Table Saw Covers? *LINK*

Re: Table Saw Covers?

JL

>I don't have one. However, I was in a friend's shop. He had made a plywood cover for his and he put some of the anti-tarnish cloth on the underside (I think he got it from a gun dealer). Due to lack of space, he uses his tablesaw top as a glue-up and finishing area. I thought the idea of the anti-tarnish cloth on plywood was interesting and figured it would also act as cushion.

I use

Joe Piotrowski - Chicago Burb's

>I use canvas tarps with dri-bags for all my big tools in an unheated garage for the last 5 years. no rust on any of them.

Re: Table Saw Covers?

John Veerkamp

>My experience in a similar environment is that anything left on the top of saw tables will hold moisture and cause rust under the item. Even a tool or a scrap of wood will leave a profile . The best solution is to clean and wax with a good quality paste wax periodically. Moisture cannot be deterred by a loose fitting cover. The best prevention is air movement to cut condensation.

My experiences.

John

What I do ...

Mike Farinella

>is clean (WD-40, ROS with 3M pads) and wax the top then put a piece of carpet upside down on top.

Re: What I do ...

Edward in Vancouver

>Have a brand new TS (well it WAS new in Oct...)My garage is unheated. I just wax my top, got a free aeresol can of stuff when I bought the saw, but now I just use floor wax periodically. This really cuts down on the friction when cutting wood as well as inbhibiting rust, so you're really killing two birds with one stone.

Due to allergies in our family, I don't have any carpet remnants to use as a TS "hobby top" and besides carpet has a nasty habit of harbouring little sharp bits of metal and dried glue, and I never seem to have plywood to sacrifice for a TS cover. I usually use an opened carboard box, when it gets full of gunk, I just toss it out. I also like to use very heavy kraft-paper type pallet liners. I get them for free at COSTCO and places like that, just stroll down the cereal aisle and you'll see them separating the layers of ceral boxes, they're perfect for projects

Re: What I do ...

Bart Leetch

>My Dad's tools used for business (cabinet shop) in a wood heated shop only had Johnsons paste wax on them for about 45 years no rust anywhere. Why make things difficult?

Re: Table Saw Covers?

Ray Newman

>When I had my shop in a damp & unheated garage, I covered all cast iron surface w/ a HTC cover. Never had a problem w/ rust.

The design of the HTC cover allows the cast iron to �breathe� & not trap moisture.

A cover also keeps moisture attracting dust, etc., off the surface when you are using another tool.

IMHO, a HTC cover is cheap insurance. Seems to me that it is easier to prevent rust w/ a cover &/or a periodic waxing of the top than it is to remove rust....

I agree 100% with

Dan Brock

>everything that Ray said. I have a whole shop full of HTC covered machines and with waxing have never had a problem. I did have a rust problem prior to using these covers but not since. I would really suggest them in an unheated enviroment.

Re: HTC - Have em, use em, love em!

Dave Anderson, SoCal -- Tools Need Wood!

>I have those HTC covers and they are great!

Covering all my cast iron for the last 8 years in a salt-air/beach environment = NO RUST!

No substitute for proper care though. You still need to clean and wax the tops regularly. These machine covers add one more valuable layer of protection.

Work Safely!

Re: Table Saw Covers?

mdclor

>I have found HTC covers to be very effective if the unheated shop is on a concrete floor. When the ambient air is warm and humid (Spring mornings) and hits cold iron or concrete there will be condensation and HTC covers keep the condensation off the iron.

Merle