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  1. #1
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    Feb 2012
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    Default Table lubricant for milled cast iron on a jet J/P

    My jet jointer/ planer doesn’t have smooth cast iron tables, for some reason it has a rippled milled surface (maybe reduce contact area?). On smooth cast iron I use a bit of carnuba wax buffed off and it works well to reduce surface friction, but this doesn’t really work on the rougher milled surface for very long at all, the timber just rubs it off the ridges on the surface..

    Has anyone got any other suggestions for lubricating the rough milled table that is not going to leave oil or residue on the timber? I’m thinking of trying Silbergleit distributed by Hafele or maybe Super Glide from felder.

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  3. #2
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    Nov 2004
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    Redlands area, Brisbane
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    I doubt that Silbergleit will do any better. It is extremely thin. I was not that impressed with it to be honest.

    These days I just use whatever clear furniture wax I have open. I think the stuff I am using now is whatever I could buy at Bunnings.

  4. #3
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    You have to be careful with furniture and floor polishes, a lot of them contain silicone, which is a big no-no for unfinished timber.

  5. #4
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    Agreed about silicon. I am using a 100% beeswax product. I should have been clearer about that.

  6. #5
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    Dec 2005
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    South Australia
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    Paraffin wax, I have been using it for 40+ years

  7. #6
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    Aug 2008
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    We used candles at work.

  8. #7
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    Feb 2012
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    Newcastle
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    Default

    Thanks for the tips.

    What I’m struggling with is the planer table (ignore the scratches) which is rough to the touch and is obviously milled that way...but why? And how to get any lubricant to work?
    B021AEF8-F3CF-4038-80F0-E5E7FDA24671.jpg
    The jointer is milled differently, almost washboard like but with the straight lines in the direction of feed, it is fine with wax.
    6F11233B-6534-4CA5-A194-CA1511C41D50.jpg
    My bandsaw is smooth and with wax offers very little resistance, my router table is the same and works perfectly with wax.
    BF8258BC-34CA-4035-BB75-B2BCE369192C.jpg
    Attached Images Attached Images

  9. #8
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    Mar 2008
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    Hobart, Tas
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by elanjacobs View Post
    We used candles at work.
    Me too, now. I used to pretty conscientious and give my surfaces a wax coat and buff. After a while however, it became a pain to maintain, and now just squiggle a candle across the surface. Very fast, and outstanding results.

    I should mention though that rust isn’t an issue here, so I’m only interested in keeping a slippery surface.

    Kind regards,
    Lance

  10. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Austin_Turner View Post
    rough to the touch and is obviously milled that way...but why?
    Probably because Jet are too cheap to make it properly.

    Sorry to be so blunt, but that's the only explanation I can come up with; the table should either be finely milled, planed with a similar pattern to the jointer, or ground.

  11. #10
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    Feb 2012
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    Newcastle
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    Yeah I thought the same because the jet was cheap, but I had a look at cbig’s Hammer c3 yesterday and it had a milled finish that was quite rough as well (the hammer bandsaw is a smooth finish) so I wondered if it has a purpose. Are your commercial planer and jointer tables just smooth to the touch?

    The candle seems like a good way to go, the wax is hard and isn’t mixed with thinners. I like to finish with oil though, so hopefully by the time its come off the planer, gone through the drum sander and then sanded with a random orbit all that wax will be long gone.

  12. #11
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    Oct 2014
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    Caroline Springs, VIC
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    I have the same machine, and the jointer and thicknesser tables have been machined the same way.
    IMG_20190811_142100.jpg

    I just squiggle a bit of candle wax and that works well enough for most sessions. If I have to machine a heap of material, the wax will wear away and the boards begin to stick. When that happens, instead of stopping the machine and lowering the thicknesser table to give safe access, I simply get the next board and load up the underside with wax and send it through a couple of times. That is enough to keep me going without having to stop mid way through.

    The best milled machine surface I have ever worked with was on a SCM spindle moulder. They had cut in shallow grooves in a radial pattern about 5mm wide. I don't care either way about the Jet's jointer tables, but I don't like the thicknesser table grooves when thicknessing 1" boards on edge. The boards occasionally track along one of the grooves and they don't sit perfectly vertical anymore. I can and do overcome this down the line, but I do have a preference for things just "working".

  13. #12
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    I suspect the theory is to reduce friction with a lower contact area, but Jet haven't quite executed properly. My old work had an SCM jointer and thicknesser, the tables on both were surface ground completely smooth and the thicknesser table I believe was hard chromed from the factory as well (can't confirm that last bit, but there's no patina even on the unused areas at the edges after 50+ years; plain cast iron just doesn't do that).

    Looking at the SCM site now, they seem to be milling their tables the same as what you have, but the surface finish looks much finer in the pics.


    Give the candle wax a go, it will be well and truly gone after going through the drum sander.

  14. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by elanjacobs View Post
    Probably because Jet are too cheap to make it properly.

    Sorry to be so blunt, but that's the only explanation I can come up with; the table should either be finely milled, planed with a similar pattern to the jointer, or ground.
    On mine, I have found this surface to prevent rust with little to no protection, whereas the smooth cast iron picks up rust like no tomorrow. I had to sit mine aside, unused for 2 years. I forgot to protect the thicknesser table, and it sat in the shed for 2 years, without a speck of rust forming.

    I'd suggest it's intentional - Jet certainly know how to produce smooth cast iron as they do so on many other items they produce.

  15. #14
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    Same, my felder bandsaw table rusted when it wasn’t used for a while, in the same period the jet didn’t. Its also a darker colour and I wondered if it was coated with something that only rubbed off on the high points while the rest still had the coating.

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