Thread: Cleaning cast iron tablesaw top

Depends on how fussy you want to be about it. I don't see any rust on it so that would do me.
Regards
John

I guess if you can be bothered a bit of old fashioned rubbing with sandpaper would remove those stains.
Ive recommissioned a lot of old machinery, most has rust on the top surfaces.
Cast Iron seems to get an initial layer of rust but rarely pits.
I usually scrape that off by hand and then using whatever worn out paper I have and a block sand it dry.
Dirty work but doesn’t take long.
I’d use 150/180 grit worn but not worn out initially then 220/240.
I then wax etc by hand.
H.

That “stain” is essentially micro-pitting caused by rust. The only way to remove it is to abrade through it; or you could just give it a savage ignoring to because it is purely cosmetic.

I've had a few iron machine tops that have pitted after being left way too long. I have normally ground the surface with a 3M mit and applied a protective coat (now using U-beaut wax). But I'm wondering now if I could treat bad pitting chemically just as I do before painting...after grinding with mit, blow off, wipe off, apply the POR degreaser, wash off with water, apply the POR rust neutraliser, "wash" again. Then the protective wax etc.

Washing the iron top with water feels counter intuitive I know. One might add a little water, scrub and wipe, rather than waving a hose if you get me.

Gregg.

If the staining ever got the better of you then I would suggest doing a search for surface grinding in your area. I did the same recently for a cast iron router table that had a small hump behind the router plate. It's a TS extension wing type router table.

685*410mm. Lads only charged me $100 and the thing came back looking good as new. I was expecting to pay double or triple that. Best to call them as most of the metal engineering type workshops dont really have an online presence.