Thread: scroll saw table wax

G'Day Peter,
I have no idea and have never heard of using wax on the table; it sounds good idea though...
If you don't mind, I'll watch and see the answer to your question too.
I hope you are have top couple days of family celebrations of this Christmas season...
Cheers, crowie

I have a scroll saw and don't use any wax? Should I?
cheers

I have seen on some U.S sites that they use Johnsons paste wax on their tables to make the timber glide easier ,not sure even if you can purchase that wax out here. Apparently they scrub the table first with 0000 grade steel wool with maybe a bit of mineral spirits to get rid of any rust spots.Thought some of you chaps might use the same method.
Cheers Peter

I lightly sand the top of my table saw with 240 # paper and apply a light coat of Ubueat trad wax two or three times a year or as needed, and wipe the surplus off with a cloth. Would not use a silicon wax, that stuff can inhibit gluing.
Jim

Hi Peter,
IMHO the best I have come across is Silben Gliet / Silver Glide, $30? a tin, so you need to find someone to go Halves or Threes, as you use very little of this on any Table of any Machine. As Jim said, clean your table down, I use old worn out 320 paper, wipe with a rag, & put the SG on with your Finger.
You will be surprised at how nice & slippery it is.
Jim at CWS sells it.

Try talcom powder

Originally Posted by Red Gum

Try talcom powder

Talcum [owder tends to be a bit greasy. Corn flour would be better.

I have used UBeaut Traditional Wax and The Silver Glide, both work equally as well but the UBeaut is cheaper.

Marg

Originally Posted by issatree

Hi Peter,
IMHO the best I have come across is Silben Gliet / Silver Glide, $30? a tin, so you need to find someone to go Halves or Threes, as you use very little of this on any Table of any Machine. As Jim said, clean your table down, I use old worn out 320 paper, wipe with a rag, & put the SG on with your Finger.
You will be surprised at how nice & slippery it is.
Jim at CWS sells it.

This is great stuff. Although, I seem to remember a thread on here about the formula of it has changed and its not as good???

I have some of the 'original' formula if that's the case (I bought the tin years ago). I mainly use it on the jointer and thicknesser beds where it makes a fantastic difference. I usually just give the beds a fine sand followed by 000 steel wool, then apply the Silben Gleit.


I will be using it on my Scheppach scrollsaw table soon.


I haven't tried the Ubeaut Traditional Wax (although I do have some). If its cheaper, and especially if Silber Gleit has changed to a lower quality, then that would be the go if it works just as well.


Nathan.

I use Johnson Paste Wax on all my table tops. Any good floor wax should be good if it doesn't contain silicon. Not only does the waxing help make things glide smoother, it helps prevent rusting and build up of other things.

The most successful method of caring for my table is to work on it with very fine wet and dry sand paper. Then clean it with ajax and wash all residue off. I then regularly give it a good going over with a dry scotch bright pad as in the dish scourer type. I then polish it with a clean dry cloth like and old towel. Some times I do use talcum powder but not very often.

I do live in a reasonably dry climate and it is one of the most rust free areas in Australia so this my not work as well as on the coast.

Using this method there is no residue and my work glides over the surface very nicely. I also do this to my band saw and drill press.

Red Gum

I have the remainder of some timber wax that wasn't as good as Ubeaut (for timber), and the jar sits in my planes drawer with a little cloth in it. I apply it to anything that needs it as and when required. Saw plates, chisels etc etc etc. It started out in the planes drawer for application during their use to make the plane slip over the wood (and it makes a huge difference to that, which allows the plane to take a better shaving).

For some things such as saw plate, planes, chisels I leave it on (i.e. unpolished) and for band saw table etc I polish it off.

My thicknesser table was delivered with what I presume is Silver Glide on it and even though I've already put a stack of timber through it, there is still a very annoying grey residue that gets printed/impressed onto the underside of the timber as it goes through. The thicky rollers exert quite a decent pressure. This is a real PITA so I'm thinking that I'll need to rub the table down with mineral spirit (?) and then wax it and polish off.