Cast aluminium tables on Kity machines from the nineties

[Sideways]

This is to ask anyone who has special knowledge about the range of Kity woodworking machines, what is the grey finish used on their cast aluminium tables during the 1980's and 1990's ?
I always assumed that it was a variant of type 3 (aka "hard") anodising intended to improve the resistance to wear but I've recently seen hints that it may actually be a coating designed to reduce friction.
I'm very interested to know what it really is. Thanks in advance.

 

[NazNomad]

I always thought my Kity bandsaw table was anodised. I'm not aware that wood slides across it any better than any of my other tools.

Where did you get hints that it might be special?

Teflon is the only non-stick surface I can think of that may have been used in those decades (was there even another non-stick surface back then?).

 

[Sideways]

I have a Kity planer and table saw of this vintage but recently bought a used model 613 bandsaw. I have been trawling all the online forums I can find for tips about it as I'm stripping it down to deal with a little rust and get everything clean and tuned. I noticed just a couple of sentences suggesting this in passing. It may well have been one of the French forums which I skimmed using google translate

 

[NazNomad]

I have the 613. Great piece of kit (with a garbage fence, unfortunately).

 

[Distinterior]

I have an old..(ish) 618 Kity table saw in my workshop at home. It was in a bit of a state when I got it and it looked like it had seen a lot of use.

I stripped the complete machine down and put it all back together again. The cast alloy table top was/is pretty flat, as best as I can measure.
The dark grey coating that the alloy is coated in is quite hard, but worn through in a couple of places on my saw.

I had always assumed it was a Teflon type coating to allow easy movement of the timber over the surface.

It's not a bad saw by all accounts, but not as sturdy as my Startrite table saw with a cast iron table.

 

[Lons]

In the years we sold Kity machines I was never asked that question. I believe however that it was just an anodised treatment, certainly not teflon from memory.

This is a clip from an early sales brochure.

 

[Sideways]

Lons - thank you, that's interesting and probably the whole story.
I don't know when Kity switched from simple polished alloy to the grey finish but it was before I bought my first machine in the early 90's. I'm sure the grey isn't simple teflon as we know it from non stick pans. I also know that the colour of "hard" anodising is affected by the composition of the alloy which fits with the appearance of my machines and the planer tables especially.

 

[Bodgers]

Lons - thank you, that's interesting and probably the whole story.
I don't know when Kity switched from simple polished alloy to the grey finish but it was before I bought my first machine in the early 90's. I'm sure the grey isn't simple teflon as we know it from non stick pans. I also know that the colour of "hard" anodising is affected by the composition of the alloy which fits with the appearance of my machines and the planer tables especially.

Scheppach when they bought Kity seemed to have continued the process. My Basa 3 bandsaw (an old Kity design) has, this dark teflon type coating on the table.

Sent from my MI 3W using Tapatalk

 

[NazNomad]

I've just been using my bandsaw...

Rubbing my finger on the table is much more 'non-stick' than rubbing it on the fence. I'd never noticed before.

 

[Distinterior]

You wont be able to mistake whether your Kity table has this coating or not Naz.....It is a really dark grey colour and quite a thick coating, if that makes sense.
My Kity 618 table saw top has quite a bit of wear and you can clearly see the cast alloy shining through the grey in places.

Here is a 618 for sale.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KITY-CIRCULA ... 0013.m1986

You can clearly see the difference in the table colour to the alloy extrusions of the fence & front rails.

 

[Lons]

If my limited knowledge is correct, despite being very hard, anodising is a thin coating and subject to wear and scratches just like other coatings. I'm pretty certain that in the early eighties when we were supplying their products Kity would have made a big marketing ploy if their tables had a specific non stick coating - they didn't and that brochure clip from around 1980 suggests to me it was an anodised finish. At the time they were competing with their larger machines into small industrial companies who were used to cast iron tables and difficult to convert to alloy so anything that would help would have been used as argument.

The tables on my K5 and the spindle moulder I sold on all have wear and my experience of them over years shows they need waxing to ease friction just like cast iron although the "anodised" surface is by nature a bit slicker than raw iron.

Just my opinion so not stating tat as fact!.

cheers
Bob