I've just brought a second hand Wadkin AGS 300 table saw. The table has not been treated well and has rusted as a consequence. I want to restore the table to its former glory but I'm nervous about being too heavy handed. A gleaming table is less important than a flat one. Before I attack the table with abrasives, has anyone any experience in carefully renovating cast iron tables? Any advice would be gratefully received. Many thanks.
Restoring cast iron tables.
- Thread starter mmmtasty
- Start date
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I have had no experience in this but if it we're me I would ask a local engineering firm if they could skim a couple of thou off the top like you get when you skim an engines head, that way you know it would be dead flat...
As I said it is just an idea as I'm no engineer...
As I said it is just an idea as I'm no engineer...
DaveL
Established Member
Hi mmmtasty,
Welcome to the forum, always nice to have another Wadkin owner here.
Just how bad is the table? Any chance of some pictures? :roll:
If its very bad then skimming maybe the solution, but a good clean might be all thats needed. :-k
Welcome to the forum, always nice to have another Wadkin owner here.
Just how bad is the table? Any chance of some pictures? :roll:
If its very bad then skimming maybe the solution, but a good clean might be all thats needed. :-k
ProShop
Established Member
Try some Wonder Wheels cleaner, it only attacks the rust, spray on or brush on,
agitate it a bit with a nylon scouring pad from HID If the rust is bad, then just treat it again.
Clean it off and spray some WD40 thingy stuff and you'll have a nice slab of cast iron, and then some Libron lub wax.
agitate it a bit with a nylon scouring pad from HID
If the rust is bad, then just treat it again.Clean it off and spray some WD40 thingy stuff and you'll have a nice slab of cast iron, and then some Libron lub wax.
engineer one
Established Member
first rub with a scouring pad, then see what you can agitate with
maybe some hot water and washing up liquid. sqeeze the pad very hard
so you are just using the trace of liquid, and see what that does.
next go over it with wd40, and wire wool. finally use one of those
cloths that they call fibre "miracle" cloths to clean off the wire wool scraps.
see what the table looks like after drying with for instance a hair dryer.
if you still have bad rust scouring then consider skimming, but not before
seeing how deep the rust is. actually as long as you clean the rust off
and prevent it further with liberon or similar, the variation in surface height
may well not really matter.
paul :wink:
maybe some hot water and washing up liquid. sqeeze the pad very hard
so you are just using the trace of liquid, and see what that does.
next go over it with wd40, and wire wool. finally use one of those
cloths that they call fibre "miracle" cloths to clean off the wire wool scraps.
see what the table looks like after drying with for instance a hair dryer.
if you still have bad rust scouring then consider skimming, but not before
seeing how deep the rust is. actually as long as you clean the rust off
and prevent it further with liberon or similar, the variation in surface height
may well not really matter.
paul :wink:
johnnyb
Established Member
i have successfully cleaned tables by rubbing with a large diamond stone lubricated with white spirit and engine oil mixed. the thing to remember is ci is fairly easy to abrade and produces a lot of muck thus keep wiping to see how your doing. imagine your planing a table top and try to keep the rubbing even and over the whole surface. skimming this would be a big job. test with a straight edge and feelers.
Newbie_Neil
Established Member
Hi mmmtasty
Welcome to the forum.
Cheers
Neil
Welcome to the forum.
Cheers
Neil
garywayne
Established Member
Hi mmmtasty. Welcome to the forum.
:idea: Just a thought here. I have seen on several threads here, people using vinegar to remove rust from old tools. It sounds like a cheap way to remove rust without a lot of hard work.
If I have this wrong please someone put me right.
If you can seal all around the edge of the table and the blade hole, then pour in some vinegar, (very cheap at supermarket in gallon containers), leave over night. I believe this should remove most of the rust.
I hope this is of some help, and good luck.
:idea: Just a thought here. I have seen on several threads here, people using vinegar to remove rust from old tools. It sounds like a cheap way to remove rust without a lot of hard work.
If I have this wrong please someone put me right.
If you can seal all around the edge of the table and the blade hole, then pour in some vinegar, (very cheap at supermarket in gallon containers), leave over night. I believe this should remove most of the rust.
I hope this is of some help, and good luck.
Thankyou all for your suggestions. I think the best thing is to proceed cautiously and avoid the temptation to cut corners by using coarse abrasives and power tools. I will post back with pics to let you know how I got on.
Many thanks
Many thanks
Losos
Established Member
Hello mmmtasty,
Welcome to the forum.
I think your plan is the only sensible one, all of the above advice is relevant but I wouldn't go too quickly.
I (Along with others no doubt) would be very interested to see your results since I have an old CI bandsaw which is probably in worse condition than your Wadkin and I plan to work on it next June / July.
Welcome to the forum.
I think your plan is the only sensible one, all of the above advice is relevant but I wouldn't go too quickly.
I (Along with others no doubt) would be very interested to see your results since I have an old CI bandsaw which is probably in worse condition than your Wadkin and I plan to work on it next June / July.
Hello everyone, long time lurker here!
Interested in reading this. I spent a fair time working with machine tools, inc. plenty of woodworking machines, and have found that most people are too wary when it comes to a corroded iron surface.
