Insulation for preventing table saw rust?

[sploo]

I'm posting in this forum as it contains workshop builds, and I've seen the issue of insulation/condensation/rust come up a few times.

There's no way I can practically do anything with my old garage (too thin walls/roof, too many holes), and it suffers badly from condensation.

I cover most of my tools with thick dust sheets, and in some cases plastic on top to protect further from water dripping from the ceiling. Despite that (and copious quantities of Liberon lubricating wax), my TS200 table surface is starting to show signs of being affected.

I was thinking about condensation/insulation issues in general, and it occurred to me - would covering the saw surface in a sheet of some insulating material be effective in stopping the cold metal surface forming condensation? What I'm thinking of it something like a slab of polystyrene (at least an inch thick) that would sit directly on the metal surface.

Obviously over a period of time the table is still going to get very cold, but it wouldn't be directly exposed to the air, so, in theory, would that be likely to be effective?

Any thoughts/experience/advice welcomed.

 

[MusicMan]

It should make some difference but probably not a complete solution, unless you can make the contact very good. I have a small cast iron surface plate that I keep covered with a sheet of hardboard, but it still rusts, mainly from the edges. Tools that I keep in cupboards and drawers, however, rust much more slowly. I would suggest that you make a close-fitting box top out of styrofoam so that the edges get protected as well. Consider a sheet of oiled felt immediately on top of the saw table.

There are rust protection products available (Shield have a line) but I have taken to coating vulnerable surfaces with camellia oil, though I suspect any oil would do.

 

[ColytonJohn]

There may be some 'patent' remedies suggested but I protect my cast iron with wax. It can be a light wood wax or even a candle rubbed over the surface. I cleaned and polished the ancient and rusty table saw I bought recently but didn't give the top anything more than a spritz of WD40 and a few days later rust was reappearing - hardly surprising considering how damp my workshop is. My bandsaw, jointer, bobbin sander and pillar drill that see nothing other than a rub over with wax are still fine. Table saw now properly treated with wax.

Cheers,
John

 

[RobinBHM]

I think a piece of jabolite insulation would help a lot, especially if it is stuck to a sheet of ply to weight it down and keep it flat.

It must help quite a bit as it is stopping any moisture in the air from condensating on the cold surface. Of course any gaps where moisture gets in will be trapped.

 

[AJB Temple]

For direct application to exposed tool surfaces, Boeshield T-9 provides rust and corrosion protection, along with waterproof lubrication. It dries to a smooth thin film that does not attract dust and it has a significant corrosion inhibiting effect. Formulations were introduced in the aerospace industry Boing I think) and I used to get mine from a BAe jet engine engineer. It is now available retail though.

Rutland are doing 2 for 1 at £25, which is jolly expensive, but I have seen it on-line recently at about £7. Their web site lists UK suppliers.

It works well in my experience, although I do not have a dripping wet workshop.

 

[sploo]

Thanks all for the replies. I've been using the Liberon wax for protective duties, and it's worked well on my bandsaw table (which suddenly went really bad one winter - but a good clean and regular wax and it's holding up well). For some reason however the table saw is suffering.

RobinBHM - your thoughts mirror mine; it should work, but any gaps might actually make things worse (which was my worry).

MusicMan - I like the idea of an oiled sheet.

At the moment I'd put a couple of small sheets of 1/2" ply (perhaps 4" x 12") into the recesses at the front and back of the table (where the aluminium rails bolt on). They sit like a pair of 4" tall columns, and I'm then resting the dust sheet stretched on top (almost like a bridge between the columns). That was a mod I tried; in the hope that covering, but not touching, the table surface might prevent condensation, but would allow the table to "breathe". I don't think it's worked any better or worse than just putting the cloth down TBH.

 

[mindthatwhatouch]

Celotex or similar cover/box, quite close fitting combined with a small amount of heat.
Resistors attached to the underside of the table saw top or a couple of lights maybe?

 

[CHJ]

The most effective thing you can do to prevent moisture induced rust from airborne condensates is to heat the machine a couple of degrees above the local air temperature.
This will not of course prevent rust if the machines are actually getting wet from dripping water exposure.

A sound water resistant covering with a low wattage long life bulb running 24/7 underneath the equipment should be enough.

The Ideal is to positively heat the machine structure with contact heating elements.

See Myfordman's 'How To' directions

 

[sploo]

Re heating ideas; very good, but obviously needing a little bit of work!

I suppose the "right" way to do it would be to have a thermistor mounted as far as possible from the nearest resistor (but still on the table surface), and another somewhere in free air and use that to switch the power in order to only draw electricity when the ambient is low and when the table is not a couple of degrees above that ambient.

 

[CHJ]

Total overcomplication, switch the kettle on a couple of times for an extra cup of tea and you will use more energy than the heaters running 24/7 for the year.

 

[sploo]

Total overcomplication, switch the kettle on a couple of times for an extra cup of tea and you will use more energy than the heaters running 24/7 for the year.

Yea, that is a fair point. I guess you might even be able to argue that the environmental cost of (manufacturing) the extra parts was more than the power they'd save :wink:

 

[mindthatwhatouch]

See Myfordman's 'How To' directions

thanks for providing the link CHJ, knew I'd seen it somewhere, just not sure where (story of my life!)

 

[sploo]

I don't fancy drilling into my (thin) TS200 table, so I was wondering if a thermal glue would work? This http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/thermal-a ... s/0495228/ is very pricey, but I also found http://cpc.farnell.com/fischer-elektron ... IK-SC10757