Shopsmith Forums

I was in the basement woodshop this morning looking for a little more floor... and I happened to run my hand across the cast iron table of my Ridgid TS-3650 table saw and felt a rough spot. When I looked I spotted an oval of rust about an inch across. It surprised me since I keep it well waxed with JPW. In looking closer I could see a small track of rust across the table to the rust spot. I guess maybe a small slug must have somehow gotten up on the table, got to the middle and had a melt down.
Looking for something to get rid of the rough rusty spot I grabbed a rag and wiped across it with no results so I looked for something else. Course steel wool would have done the spot but as I was looking at it and running a hand around the table top I noticed that I could feel a lot more tiny dots and a few little burrs at some of the edges. Nothing really but I felt the need to make them go away. Looking around I spotted a medium fine flat file with no handle still laying on the edge of a shelf waiting for some elf to come along and put it where it belonged.
I laid it on the saw table by the spot and started pushing it across the spot with my finger tips and the spot disappeared. Done, right? Well no. I spent almost 15 minutes lightly using that file flat like "draw-filing" to remove little places all over that table and making tiny chamfers on the sharp edges and corners of the table. I was amazed at how different that table felt. It was really OK before but it just "
felt better"... Funny, I always considered that table a highly polished surface.
Now I want to do the tables on my other cast iron saw tables including the 10-ER. They are due for a fresh waxing anyway.


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You have a 10ER with a CAST IRON table?

JPG wrote:You have a 10ER with a CAST IRON table?

No... I could have said that better.
My 10-ER has not found its purpose yet so it has not been cleaned up (it's not all that dirty). It doesn't have to be too pretty to hold those cardboard boxes of stuff sitting on it. I do remember that under those boxes the table, while perfectly serviceable, is a bit abused with some small dings and burrs along with some discolored spots. I have been telling myself to touch it up and clean it well for several years now but the elves are running a little slow.
I didn't buy it because I "needed" one for some reason. I bought it because it was a 10-ER and I thought I "should" own one. My old Mark VII in almost in the same category but it does have a job. I consider it to be my semi-dedicated dado machine.
I should find the 10-ER a job, it's a little complex to just be a shelf.


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robinson46176 wrote:

JPG wrote:You have a 10ER with a CAST IRON table?

No... I could have said that better.
My 10-ER has not found its purpose yet so it has not been cleaned up (it's not all that dirty). It doesn't have to be too pretty to hold those cardboard boxes of stuff sitting on it. I do remember that under those boxes the table, while perfectly serviceable, is a bit abused with some small dings and burrs along with some discolored spots. I have been telling myself to touch it up and clean it well for several years now but the elves are running a little slow.
I didn't buy it because I "needed" one for some reason. I bought it because it was a 10-ER and I thought I "should" own one. My old Mark VII in almost in the same category but it does have a job. I consider it to be my semi-dedicated dado machine.
I should find the 10-ER a job, it's a little complex to just be a shelf.


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Oh I quite fully understand ALL of that!