Providing the surface is not TOO corroded (usually unlikely) I have found the easiest way to retrieve it is use an engineers scraper to scrape the surface, and then a coarse dry scourer to clean it up. This may sound a bit rough, but you have to remember that cast iron is quite hard and therefore does not suffer too badly.
I have bought a few machines cheap because of corroded tables, and using this method usually reveals a lovely surface resplendent with it's original surfacing marks!
Hope this helps
Interested in reading this. I spent a fair time working with machine tools, inc. plenty of woodworking machines, and have found that most people are too wary when it comes to a corroded iron surface.
Providing the surface is not TOO corroded (usually unlikely) I have found the easiest way to retrieve it is use an engineers scraper to scrape the surface, and then a coarse dry scourer to clean it up. This may sound a bit rough, but you have to remember that cast iron is quite hard and therefore does not suffer too badly.
I have bought a few machines cheap because of corroded tables, and using this method usually reveals a lovely surface resplendent with it's original surfacing marks!
Hope this helps
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Welcome to the site.
Here's some info:
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/view ... 10&start=0
Rgds
Noel
Here's some info:
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/view ... 10&start=0
Rgds
Noel
Newbie_Neil
Established Member
Hi onesock
Welcome to the forum.
Cheers
Neil
Welcome to the forum.
Cheers
Neil
Losos
Established Member
Greetings onesock and welcome
You're method does sound a bit drastic but for someone in business time as they say is money. I might have to use your method on some parts of my band saw, 'tho maybe not on the table (I have time to take that slow being a mere hobby type woodie )
You're method does sound a bit drastic but for someone in business time as they say is money. I might have to use your method on some parts of my band saw, 'tho maybe not on the table (I have time to take that slow being a mere hobby type woodie
)
This my first post but here goes.
As a keen motorcyclist I have seen advertised this product called ACF50.
http://www.motorcyclenews.com/nav?page= ... Id=1585094
Is it a moisture repellant and anti rust used in the aircraft industry. One problem I see is it may stain any wood if not cleaned off properly.
May do the same for Cast Iron?
Regards
Mick
As a keen motorcyclist I have seen advertised this product called ACF50.
http://www.motorcyclenews.com/nav?page= ... Id=1585094
Is it a moisture repellant and anti rust used in the aircraft industry. One problem I see is it may stain any wood if not cleaned off properly.
May do the same for Cast Iron?
Regards
Mick
engineer one
Established Member
we are all talking about getting the rust off, but you need to keep it
off so need to look at the other after removal products.
axminster do a number of products which could help too.
paul :wink:
off so need to look at the other after removal products.
axminster do a number of products which could help too.
paul :wink:
You'll hate me for saying it, but in the other thread I detail my machine-driven and quite aggressive approach to the problem....... In fact alox abrasives appear to be slightly softer than cast iron, but harder than iron oxide. Facing off is plain overkill (an AGS table top is probably circa 150 to 200kg you know) unless there is deep pitting whilst scraping needs to be performed with care as it will remove cast iron as well as rust.
Good luck!
Scrit
Good luck!
Scrit
Losos
Established Member
Yes, it's one thing to take your old cylinder head to a machine shop for 'skimming'
It's a completely different thing to take a table from a T/S -- There's not all that many engineering shops that could handle it & the cost would likely be more than a new T/S
It's a completely different thing to take a table from a T/S -- There's not all that many engineering shops that could handle it & the cost would likely be more than a new T/S
engineer one
Established Member
that's one of the reasons i would not look at using an engineers scraper to start with either unless you have a big enough surface plate to gauge the flatness it would be difficult to ensure that it is all flat and square to the blade and mitre slots.
paul :wink:
paul :wink:
I 'spose I should have said that when using a scraper to do this, the purpose is not to cut into the iron surface, but to purely remove the majority of the oxide. I find that a lighter touch with a broad scraper does this quite easily, and then all is required is a quick going over by hand with a dry scourer to finish.
Using this method, or probably most others, usually reveals the original planing (shaper) marks in fine condition. As long as this is the case you don't really need to be worrying about the flatness, unless you wish to improve on the manufacturers finish. Even small, localised rust spots are probably not significant compared to the area of the timber that will be passing over it.
If the corrosion is that severe that the original surface / machining marks are long gone, I would be very doubtful as to whether any method other than machining could readily retrieve a flat surface without extensive measurement and reference.
And if that was indeed the case, a) the cost would realistically be prohibitive as has been stated, and b) I would seriously be concerned as to the condition of the rest of the machine!
Using this method, or probably most others, usually reveals the original planing (shaper) marks in fine condition. As long as this is the case you don't really need to be worrying about the flatness, unless you wish to improve on the manufacturers finish. Even small, localised rust spots are probably not significant compared to the area of the timber that will be passing over it.
If the corrosion is that severe that the original surface / machining marks are long gone, I would be very doubtful as to whether any method other than machining could readily retrieve a flat surface without extensive measurement and reference.
And if that was indeed the case, a) the cost would realistically be prohibitive as has been stated, and b) I would seriously be concerned as to the condition of the rest of the machine!
