Welcome to Teach Skills You Learn - Table Saw Maintenance

In this episode, you will learn about the importance of maintaining your table saw tabletop. This is vitally important because a smooth table saw tabletop not only improves your work performance, but it boils down to safety. Don't go another day wondering why your wood doesn't slide with ease across your table saw tabletop. Just like Mr. Miyagi said, "Wax on, Wax off". 

You can watch full length video on YouTube https://youtu.be/T6o04jAAZgg

You can also check out my channel on YouTube:

UCseHEDSYd7C9QUk11718W0g 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

What it is, what it is. Welcome back to the podcast. I am your host, Bethany Skillern, and this is Teach Skills You Learn. I am here to teach you about table saw your initial maintenance on your new table saw. I just got a Delta 10-inch contractor table saw, and it's 36-725 T as in Tango 2. And I um used to be I think we've already gone through the diatribe of my history um prior to uh where I'm at now, which is in law enforcement. I used to be a cabinet maker maker by excuse me, I used to be a cabinet maker by trade. And that was a good I'd say seven years right after high school, and thought I was going to um completely own my own shop. So the table saw that I have in front of me would be a as you can see, I'm I'm I'm I'm showing you my supplies. Uh I've got two um shop towels, shop rags, shop paper towels, whatever you want to call it. And I have wax. And what wax does is it creates or it gives you this um protective coating over your iron table saw, your your the surface of your table saw. And this is because you want to avoid moisture to contact or make contact with the iron, which causes this really pesky uh reaction, which is rust. So you want to prevent rust from attacking your table saw. There's ways that you can get rid of rust um on an iron table saw. It's a pain in the ass, requires a grinder, requires you to basically grind the the the metal out. Um I'm explaining uh that this is a 10-inch contractor's table saw. And again, it's 36-725 T is in Tango 2. And the reason why I picked Delta is because Delta is a very well-trusted brand in the construction uh community. It's a um workhorse, it's a brand that is um consistent, it goes through the paces. I had a uh large big-scale table saw um in the shop that I used to work in, and this one is perfect for um my uh needs because one, um it isn't too large, two, it is on wheels, so I can move it around. Three, it does allow me to cut down four by eight sheets of plywood, which is the most important when you're looking at a table saw. It needs to be able to do the work that you want it to do. Now I could um, you know, uh, which I probably will end up doing still, is using the skill saw, using the fence that I have for whipping um and or cross-cutting your plywood sheets. So I'm going to give you a couple of the specifications of this table saw that I have. I don't think anybody cares, but here we are. So the max depth of a 90-degree cut is three inch and one eighth. So um, that's the height of the table saw blade that you can rip or cut a piece of wood that is three inches or three and an eighth inch thick. Max depth cut of 45 degrees two and a quarter. So if you have a piece of material and you're going to make a miter cut of 45 degrees, you can have a piece or uh you know thickness of wood that is two inches or two and an eighth, you know, two and a quarter. Um max right um blade or your right rip blade, so that's from the fence to the blade on the right hand side. It has um the already established piece of tape there that says 30 inches, and then the max uh rip for on the left hand side, which is 15 inches. So as you can see here on the video, um it is going to be um your left is my right, your right is my left. Um the left-hand side rip, that fence can be at a max of 15 inches. Um I go to explain that I, you know, um I would very rarely ever use that left-hand side because it's my non-dominant hand. Um I do show that I have a, for safety purposes, I do have a guard or a blade guard, which is currently not attached because I am applying this wax. Now, will I be putting it on afterwards? Of course. Uh, will I always have it on? Absolutely not. I mean, I'm not gonna always have um the rip guard because there's applications in which you can't see your blade um and um what you need to see when you're, for example using a sled um to uh for detailed cuts for detailed uh woodworking. Um okay, the motor specifications, 15 amp, 120 volts, and RPMs is um rotations per minute, and that is 3,600. So I did pick a 15 amp, 120 volt because um anything larger than that would require me to get a um an electrician in the house for a 240. And I just don't see the need for a 240 volt. I mean uh again for the applications that I'm using this table saw for, the needs of my own house, it's just something that I don't think I would need. So um I I don't I don't do it. I don't I I I specifically chose this saw for that purpose. Um are there larger grade saws? Yes, that run on a 120. Um, but like I said, for my house applications, um, what I'm doing, I don't need anything bigger. It's not small, but it's not too large. I'm showing you here new finish. This is what I used to use uh back in the day when I used to be um in cabinet making, and I used to work in my own uh out of my own house like I do here, and I've used new finish. Um it's a soft wax, so um I maintain my my my uh my table saw nicely with that. Um I'm not using it this time because um I did a little bit of research and you know uh they talk about this Johnson's and I've I've used Johnson's before and um it's discontinued. If I go on the Amazon, the Johnson's wax is like 260 some bucks, 265 bucks or something like that, and this is 14 bucks. So um I'm going to stick with this. And the wax that I am using is called true. What's it called? My god. Because it's such a it's a new brand that I've picked