today I want to talk about how to clean and maintain a table saw top safely I say safely because you can damage your table saw if you don't do this properly as I'll explain shortly the enemy of your saw top is rust and for many Woodworkers this is just an ongoing battle because we may store our saws in garages and sheds with no temperature humidity controls temperature changes lead to condensation condensation leads to rust and rust can lead to this if your saw looks like that I recommend getting some chemical rust remover like navel jelly now if you don't want something that's been harvested from belly buttons you may try something like evapo rust that will dissolve all that rust on the top but these are only for the worst case scenarios hopefully you didn't let your saw get to that point and you only have a light film of rust to remove in that case just use WD-40 they claim to break the bond between the rust and the good iron beneath I don't know but it does work for me kerosene will also do the job but I don't like the fumes now you're going to be tempted to grab a wire brush or some aggressive sandpaper to get this job done quickly don't do that cast iron is surprisingly soft aggressive brushing or sanding will leave thousands of deep scratches in the surface where more rust can accumulate and the saw will be even more difficult to maintain later you can also compromise the flatness of the surface faster than you think it may take a bit longer but you're going to get much better results in the end if you use a little patience and some less aggressive media Scotch Brite pads are a good choice or fine steel wool I personally like the convenience of an electric sander but I'm careful not to use aggressive sandpaper I stick with 400 grit or higher and I only apply light pressure because I want to clean my saw top not damage it cleaning remains removing surface rust Burrs and built up crud it doesn't mean making the top perfectly shiny again it's a tool over time the cast iron develops a patina maybe even a few spots here and there like blood from the guy who carelessly said his cold drink on your Psalm was never heard from again these spots are often deeper than just the surface so don't worry about them it's okay for a tool to look like it's been used a little bit after I'm satisfied that I've removed what I can and I've left a smooth surface behind I'll wipe it well with some naphtha or mineral or white Spirits if you don't have those you could use denatured alcohol or some other solvent you could even use more WD-40 you just want something that'll help you get it all nice and clean without adding moisture that could cause new rust then you're going to protect the top and make it nice and slippery I like paste wax for this because it's cheap and it's really easy to apply I use it on all my cast iron tools paste wax is a blend of usually carnauba and other waxes that's been made soft with mineral spirits or other oil-based solvents comes in lots of Brands you can usually get it in a cleaning Department in the big box stores and Home Centers I spread it on let it dry a few minutes and then buff it off with the clean cloth that hardens the wax so it's not going to come off on your materials as I see some people claiming even if a few microscopic particles did end up on the wood it's not going to be enough to affect your finish and you're most likely going to sand the surface before you apply the Finish anyway you don't usually go from table saw to finish so let's lay that myth to rest once and for all applying a thin well buffed out film of paste wax on your cast iron tools is not going to affect your wood finishes what it will do is make them slippery as snot which will make them cut easier too and it'll keep the rust away if you maintain it that means every once in a while when it doesn't feel slippery anymore you should reapply another coat of wax if after a few coats you start to get some build up on different parts of the sauce top where the wood isn't passing over and wearing it off as much just clean that old wax off with some naptha or other solvent and start again no sandpapers needed for this routine maintenance in fact if you keep up that routine maintenance you should never need to sand your saw top again now check this out we couldn't do what we'd do without folks like the bushy family over at Clearview Cyclones not only do they make the best dust collection Cycles on the market but they're Woodworkers supporting Woodworkers they're the sponsor of this video and I really hope you'll thank them by visiting their website and using our discount code below this video
