table saw scratches

[Mel Fulks]

Well, I just read all …to make sure I was not going to be “redumbdunt “ ! A bad scratch from something like a sneaky rock in a board
can be made harmless to wood by just removing the burr with a old piece of tool steel . It’s fast and I find it shows less than sand paper
scratches. If there is no burr just cuss quickly and proceed with work. After finding and removing embedded object.

[Tom Bender]

'Someone' spread a damp rag on my saw to dry. Crocus cloth didn't get it so I applied my ROS with 320 paper then a coat of wax. Seems perfect.

[Steve Demuth]

I feel your pain. I made literally thousands of cuts on my fairly new Unisaw, using the factory miter gage, while making about 18 large sets of Lincoln Logs for my grandkids and the kids of all the nephews and nieces. Enough sets that I filled a Brute trash can with just the little singles that connect the longer pieces together.

The scratches match the little plastic wear buttons on the bottom of the gage. Deep enough to feel with your finger. They are still there.

This ranks with the first time I dripped sweat on the table, and waited a couple minutes to wipe it up, only to find it was stained forever. Yes, I tried everything. Next comes the soda can mark on the jointer bed, and I don't even know who did that one. The family knows that it is sudden death to set a drink on any metal in my kingdom.

My table saw and the cast iron router table that is bolted to it get used as a workbench all the time, and in particular is where I most glue-ups for anything that requires long clamps, or lots of clamps. I also do a lot finishing there. And, about once a year my not-climate-controlled shop experiences a flash condensation and rusting event, despite my best efforts to prevent. Heck, sometimes I even use it as a saw.

So the cast iron top has stains, scratches and gouges all over. The scratches and gouges I level down to the nominal surface plane (if scratch or gouge cast iron, you almost always also raise some cast iron) with a diamond sharpening block, and periodically I go over the whole thing with a coarse scotch brite bad on a random orbital sander with a little wd-40 for lubricant, then wipe down with BoShield T-9, and wax. The scratches and gouges are still there, of course - badges of use - but the top is smooth as silk for work.

[Cameron Wood]

Haha, my uni's table looks like it's been through both world wars. Late 90's model.

Mine did go through part of WW2- by year anyway. Overall, it's in better condition than when I got it 40+ years ago.

Hand sanding with a largish block (& 220 wet/dry) will help things move in the direction of more flat.