up, so it's very new to me. Um, it is a hard wax. Uh it's clear or it's um in the container. It is like a it is a whitish color. Um a lot of complaints that people had or have with other waxes is that it is a yellowish tint, and when they apply it to their projects, it also has or gives off this yellowish tint. And um, as you can see here in the canister, it is a white color, which is not supposed to give off a tint on a table saw. It doesn't matter whether it has a tint or not, you're not gonna tell, you're not gonna know. It does not care. The table saw does not care that there's yellow tint. Uh, for so, for the purposes of this, I'm showing you it is a white color, whitish color. And for a lot of people, they want to be able to use it in a multi-purpose fashion. So they want to be able to use it for projects as well as for maintenance of your, and it's gonna be a tool, but I'm gonna say it's a tool. Um, you can also use it on your chisels, and it helps it move freely without friction um uh on your on your wood projects, and that's kind of imperative when you're dealing with um items that tend to stick. You don't want you don't want your project, your wood, your piece of wood, whatever it is that you're doing, you don't want it to stick or have reaction where the piece does not move freely. So that's another reason why we use wax on our table is so that your parts will move freely. Now, I don't know, I haven't, you know, used this product before, so I don't know how many um rips uses you're gonna be able to get before you have to uh apply another wax coating on. So I can't give you a specific amount of oh, you know, it's gonna take 42 boards to cut before you have to reapply. I I don't know. Like I'm sorry, I'm just here to show you this is how you maintain a table and uh table sign, and as I showed you there, the the the application that I'm um doing, which is like a around um wax on, wax off type of uh circular motions, and I'm showing you that the reg is completely dirty. It is going to be dirty for the first application because when they package your iron top, any metal at that matter, especially um at that size and thickness, they're going to apply a grease onto the metal top. And they're gonna apply a grease just for packaging purposes, along with the styrofoam. And you're gonna see, you probably saw early on that there was a I was wiping away a lot of styrofoam, uh residue. Um, don't forget that um blade guard. But what I'm trying to say is the cloth is completely dirty because when they package your iron top and your iron, uh these parts that you have, these metal parts, and you'll get them with um uh with um machined um car parts as well, it's gonna have this grease residue on it because it is trying to eliminate or try to prevent moisture from attacking the iron. Um, because when H, you know, H2O and iron mix, it creates a rust, and they're trying to prevent a rust, this chemical reaction from happening. So um when you put your first application of wax on, your rig is gonna be extremely dirty, and that's just the way it is. That's because you you know, um you're it's you you're gonna do the best that you can to get that grease off, which I used uh a carb cleaner, I used um uh a solution that takes off that grease. Because once I pulled that a bag off of the iron table, um I had to wipe it down. I had to I had to wipe all that grease off. And so I used the carb cleaner to get that to get that grease remover to just kind of you know get that great grease off. But when you put your first application of wax on, you're gonna have it's gonna be very dirty. So it's by the time you put on a couple applications, the it's not gonna be, your your rag's not gonna be dirty anymore. In fact, um a lot of times, you know what we do is we actually start using a cloth rag and we'll leave that rag inside the tin of the wax. And this is so that you'll always have the applicator inside with the wax, and you just start waxing your table, and you wait, you know, as you're gonna see here, um, in this long drawn out thing, is you're gonna see that um you're gonna wait. You're gonna apply the wax and you wait about five minutes for that wax to kind of harden up or kind of cure to um it's just like waxing a car. Uh, if you've never waxed a car, if you never used wax before, you apply it in it because if you're um rubbing motion, your circular motions, it's gonna create friction or heat, and it's going to make the wax, which is hard in the tin, it's gonna make it uh um, it's gonna make it pliable, it's gonna make it um uh viscous. And then you're just gonna apply it on, and then you're gonna wait for five minutes, five to ten, whatever you want, until that wax hardens again. And then once that wax hardens again, you're going to then take a clean rag and you're gonna wipe or you're gonna rub that wax, the excess wax, off. Um, that doesn't become the coating of the tabletop, and then um, you know, you you're done. And then you've got this really slick and smooth surface that is now uh coated. Now I've touched the tabletop, I've touched the metal rails that the fence slides on, and I've touched all of those parts uh with the wax. So it's just to prolong the um table saw. And um after you've waited, like I've said, after you've waited five to ten minutes, you're gonna see this uh white, you're gonna see where you've applied your wax, and it's gonna kind of turn this light color. It's gonna have this um white appearance on it, and then that's when you're just gonna take your other clear and your clean rag, you're gonna start wiping it down. And you're gonna, I mean, this is just putting your you you're gonna put your elbow into it, you're gonna put your your foot in it, you're gonna you're gonna really get get a workout in in rubbing this in, but you're just gonna rub it in. It's it's uh it's not as serious, it's um, you know, you're just gonna rub it in. And you're gonna see me rub, rub, rub, rub. And that's you know, um the the basic.

