Thread: mill table

Hi Mike

Have you got a pic of the table
cast can sometimes clean up real well I use the flat edge of my sandvik carbide scraper to lightly scrape off the rust it does a very good job you do need to be carefully not to bite into the cast though
you may have trouble finding a machine shop with a planer but they should be accurate enough to do the job well
here is a before and after of the scraper method
DSC_7533-2896.jpg
DSC_7536-2896.jpg

cheers
Harty

OK thanks your scraping looks very good


One thing that concerns me is , over time the cast iron may have changed dimensionally .

Give it a clean up like Harty has suggested and then give it a run over with a dial indicator.

Dave

Hi Mike

it looks not to bad to me i would clean it up and run a dial indicator over it to see where your at
the table in the photos above is off my tool and cutter grinder it still hold .0001" over the full travel of the table and that is a tenth of a thou not 1 thou it takes a lot of rust to change cast dimentionally
you will have more wear from people putting tools on the table i reckon
let me know if you want more details on the scraper. You can use a old file with the end modified also

cheers
Harty

beat me to it dave

cheers
Harty

Originally Posted by harty69

Hi Mike


let me know if you want more details on the scraper. You can use a old file with the end modified also

cheers
Harty

A pic or drawing of the scraper would be nice . I guess it would have a shallow radius on the blade ?

Mike

Hi Mike i did a video instead hope it helps


cheers
Harty

Great ..... I will have a look at the library .... no ADSL here .... wireless is too dear

You could also use a piece of HSS if you dont have the scraper or an old file.

Originally Posted by pipeclay

You could also use a piece of HSS if you dont have the scraper or an old file.

yep that would work well also you just need to remember to round the corners slightly so they dont bite in but keep the sharp edge if that makes sense

practice on a scrap piece before you attack you mill

cheers
Harty

Mike, if you want to be different, Ewan makes an interesting suggestion in this post -

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/we...ml#post1594181

Michael

Originally Posted by Michael G

Mike, if you want to be different, Ewan makes an interesting suggestion in this post -

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/we...ml#post1594181

Michael

Interesting, the paper towel between the table and the metal sheet soaked in the electrolyte .... yes might give that a try

I'd use an axe stone and some kero to clean it up.
Scraping it to remove surface rust?

CLubman,
stone and kero will work - no doubt. By the time you have it clean, you won't however be able to sure if you haven't taken a 1/10th off here and there. Using a shark scraper as Peter (harty69) shows in the video, you CAN be sure you haven't taken any metal off. He did NOT scrape the metal at all. Peter has sone the scraping course and would instantly FEEL if he touches the metal. The other thing is that scaping the rust off followed by a 3M pad is by far the fastest method I know.
I've seen the result of Peter's efforts: it looks great.