Two months into this restoration project. Could have easily been done by now except for having too much other stuff going on. Getting real close though.
Brought the saw table and extension table back to life. They were very discolored with a gray/black surface contamination. I searched this forum looking for threads on how others may have dealt with removing this oxidation but didn't have any luck finding anything. I am sure someone must have discussed it at some point but it sure wasn't obvious in the search.
First I tried scotchbrite and Johnson's wax but that didn't even touch it. Then I tried using my 1/3 HP bench grinder with an 8" spiral sewn cotton wheel and the aggressive black polishing compound and that didn't touch it either. I then thought about trying some aluminum wheel cleaner that I think would have worked but decided against it when I looked at my bench grinder and thought of a brass wire wheel. I put on my 8" FINE grade brass wire brush and gave it a quick touch and saw that it took it all the way down to the base cast aluminum. Nice and bright. The wire brush was a FINE grade solid brass bristle brush. When you buy a brass brush, you need to make sure that it is solid brass and not brass coated steel. The first "brass" brush I bought a few months ago to restore some cast iron pans was actually brass plated steel. I didn't know that even existed when I bought it. Once the brass plate wears off, which is immediately upon contact with anything abrasive, your down to steel which is MUCH to abrasive for the soft aluminum so be careful here when buying. If your not sure if it's solid brass bristle, cut through a bristle and see if it's solid or plated. If plated, bring it back unless you have some aggressive work to do.
So, after about 45 minutes of work, I had both the extension and saw tables cleaned up. They look like brand new. Really pleased with the results.
The Jacob's 3326 chuck cleaned up nicely with the brass brush also. Now all I have to do is find a key for it.