SPEAKER_00 19:54

It's very simple. It's just very basic.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

And you know, I I'm I'm teaching you this for you know for ho in in hopes that if if you do pick up a tool, if you do pick up um you know, a project using um tools, hand tools, um, you know, um battery operated tools, if you're using um electrical tools, uh it is for me I like to maintain my um my my stuff. I want to get longevity, I want to get my um use out of it, and this is a part of you know having or owning a tool is that you um need to do what is necessary to maintain this tool, and so therefore, if it requires me to put on wax, um you can also do this to your chisels. Um so um chisels require you to have um a wet stone sharpener, and you know you have uh I I I personally have um quite a few you know like a it's like a different grades of stones, and you make them wet, or you get them, you soak them in water, and then you slide your chisel, the beveled part, on top, or or back and forth on a stone, and it sharpens your chisel. Um, this is what you need to be able to have a um an effective tool. So I can't use a chisel that's dull. There's no point. No use in using a chisel that's dull. I mean, it doesn't, it serves you zero, it serves you serves you zero purpose. There's it serves you no purpose whatsoever. So you have to have, when you get a set of chisels, you have to have a sharpener. Whether you have a motorized sharpener, whether you have your own set of stones, um, your what stones that you're gonna do, then you're gonna watch me rub my ass, you're gonna rub my finger in this groove here, and I end up cutting myself because the metal is apparently sharper than what I thought it was gonna be, and I'm now gonna proceed to bleed all over the place, bleed all over the the cloth, and it's I mean it wasn't bad. It wasn't like I was gushing blood, but uh my DNA now is on that table, so you know it is what it is. I mean that's the that is the um the scars or the that's that's what you go through as a um person that works with your hands. You you you go through um bumps, scratches. Um I don't know if you've ever had there's a term out there with table saws, and that is called a kickback. I've had many kickbacks in my life, not fun. Um that's why um it is important to respect your tools and what they are capable of doing to you, because if you don't use it in the right way, or if you become careless, or if you aren't paying attention to what you're doing, you could cause yourself serious harm. Now, there's table saws out there that literally will stop on a dime the second it senses that there is a material that mimics human flesh. Um I'm saying that like that because I've seen it stop on a hot dog. So anyway, um the R of fantastic technology has changed for the better for uh for sure. That it can stop literally on a dime to prevent you from losing a digit, because there are plenty of people out there that have lost digits to these blades because they are moving at a very quick speed, and if you're not watching where your body parts are, you could get cut seriously harmed if not, um you could lose a finger or limb. Plenty of people have in the past. So um uh I got off on a tangent, but I apologize. But it is important that you do understand that a tool is really a um it's a great uh benefit for you as for efficiency, but it also is something that is uh has a danger to it. So if you're not paying attention, if you're not wearing safety um safety goggles or glasses to prevent slivers or shards from going into your eye, um your protection because it is loud, and to not wear loose clothing. It's so important that people that work in a shop, that work near power tools like these, that they are not wearing loose fitting, you know, like loose clothing, so it gets caught. And what's it gonna do is yeah, it's gonna rip the clothing, but if it catches right, it can really pull you into the blade, and that's that's very um, that's a very scary situation for one person to ever have to experience. So take it um from me. Um do with that information as you will, but take it from me. That's it is a tool that can cause some serious harm if you are not careful. Um there are you know, I've I've watched a lot of videos and I've seen a lot of people using a table saw and they use it with great fear of the actual tool, which I find is not um really good because if you have a fear or if you're afraid of the tool that you are using, how do I say this? If you have a if you have a fear for the tool, if you have a fear for the table saw and you start using push sticks when you have plenty of material between the fence and the uh blade. Uh I mean there's no there's no gripping power or control over your piece, but that's what push sticks are for, is for that very minimal space. You can't get your fingers safely between the blade and the fence, and so therefore you need a push stick. But also with that, takes um knowledge and understanding of your tool that you need to keep your piece very tight to the fence. That's the most important, that's what causes the kickback. And here I am full circle. So a kickback is when the piece of material that you are pushing through the table saw um gets away from the fence, and all of a sudden the saw blade that is um rotating towards you grabs onto that piece that has come away from the fence and it'll come back around and whip around and hit you. Hit you wherever it wants to hit you, whether it's lifted off the table, hits you in the face, neck, chest, or whether it just rips around and then it hits you in the hip, gut, um, however tall you are on the fence. That that's on on the table saw. So that is what a kickback is. That those are not fun. I've had plenty in my day, um, because it's just um being careless, um, not being smart with a tool, not respecting the fact that the tool will always win. So um I'm showing you here, I've got a board that I'm gonna slide around on the table because I'm just trying to show you that um that this it's it's moving quite freely now. Um I do show that the piece of wood that I have had some blowout in the back, and I was moving it across a freshly waxed uh table, and now there's a gash in my wax. So I would have to rewax that to make that disappear, but but that's what it was. Um that's there it is. I mean that is the table saw. It's a delta, like I said, a 36-725, T is in tango, two. And um that's how you start. That's the very first thing you should do before ever using your table saw, other than assembling it. But that's the first thing that you should do prior to you turning on that table saw is you should wax your tabletop. I want to thank everybody for listening. Um be kind to one another, do something nice for somebody, for a stranger, and we'll see you next time on the podcasts.