If you can get the complete surface to shiny with a flap disc, then wash with detergent, when dry wipe with brake clean or acetone and clean rags, then apply cold blue and oil according to instructions. Great for inhibiting rust, most spatter bounces off or easy knock off, and conductivity not affected.

 

Palm sander with a scotch-brite pad instead of sandpaper with WD-40 will clean up the rust and make it look spiffy, it will also keep it rust free for a while.

 

another vote for the WD 40

it's cheap to buy in bulk and easy to apply with a spray bottle . (cheap and easy just like me lol)

like BD1 i will use the burnishing tool when necessary

 

I bought the Eastwood CST tool a couple years ago. I didn't buy it for my welding tables specifically, but it does a great job. They have a variety of 4'' wide and 1'' wide drums.

Amazon has them too but I chose Eastwood with the three warranty. Mine is variable speed and it works great ! Here's the tool, the holder I made, and the before and after flat sheet I cleaned up for the holder.

Eastwood site https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-contour-sct.html

Harbor freight has them now also and accessories https://www.harborfreight.com/merch...ght.com/merchandising-promotions/new/9-amp-surface-conditioning-tool-58079.html

Amazon , they do have Cyber Monday sales If you see this before then https://www.amazon.com/s?k=contour+...gid=kwd-34879244839&hydadcr=1607_9511325&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_43eoxg6ueg_e

 

You could belt sand the table...

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7 inch and the WD wipe as mentioned. It just keeps moisture from being the first to land in a scratch.

 

I would guess that 70 to 90% of the original oxide is still somewhat intact.
My first choice would be to keep the original oxide there,, it seems that shined steel is much more susceptible to flash rusting.. ??

I think that is because the satin finish has MANY times as much surface area as compared to the original hot rolled finish.

If I thought I could protect the final surface, the satin finish would be great,,
the problem is that Virginia has many periods of high humidity,, and today is one of those days,, (it is raining)

Hmmmmmmmmm,,,,,,,

 

I believe that you're correct. A high polish surface is less prone to rust than a roughly finished surface.

Also, yeah... raining... I forgot it was gonna do that today. Guess I ain't working outside today.

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My welding table was made and used the same way by its previous owner. I am also in VA so it is raining today for me as well.
I cleaned up my table by using a 9 inch grinding wheel flat on the surface to remove high spots.
I then painted ospho all over it. It seems to have helped. Every once in a while, I go back over it with the 9 inch held flat and then do the same with a 7 inch flap disc.
Pics of it right now.
I also go through a cleaning period in the every week or two to give me room to work.
My shop is for me, a happy middle ground between LIS and moto

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I also go through a cleaning period in the every week or two to give me room to work.
My shop is for me, a happy middle ground between LIS and moto



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moto is advancing nicely with his honed welding skills ([emoji106]).......but i am still happy back in janitorial. [emoji14]

 

The other flat surface or bench/table is always full, but at least the welding table is clean.

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What really got me cleaning was the need to find a shelf spot for the new Hypertherm 45XP plasma cutter.
You can see it on the shelf behind the welding table, to the left,,


Right now, I have two 8-foot pickup beds full of "stuff" to go to the dump.

If I followed the rule of throwing out stuff that has not been used in the last 6 months,, I would need two 18 foot dump trucks,, I believe.
BUT, that will not happen,, the stored stuff is my source of raw materials,, and other fab supplies.

 

When I built my welding table, the metal I used for the top had been left outside for an extended period and the millscale (which was much harder than normal to remove) was so bad I had to grind it back to bare metal. I air brushed the top in leftover enamels just for kicks and to make it look good new, fully expecting to be grinding most of it off when I started working on it. The "front" side where I do 90% of my work was just misted with very fine coats so I could sand it off easily... but that was 2 or 3 yrs ago and it's still almost all there. Surprisingly, it doesn't seem to affect grounding between the table and the work piece enough to require grinding off, but like I say, it was just very thin misting...

 

psacustomcreations ''The other flat surface or bench/table is always full, but at least the welding table is clean.''

This is why i have numerous tables ! My welding table top can always be seen. As for the other two............:laugh: :laugh:

When I do clean them up and put everything away, I can't find anything !

 

Hmmm,, considering how cheap I am,, and the fact that I have about 80 square feet of table top to treat,,
I think I am gonna mix up a batch of "ED's Red" and see what it does to the surface of the steel.

https://www.vkhgc.ca/documents/Ed gun cleaner.pdf


I have heard about this, some people rave about it, others run from it,,

but, I am not gonna put it on a gun,, YET!!

The main reason I am gonna try it is that I have everything except the lanolin,, and that is optional.

ED explains in the pdf link how the mixture works,, maybe a few coats of this will get me where I need to be?

I have a gallon of PB Blaster, and a gallon of KANO Aerokroil,, but, I hate to waste that stuff,, to start cleaning, they were expensive.

