Protectant for a table saw top.

[JD Seller]

I just bought a real nice cast iron top, table saw. It is in like new condition. The fellow I bought it off of told me he would spray the top with "fog" oil to keep it from rusting. He said it as a product that the antique car guys spray their cars with when storing them a long time.

I do not use a table saw that often but I do want it to be rust free when I do want to use it. The owner said he would spray it with this stuff and just would wipe it off with mineral spirits when he wanted to use it.

I have tried the spray penetrating oils (WD-40, PB Blaster, etc) in the past. They either evaporate or make a sticky mess.

So want do you guys use. This will be inside a unheated wood shop. I only heat it when I am working in there. So I really would like to use it on some other wood working tools.
 

[Ivan in Mich]

I have a paste wax that has bees wax in it and it works good. My wife bought a spray can of wax last year for our oak dining table and it has bees wax in it and leaves a real slippry suface. I think that would work also. She got it at the oak furniture place.
 

[Glenn F.]

I bought a nice Rigid brand table saw a few years back. I was so careful to spray it down with WD40, or wipe it down with motor oil. This worked pretty well, but some rust spots developed despite my best efforts. Just happens my face really sweats in hot weather. At times latge drops of salty sweat would drop on the table as I leaned over it. I usually wiped them off promptly, but sometimes missed them! & a rust spot developed almost instantly. So one day to I sanded it down a bit and applied a thin coat of varnish with a good quality brush. It's not as slippery as bare, polished/regularly used steel, but no more rust worries. When the varnish begins to wear off, I'll sand it down & varnish it again. Works for me.

Glenn F. (NE WI)
 

[Stick welding]

If you got it really clean, maybe you could spray it with clear lacquer/enamel or something? There is such a thing as fogging oil too that you could use on the table.
 

[Dick2]

I cleaned the table of my saw once in awhile and just rubbed a block of parafin wax on the table, especially if I wasn't going to be using the saw for awhile.

That worked better for me than all the other sprays and oils that I tried at various times.
 

[Bob Huntress]

This is what I figure to be the standard for all your saw surfaces. If you cut metal with it, you should oil the surface. If you have a band saw that you you for cutting aluminum and such, you want to oil the surface. If you cut wood with the saw, and far more often then not, a table saw is going to be used to cut wood, it should be waxed. If he used oil on the table saw, I"ld be worried that he had an abrasion blade in it and was using it for a chop saw. I had an old miter saw that I found thrown away. I had to replace the micro switch, yet, it wasn"t straight enough to cut trim with so I put an abrasion blade in it and used it to cut metal tubes and stuff.
 

[36 Coupe]

Paste floor wax works fine.I have my Dads table saw he bought in 1950.No rust on it.I use paste wax on my planer bed when the stock starts to drag.WD40 is the worst thing you can use on anything.
 

[Uncle Ernie]

I wax mine with automotive wax. Seems to work well.
 

[MarkB_MI]

I use paste wax. There are products specifically for this purpose sold at most woodworking tool stores, but I've never tried them.

A spray lube I've been using a lot lately is "Dupont Teflon Multi-Use", sold at Lowe's. I haven't tried it on my saw top, but it should work well for that purpose. Really good stuff; it quickly dries and leaves a waxy coating that holds up well.
 

[Fawteen]

My woodworking equipment is in an unheated garage. Temperature swings and condensation are a big problem for anything metal.

I wax the top of my table saw and the ways of my Shopsmith. I keep things cleaned off to avoid sawdust build-up (which collects moisture) and I keep the top of my table saw covered with a big terrycloth bath towel.

No rust problems.
 

[nys]

I have user Johnsons paste wax for 35 years now. Use it before starting a big project also as it makes thing slide a lot easier.
 

[OldFarmTractor]

I use spray furniture polish. Johnson's or whatever I can find. It has wax and oil. I work it into the grooves with a rag.
 

[MFPoor]

I wipe down most of the bare metal surfaces on my wood working equipment with teak oil. I've got a 5-gallon bucket of it left over from refinishing a teak deck on a boat I did for someone a few years ago. Light coat doesn't allow any rust to form and teak oil won't discolor wood if a trace of it does get on any un-intended surfaces.
 

[cannonball]

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[Stephen Newell]

I think putting oil on the top would be fine if your going to put it away somewhere to use in the future but cosmoline would be better for that. Anything you put on the saw will end up on the wood so it should be kept at a minimum. Aerosol furniture polishes contain silicone which can make paint and finishes you apply to the wood fisheye. There is a high dollar product formulated for saws called Topcoat which is suppose to be pretty good. I've been using Johnson Paste Wax for 40 years and it works fine for me. I just make sure I wipe the saw off with a clean cloth before I cut anything.