Keep Your Saw Clean

Keeping the tops of your table saw, band saw, scroll saw, jointer, shaper or any other tool that may have a cast iron top clean and rust free is very important. Having a dirty or rusty surface to slide your wood on can make it harder for you and can impede your end result, not to mention the possibility of causing you harm.

By keeping these surfaces clean you will work safer and smarter.

Cleaning my scroll saw. I am guilty of not maintaining the saw as well as I should.	A light cleaning and spray will keep the cast iron rust free.	Here's my main jointer I keep in the shop. It stays looking good and rust free by keeping it clean and spayed with the silicone protector.

I keep these saw surfaces clean by spraying them down periodically with a silicone spray just for this purpose. I unplug the tool before I spray the surface down, clean it with a grey abrasive pad and then wipe it off with a rag. If its been neglected you may have to repeat this process a couple of times.

When the top is to my liking, I then give it one more spray and wipe down for good measure. This is how I keep all the machines in my shop clean and ready

I also keep the bottom of my skill saws, jig saw, portable hand planer, and any other tool with a surface that has to slide on the wood I'm working on clean and smooth.

This should be done. The tools are not cheap and I don't want them worn out, looking bad, or me to get hurt because I'm too lazy to perform this simple maintenance. 

Here's an old jointer that is kept outside under a covered area with a tarp. I sprayed it with the silicone spray 10 months ago. 

This saw has had a stained rusty colored top since I've had it and I not sure how old it is.Not too bad for being outside with all the rain and humidity since I cleaned it last about 10 months ago.  I spray the top down and then rub it down with a scouring pad. where the rust is heavier I sand with a little 400 grit sand paper. Always unplug you tools before cleaning.

Mostly light surface rust with a heavy spot on one end. On this end the tarp gets wet during driving rain. I don't have anywhere else to keep the jointer until I can enclose this area.

I spray the top down and do not wipe off since I hardly use this jointer and am storing it. Now it should be good for at least another 10 months. If this was equipment in shop that wasn't going to be used for months, this would be more than adequate, as this one is stored outdoors.

Here, after removing the saw blade, I'm cleaning a skillsaw by blowing off any sawdust and dirt I can before I spray it and clean it.

Clean and ready to go. This will make the saw slide over the wood easier, smoother, and help keep from scratching the wood.

Here I do the same to my jigsaw. Again do this only after unplugging and removing blades.

Before and after of compound miter saw cleaning.

Get yours here!

Good luck with your tool cleanings. I think you'll be happy with the results from working with clean smooth tools.

Don't forget to do your hand planers too.

Sharp clean saw blades are very important also.