 

Pat - nice Do-all bandsaw back in the corner. Those can be very handy!

 

Thanks.
It was made in 1947. I bought it during an online auction several years ago for $500.
There was a huge blizzard hitting the East coast the day the auction went live. I was the only person that bid on it. Later when I went to pick it up, I found out the company was going to schedule another auction since so many items were not bid upon.


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Well, today, I spent a couple hours cleaning off table #2,,, the 5X5 foot table,,

Once I got started,, I realized the table had about 10 to 20 small items, and about a gallon of drill and saw shavings from various projects.

The REAL ELEPHANT on the table was the ESAB plasma cutter,, (it can partly be seen in the lower left of the pic)
That monstrosity took up over 1/3 of the table area. the cables and torch just spewed out everywhere.

The floor against the wall was as far as I was gonna move it today.

I have a couple steel cabinets that look like they might have come out of a 1950's mobile home kitchen,,
possibly I can put them up somewhere to store some of my M18 Milwaukee stuff,,,

If you are wondering about the mirrors,,
look at the dark shadow in the middle of the table. (and under the Milwaukee tool hanging off the plastic box)

That shadow is from the wood frames of the two center mirrors.
The mirrors REALLY reflect the overhead light back to the table,, it is nice not having quite as many shadows when working on something.
Actually, the mirrors are close to having another light, or even a sunny window.

The mirrors were being tossed out, I figured I would try them,, they are a great addition.

The actual light is about as far from the wall as the vise on the table.

AND, yes, I have a basketball court in my shop.
That is left from my younger daughter being a basketball guru,,

The shop is just big enough to "shoot 3's".

 

I WAS wondering about the mirrors.

If you're ever needing more light, this is what I did in the barn as temporary lighting a few years ago and it was REALLY impressive...

Get this https://www.harborfreight.com/24-ft...hC6ARIsAPPbeLsxtXBGi8JpOaVc0anLIqElTjhwqAUw53Vy6OalCXeMXaxjYIkaYbQaAvcpEALw_wcB

And replace the incandescent bulbs with LED 100W equivalents. Make sure you check what "temperature" the light is. I think 2700K is what I have, and they're a nice bright white without being bluish.

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I made a small steel table (I call it my welding "end table") out of an old segmented diamond saw blade that's probably 26" diameter. I found the blade on the side of the road when I was checking on the sawmill. Nasty, flakey rust. The legs are 3 road sign posts in a "tripod" configuration, with a brace/shelf made out of a 16" table saw blade. Anyway, I've never tried removing the rust. I mean, I popped off the big chunks with a puddy knife, but other than that, I just wipe it off with a wire brush real quick before I put something on it to weld. Gets the job done fine.

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Holy crap. What a fun space!

 

You could open up a welding shop specializing in FCAW and call it “Smoke and Mirrors Welding” [emoji2957]

 

Laughed when I saw the old satellite mount under the bench... I think I'm up to 3 and there's still 2 unused ones attached to buildings...

 

attached to buildings??

didn't you have one of these?

i poured a 4x4 concrete block to anchor mine. lol

 

I was pleasantly surprised that CRC now makes Evaporust in a spray gel can. I tried it on something but it was a bit underwhelming to be honest.

 

Here we go down another rabbit hole, but I used one of those old dishes last summer to "mask out" tires when I was painting implement hubs. Wasn't perfect but it sure beat masking out 12 tires on both sides.
View attachment IMG_9895.jpg
View attachment IMG_9896.jpg

 

Here we go down another rabbit hole, but I used one of those old dishes last summer to "mask out" tires when I was painting implement hubs. Wasn't perfect but it sure beat masking out 12 tires on both sides.
View attachment 1746163
View attachment 1746165

Keep the center for masking out your implement alloy WHEELS when applying tire dressing. [emoji23]


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My tires prefer to run around naked...

 

That is a good idea and could be flared so it stays in place better than cardboard and eliminate a lot of tedious tape.

 

maybe run the edge through a bead roller?

 

How well it worked depended a lot on the shape of the tire near the bead. Some have a raised edge that holds it up. I used it on both 14 and 15" rims... you just had to be careful to keep moving the edge with the spray gun and keep the gun perpendicular. There was some "slippage", but I've seen tape roll back off the rubber and leave just as much after a lot more work...

 

did you have to wipe the edge of paint before using on next wheel? or?

 

Yes, where you had to watch was the edge of the template.... if it started to load up it would "drip"onto the tire, so occasionally I would wipe it off with a clean rag between wheels...

 

You are living large.

 

LOL....not really.... Canadian Tire sale.

"The rear seats still in the “parts chaser” or are you taking them out?"

Been down that road before.... Autopac (our public insurance company) won't let me license it as a pickup unless I torch the mounts right out. I could... but it's handier being able to transport extra people as well so I'll just run it with All Purpose plates and clear gas.