish it. I do this rarely though. Most of the time steel wool works fine.


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## Woodchuck1957 (Feb 4, 2008)

I think he said high grilt, as in fine grit, not heavy grit sand paper. What I usely do is scrap the top carefully with a single sided razor blade to get glue or any other matter off, then scrub the top with fine steel wool and Mothers polish, a ScotchBrite pad works also, when done buff it all off with a rag or paper towel, then wipe down with mineral spirits, let dry, then buff in Johnson's or Minwax paste floor wax, let dry, then buff it all out with a soft cloth.


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## Pabs (Dec 10, 2008)

that all makes sense

I wonder if I could replace the mineral spirits with citrus solvent?

it's used sometimes to replace mineral spirits, wonder if it would clean up just as well


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## Woodchuck1957 (Feb 4, 2008)

Well you probably could, as long as you wax it as soon as it dries since it is a water base product. I guess the main goal is to get all the contaminates off before waxing.


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## Pabs (Dec 10, 2008)

cool…thanks guys…i'll give it a try!


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## sIKE (Feb 14, 2008)

This weekend I was building a end grain cutting board and the only true flat reference surface was my TS top which I used for the glue ups and cauls to keep the darn thin flat. Of course this meant glue on my TS top and a nasty cleanup on my part. I did heavily wax it before hand and that helped allot. I end up using a razor blade to clean up the dried glue but still needed to really get the top cleaned up after all of that trauma. I pulled out the Krud Kutter and spayed the top down real well and then wiped the mess up. However it flash rusted on me and in despair I grabbed the ROS I was using on the cutting board and used the worn out paper on the top of the TS and I was amazed at how well it cleaned up the top. I then came back and used and citrus cleaner to get the metal dust off and then hit it with wax real quick. The TS top is now beautiful!


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## FEDSAWDAVE (Jan 1, 2009)

I've seen that darn Gulf Wax in more shops and they all had real slick tops!


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## Woodchuck1957 (Feb 4, 2008)

I'd be afraid of useing that type of wax ( Gulf ) meant for canning or candle makeing, for fear that it would get into the wood poors and be tough to stain or get a finish to adhere to properly.


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## geno1224 (Jul 9, 2013)

I just bought a very nice tablesaw and immediately buffed the top with Mothers Metal Polish followed up by polishing with Maguires Gold carnuba wax. Two days ago I found some rust so cleaned it up with some 000 steel wool then went the same procedure. This morning I found little rings of rust where droplets of water got on the top.
What is a better wax as the car wax doesn't seem to do much in the way of protection


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## Jim Jakosh (Nov 24, 2009)

I don't know what rules it is of Gibbs, but you never glue on a table saw top!! That said, scrape the glue off and polish the top with 400 wet/dry sandpaper and a solvent to keep the paper clean. Then dry it and put on a coat of paste wax. It is good to pick a time and wax all the surfaces in the shop- planer , jointer, table saw, drill press, scrollsaw, band saw…....etc. It does them all good to avoid corrosion and makes working on them easier.
I use Butcher's wax…...... let it dry 15 minutes and buff…..........cheers, Jim


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## Pabs (Dec 10, 2008)

yeah, I try not too but since I don`t have the luxury of multiple benches at the moment I often end up doing assembly on my TS… I usually put a piece of cardboard over it at least to protect it but there`s always those rush projects where you cut corners to go quickly and voila, I end up with glue on my top! 

you say you sand with a solvent….what kind of solvent would that be? I've always sanded dry.


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