What's the finish like on your scroll saw table?

[Reggie]

Hi all, I had a go at removing the rust from my scroll saw table today, it's come up a lot cleaner but I really need to give it another go to get it up to muster, with that in mind, I've noticed that the finish is a bit pitted towards the edges, like it's had some burrs removed with a file, I'm also wondering how much the finish of the top affects the ability to feed the work piece or change direction.

I have never seen this scroll saw without the thin layer of rust on it, so I'm intrigued as to what the finish is like on everyone else's tables?

 

[Spindle]

Hi

Mine is aluminium and has a satin finish. I use Liberon lubricating wax on all of my machine tables to reduce friction.

I'd remove as much of the rust and high spots as possible then apply lube wax.

Regards Mick

 

[mac1012]

im presuming its a hegner you have ?? I have a hegner theres a few scratches in mine , I not very precious about my table I oil it keep it clean that's it , you will be fine as long as they are not any high spots a few marks or rust spots wont make much difference as long as they are smooth , any chance of a pic ??

mark

 

[Chippygeoff]

Hi Reggie. I once had to remove some rust from a scroll saw table and I used white spririt and wet and dry, it did the job. When I wiped off all the black gunge I noticed some unsightly marks and like yours some pitting here and there, these would make no difference what so ever to the cutting performance but I had another go with the wet and dry and eventually I got it almost like new. Then to kep the table rust free and in good nick I used liberon lubricating waz and apply this to all my saws every few months. I would check the flatness of your table with a steel rule. If you have a bit of a dip near the blade then this may cause problems with the wood bouncing when you cut. If you find you cannot work with a dip in the table then make a sub table with something like 12-18mm MDF. Hopefully the table will be as flat as a pancake, don't worry if the edges taper off, its the area around the blade that supports the timber.

 

[Reggie]

My machine is a ferm ffz400, I went cheap and used a bit of bicarbonate of soda, made a paste, spooned it on, spread it, left for a short while, then worked at it with a plastic scourer to get the bulk of the junk off, it was a relatively thin layer but it was all over.

There were a couple of thicker bits that I worked at with a bit of wet and dry + water, I think I'll give it another go and get it completely up to scratch, I don't want to go nuts on it but I only want to do it once, so I think it might be worth taking the table off the saw where I can get at it all properly without the rest of the saw in the way

With regard to the dip at the blade, I tackled that at the same time, I noticed that the insert is lower than the table, it's not much but it's certainly enough, I thought it had a grub screw system to adjust it but they turned out to just be holes, however, the old faithful printer paper folded up has shimmed it nicely.