Cleaning worktable surface

devoibew3 · Post by **devoibew3** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 2:57 pm

I just purchased a Mark V 510 . Its an older model and the work surfaces on the saw table and extension tables have black spots. I've tried every cleaner I can think of but they dont come out. Any suggestions? Thanks for any help.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 10:14 pm

Don't know about black marks, But - - A couple of weeks ago I tried out my homemade thickness sander (made for SS application). The result was a lot of sanding dust and sand particles. When I vacuumed off the table there were a lot of scratches and some gauzing (Gauzing is a new word just learned and it means little pieces of metal sticking up at the edge of the scratches).

A little hand work with 220 then 500 grit wet dry paper fixed this problem in just as few minutes. The gauzes are all gone and only a few scratches are visible if the light is right. After some wax the table looks almost new.

You can try this - just go lightly!

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 1:03 am

devoibew3 wrote:I just purchased a Mark V 510 . Its an older model and the work surfaces on the saw table and extension tables have black spots. I've tried every cleaner I can think of but they dont come out. Any suggestions? Thanks for any help.

Black spots are probably stains from sweat. You wouldn't think I would know that living in Florida but I do. Of course we always tell the tourists it usually ain't this hot here, this is unusual. I love the weather on TV everyday is record setter. We have been setting records since 79 when I got here.

What I usually do is get one of those green fabric sanding pads, spray it with DW 40 and set it on my table with my 1/4 palm sander sitting on top. Let the sander do the work and wipe off the table real good and give it a good coat of Johnson paste wax. If I wax often enough and run the air conditioner only to keep the air circulating (wink wink) I don't have the problem. But if the wax gets worn off I will from time to time end up with a black spot or two. Only on the record setting days of course.

Ed

ericolson · Post by **ericolson** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 9:12 am

I can't remember the exact name of the product, but it's Blue something-or-other and comes in a blue can. You can purchase it at an auto supply store. It's made for polishing billet aluminum wheels and chrome. I've used it on some pretty nasty looking aluminum work surfaces and have come out with some surfaces that I didn't want to work on because they looked so nice!! Follow the cleaning with several coats of buffed out paste wax and you're good to go!

drlove · Post by **drlove** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:12 am

A product that I have used with pretty good success is Mothers™ Mag and Aluminum Polish. It can be found at auto supply stores. I might have even seen it at one of the big discount stores. Besides using it on the Shopsmith aluminum work surfaces and parts, I have even cleaned up some old Lionel toy train aluminum passenger cars till they shine better than I thought possible. Definitely follow up with the Johnson paste wax treatment.

Hmm, I never thought about finishing up the train cars with the paste wax. Maybe before Christmas.....

David

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 10:40 pm

Look like the "old guys" use old standbys like emery paper, scratch pads and steel wool and tell tall tales about the weather. . The young guys (anyone under 62.5) understand products designed for mag wheels etc. Funny that Mother makes one of these products!

Nice for this "old guy" to learn about some of these newer products!

devoibew3 · Post by **devoibew3** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 9:45 am

Wow, some very good ideas. Some I've tried, some I haven't, yet. Will let you all know what works and Thanks again.
DEVO

rcartmetal · Post by **rcartmetal** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 6:06 pm

One more option... vinegar and salt. Make a paste and rub it on, be sure to rinse thoroughly, with maybe a little baking soda in the rinse water.
Vinegar also also makes a nice gentle rust remover!