Band Saw Table Rusting

**Chris Parks** · 6th February 2018, 11:33 PM

I bought a cheap small band saw last week that had not been used for some considerable time and the table was heavily coated in rust. No problem I can get rid of that with an ROS and a bit of work or so I thought. Anyway I got the rust off and basically back to a usable condition and next morning lo and behold there was a light coating of rust back on it so I got rid of that and put some bees wax on and rubbed the excess off thinking that would sort it out but no go as the rust returned overnight.

I have numerous cast iron machine surfaces in my work shop as a lot of us have and some of those might not be used for a month at a time and none of them act like this does. Given the same treatment as I have outlined above my thicknesser requires attention every six months or so and that is with infrequent and sporadic use and my saw which I hardly ever use the cast iron wing on never rusts noticeably and gets a polish when I think about it so why does this CI table rust so fast? I reckon if it was not used for a week it would require the rust to be removed before it could be used which sort of defeats the object of being able to walk up to the machine and just use it. Has anyone experienced the same thing and what did you do about it? yes I can buy stuff that is supposed to stop surface rust but I have never needed it before now.

**BobL** · 7th February 2018, 12:57 AM

There are dozen of different types of CI and they can be quite different in terms of things like hardness, strength, shock resistance, workability and corrosion resistance.

I'm not 100% up with all the fine nuances but I understand that so called "white CI" rusts faster than the other forms (grey, malleable and ductile CI)
White CI usually has minimal amounts of alloying elements.
All the CIs have similar amounts of carbon but good quality CI that resists corrosion has more Si, Ni and Cr added to it and this type might be used in better quality machinery.

Cheap CI cookware is notorious for rusting within a few hours of rust removal so given it is a budget level BS I doubt it would used a better quality CI.

**onetrack** · 7th February 2018, 11:24 AM

Grill or roast some nice lamb chops on a rack, and save the clean fat. Clean up the CI and rub the lamb fat onto it, then heat up the CI to a warm stove temperature. The rust won't give you any more trouble.

Also - watch out for open or leaking containers of volatile products in your workshop, which volatile products give off corrosive fumes.

Hydrochloric acid is the worst of course - never use HCL inside the shop when cleaning for soldering, or making soldering flux, or cleaning brickwork - the HCL fumes will corrode everything in sight, that is bare metal.
But there are a lot of other products that also contain corrosive fumes. Add in poor ventilation in workshops, and you have a recipe for trouble. Ensure all your containers have tightly-fitting lids and caps.

**Chris Parks** · 7th February 2018, 07:55 PM

I removed the surface rust and sprayed it with Inox tonight and I will watch what happens over the next few days. if it continues I can see a 3mm MDF facing going onto it and it can then rust away as much as it likes. On thinking about while I type this that might not be a bad idea as the table is fairly small so a bigger sheet of MDF would address both problems.

**FenceFurniture** · 7th February 2018, 09:18 PM

Originally Posted by onetrack

Hydrochloric acid is the worst of course - never use HCL inside the shop when cleaning for soldering, or making soldering flux, or cleaning brickwork - the HCL fumes will corrode everything in sight, that is bare metal.
But there are a lot of other products that also contain corrosive fumes. Add in poor ventilation in workshops, and you have a recipe for trouble. Ensure all your containers have tightly-fitting lids and caps.

Maybe this table has had exposure to something nasty. I have this feint memory that CI is a little porous, and so may hold the nasty within the surface?

**hiroller** · 7th February 2018, 10:16 PM

Dust is hydrophilic, ie it attracts water.
Simply overing CI surfaces (I use an old sheet) cuts down on rust significantly.
Having said that, it does sound rather more susceptible than usual.

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