Cast iron work surface care

[Gary_S]

What do you wax/treat your cast iron tops with? I have Rose Oil which isn't cheap and doesn't feel as smooth as some waxed surfaces I have known.

 

[marcros]

i use microcrystalline wax

 

[sunnybob]

ACF 50.
Originally developed by Lear (of jet fame) to stop airframes corroding. Used extensively on aircraft carriers to protect against damp and salt.
Spray it on, wipe it off, go make a cuppa. repeat monthly or thereabouts.

 

[wallace]

I like boesheild or ranaisance wax

 

[Jacob]

You don't need anything as a rule unless you have a damp workshop. Then raw linseed oil brushed on thin (and run into crevices) is cheapest and very good. Or WD40.
For lubrication a quick squiggle with candle wax. One candle will last years and years.

Why rose oil for god's sake! Or camellia oil. Why not patchouli oil? Or sensitol? Or beef dripping? There's something about oil which makes woodworkers go insane! :lol:

Whatever you do don't go near Honerite etc - these are the most expensive oils in the universe and are completely pointless.

What about old chip fat?

 

[monkeybiter]

KY ?

 

[sunnybob]

WD40 is a water dispersant (the clue is in the name) it is NOT a lubricating or protective oil.
Any organic fat (chip, olive oil, etc.) will go foul after a short period of time.

Candle grease is ok, but if you apply it too think it can stain any good wood that is laid on the table.

KY jelly is water based, not a good idea, even if it did raise (hah) a smile.

 

[monkeybiter]

I bow to your greater knowledge on the subject Bob

 

[Jacob]

WD40 is a water dispersant (the clue is in the name) it is NOT a lubricating or protective oil.

WD40 IS also lubricant, IT IS a protective and penetrating) oil, and it is cheap.

....
Candle grease is ok, but if you apply it too thick it can stain any good wood that is laid on the table.

Nah. Extremely unlikely. It isn't "grease" it's a hard wax. It can't "stain" anything. It's been top of the pops for generations because it is so effective, cheap, and trouble free.
It's probably the single most effective thing to improve performance on machine beds, plane soles, saw blades. Nothing does it better. Most dramatically effective squiggled on plane soles, which suddenly appear to have been sharpened and set by magicians.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Rather than chip fat or KY Jelly, how about lanolin? For someone in a country area, borrow a sheep and rub it over the table; try to avoid the daggy bits at the back end though, they might add a certain something to the workshop aroma.

More seriously, has anybody tried one of those aerosol spray dry lubricants they sell in Halfords for bike chains and the like? I've no idea how long it would last, but as they're PTFE-based it should add a fair bit of slickness to a cast iron tables surface. Sort of high-tech paste wax.

 

[pcb1962]

http://www.axminster.co.uk/liberon-lubr ... ax-ax22593

 

[lanemaux]

I just use the paste floor wax that people used to use on hardwood flooring. Most of mine (4 or 5 nearly full tins) came to me via garage sales and yard sales. Come to think of it , it was mostly a free add-on. Spot it on the shelf of the garage , ask about it and thank them when they eagerly tossed it in with whatever Knick or knack I had bought. Wipe it on , let it cloud over and wipe off. Once every couple of months is plenty. Works lovely on plane soles as well.

 

[Jacob]

...
More seriously, has anybody tried one of those aerosol spray dry lubricants they sell in Halfords for bike chains and the like? I've no idea how long it would last, but as they're PTFE-based it should add a fair bit of slickness to a cast iron tables surface. Sort of high-tech paste wax.

I went into a modern bike shop recently. They had a huge rack of lubricants with possibly 20 to 30 marvellous high tech solutions to match every circumstance. Snake oil salesmen have taken over big time, just like the woodwork scene!
They had no 3 in 1 so I didn't buy anything.

It was in Bangor. :roll:

 

[Phil Pascoe]

It's one of the few uses for Briwax - disgusting stuff. I was advised years ago not to use WD40 on anything electrical as containing water it causes intermittent faults.

 

[Jacob]

It's one of the few uses for Briwax - disgusting stuff. I was advised years ago not to use WD40 on anything electrical as containing water it causes intermittent faults.

I thought Briwax was old chip fat.

 

[Myfordman]

I use hard car wax eg Simoniz on my CI tables. It only needs a trace.

Based on carnauba wax

 

[ED65]

Why not... beef dripping?

I agree with your point about fancy oils but actually beef dripping can make an excellent tool lubricant and rust preventative, as long as it's fully cleaned and dried.

In certain parts cleaned dripping (tallow) was widely used, probably going back centuries, other places would use lard. It was likely whatever was most cheaply available. I'm aware of no peer-reviewed comparison showing which is superior After a certain date more refining was possible and that gave rise to things like neatsfoot, widely prized in the 19th century and possibly a little earlier.

BTW I wouldn't agree with linseed being cheapest or best, most times I see it it's a darned sight more expensive than many other vegetable oils. And with the potential for gelling a drying or semi-drying oil isn't really ideal.

 

[ED65]

WD40 is a water dispersant (the clue is in the name) it is NOT a lubricating or protective oil.
Any organic fat (chip, olive oil, etc.) will go foul after a short period of time.

Candle grease is ok, but if you apply it too think it can stain any good wood that is laid on the table.

KY jelly is water based, not a good idea, even if it did raise (hah) a smile.

Gotta disagree with almost all of that Bob, everything until you got to the KY.

WD-40 is a lubricant and protective oil. It does do both jobs, it's just not particularly good at them. It isn't a super penetrating lubricant either, but I'm sure many here have relied on it for just that purpose.

Oils of vegetable origin don't generally go foul when used the way we use oils as a rust preventative, a thin smear usually with most wiped off. Try it and see, you won't pick up any smell at all even after weeks with almost anything. Olive oil may be one of the few exceptions, particularly if you use extra-virgin.

Candle 'grease' is just wax these days, surely nobody here is old enough to remember the days of tallow candles?! As such there's really no difference between a squiggle from the butt of a candle and a wipe of paste wax at the end of the day.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I use hard car wax eg Simoniz on my CI tables. It only needs a trace.

Based on carnauba wax

As is mould release wax (for glass fibre work) - another good one. I used it for years on my router base as well. I could feel instantly when I'd done it.

 

[Jacob]

.....
BTW I wouldn't agree with linseed being cheapest or best, most times I see it it's a darned sight more expensive than many other vegetable oils. And with the potential for gelling a drying or semi-drying oil isn't really ideal.

It doesn't gel but if in pools it skins over. It has to be brushed on thin to avoid this. It doesn't "semi dry" it sets very hard (by oxidation, not by drying).