New Tabletop

January 8, 2005 5:24 PM

I inherited a metal table in the shop of our recently bought house. The table top is rusted but still solid. Is there any way I can make it look new and to protect the top from further rust? Or is there something I could attach to it, like non-slip rubber, that would make it last longer?

I am not a handyman type of guy but I am in the process of learning so excuse my ignorance if this is a really odd or stupid question.

posted by jasonspaceman to Home & Garden (10 answers total)

What will you do with this table? An easy solution is scraping, wire brushing and-or sanding to remove loose rust and smooth the surface, then paint with one coat rust converting paint (also available from Ben Moore and others).

In France I've bought similar paint in a clear coat but have not foudn it in the US. It can be cool if you're interested in the the color and texture of the rust.

If there's not much rust, you can take it down to bare metal and paint or wax if you like the bare metal look.
posted by Dick Paris at 5:32 PM on January 8, 2005

'media blasting' - sand blasting to you or I, but they dont use sand anymore, they use glass beads, walnut shells and other sundry abrasive grits. It will take ALL the rust off, back to bare shiny metal. It will need to be sealed pretty immediately, else it will rust again, in days.

You will obviously need to take it to a shop - look up car restoration shops if you cant find someone who does media or sand blasting directly.
posted by BadSeamus at 5:37 PM on January 8, 2005

Response by poster: What will you do with this table?

Most likely I will store a table top saw and other various smaller cabinets and objects for bookbinding and various other house projects my wife can dream up.

Here are some pictures of the table:
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posted by jasonspaceman at 6:16 PM on January 8, 2005

Metal Polish will bring that up I believe - its just ligt surface rust. A lot of metal polishes will have a protective barrier. You might need some fine wire-wool for the stubborn bits.
posted by BadSeamus at 6:33 PM on January 8, 2005

Naval Jelly is another way to remove the rust, then you could paint or wax the tabletop.
posted by one at 6:41 PM on January 8, 2005

There are a lot of ways to skin this cat. I restore old woodworking machines as part of my hobby, and what I, and many other similar enthusiasts do, is buy a big old box of single sided razor blades. You hold the blade at an angle to the table, not 90 degrees, more like 70 degrees, pointed towards you. You pull it towards you. Or you can point it away from you and push it away. Either way you are trying to scrape the rust off. it's surprising how effective this is. You'll go through razors like mad. I might use 30-50 restoring the top of, say, a large bandsaw.

After that you are left with a surface that probably still has some rust. Lots of ways to clean it. I'd go for less caustic first. I have some rust remover I use, don't remember what it is exactly, some kind of diluted phosphoric acid or something. Vinegar seems to work some times too. I basically will wet the table with a rag that is dampened with this stuff and then sand it with a random orbital sander with a scotchbrite pad attached to it. Scotchbrite pads are a synthetic replacement for steel wool. They come in all grades. I usually use the maroon or green ones for this kind of thing I think. You don't need a sander, you can do it by hand if you like. The idea is just to abrade and dissolve the remaining crap on the table.

I do a few rounds with vinegar and then keep doing thesame thing with mineral spirits until the rags I use to clean up the table stop coming up black.

Protect it immediately. The better you clean a table, the more likely it is to rust. Nice, eh? Basically the better polish/shine you get on a metal surface, the more likely surface rust is to develop.

You can try using a sander with fine sand paper also. Start at about 110 and work your way up to 300 or so. Or beyond if you wish. Automotive papers go up to 2000 or 3000. You can get a beautiful shine with these. Note as I said above that the better job you do the easier it'll rust later.

For WW machines, I obviously am not going to paint the tops of table saws. I either use industrial protectants (sort of dry lubes) or more likely, just plain paste wax which I reapply regularly. This sort of lubes the table and protects it.
posted by RustyBrooks at 7:10 PM on January 8, 2005

You could also use Phosphoric Acid. You'll have to wash it down with water afterwards and will wind up with a bit of 'flash rust' but that can be sanded away easily. I've found this works the best.

The rust converstion works pretty well too but it will depend on how smooth you want the surface to be afterwards. I've found it shows through the final coat of paint.

If the rust isn't too severe you can also use brass brushes to remove the rust, I'd avoid steel since they can really gouge some metals and don't work so well at removing rust.

Once you get rid of the rust prime it ASAP to avoid more work at removing the rust.
posted by squeak at 7:25 PM on January 8, 2005

second the wire brushing -- I picked up a beautiful little steel secretary/mail type cabinet off the street a year or two ago. semi-powerful drill, a couple wire-brush drill attachments (they do wear down a bit; occasionally reversing the drill direction helps tho), and a couple cans of krylon "crystal clear" acrylic. it's held up wonderfully since.

even with power tools that rust may take a little muscle, but it's definitely do-able for you and will look great when done.
posted by dorian at 2:30 PM on January 9, 2005

(I actually love how the wire marks show through the clear coat -- just go over it with the brush one more time after the rust is gone to get the pattern you like)
posted by dorian at 2:31 PM on January 9, 2005

If don't need the steel surface a chunk of masonite thrown on top like a table cloth is cheap and easy. And when it gets damaged just throw on another piece. If the table is just rusty but not flaky I wouldn't even bother with painting/protecting.

Or just rebuild an engine or two (IE just use it). Wiping off all the oily crud will clean the surface with out having to expend any dedicated effort. And the oil residue will help prevent further rusting.
posted by Mitheral at 7:53 AM on January 10, 2005