Taking the table off the shopsmith pro planer

[Sazerac81]

Hey All,

Has any taken off the shopsmith table off of the pro planer? I am talking about the cast iron table and not the lighter aluminum one.

I have a second pro planer that I am trying to restore and the table is caked in some solid rust. So far, a small edge I have cleaned shows virtually no pitting so I wanted to remove the whole table and dunk it in a pool/vat of Evaporust and give it a couple to few days to give it the best chance of gently removing the rust without more aggressive abrasive removal. I'd really prefer to not take sandpaper or other abrasives to the surface if it can be avoided.

The pro planer manual does not go into how to remove the table so I am wondering if anyone on here has any experience with doing it. If you have done it, what tools do you need and how long did it take to get it all done.

Much appreciated!
John

[SeanR]

I recently completed a rehab of a Shopsmith Pro Planer. As I recall, nearly the entire planer has to be disassembled in order to remove the table. The four screw posts that the planer table ride on are connected to the table via four table connector pieces. The posts run through the table connectors, and the table connectors each have a rod that slides into the planer table from the side. The only way to extricate the table is to remove the screw posts from the planer body panels. In order to do this, the cutterhead has to be removed. It's quite the job.

[JPG]

It is indeed 'a job' to remove the table.

However by using a rag saturated(and frequently replaced as it evaporates) with evaporust I think you can successfully remove the rust.

Be careful to not get the evaporust on any black oxidized parts.

[Sazerac81]

Thanks all. That's what it looked like from the diagram of the planer. I definitely would like to not completely tear down the planer since it is just a chore to put it all back together and get it properly set and aligned again.

I will likely do as JPG stated. Rags soaked in evaporust and then covered in plastic wrap or bags to limit evaporation.

I will say, that evaporust works really well. Very easy to work with and I am not as worried about working with electrolysis or acids. I've used vinegar and it works ok, but evaporust seems to not discolor the nuts/bolts/misc. metal objects and really cleans them extremely well!

Thanks, JPG. I'll try to avoid any black oxide coated parts (as I know that the evaporust will quickly remove that as well), but if a little gets taken off, it's not a big deal to protect those parts with boeshield t9 and some trusty furniture wax. It just won't be as pretty.

Cheers,
John