On 2/4/2015 10:08 AM, Mike Marlow wrote:
Leon wrote:


I will say that with enough repeated passes most anything will cause a
wear pattern on cast iron. I have those all over the place running
parallel to the blade and perpendicular to the blade. Parallel marks
from the miter gauges/sleds/wood. Perpendicular marks from the fence
support pad that slides across the back of the TS top, that is the low
friction plastic stuff. Anyway the wear marks are only visible you
certainly can't feel them nor are they more susceptible to rust.

What so many of these comments clearly miss is that most of those
"scratches" are not in the base material itself, but in the finish of the
base material.


They are scratches in the sheen (shean?), and not noteworthy
scratches in the base material. Sometimes it seems there is way too much
focus on stuff that just does not matter...


Can you expand on that a bit, the finish of the material? I have no
sheen so to speak. Buy yes rust only matters if you let it get out of hand.

On another note, I once had a cast iron Craftsman TS. The top had
obvious mill marks and you could feel them. That surface, with an
application of TopKote, was the absolute best surface I have ever had on
any of my TS's as far as low friction is concerned. It is better if the
top is not flat like glass as this can cause more friction. MiniMax
saws pruposely grind the tops of their better equipment with similar
effects to cut down on the contact area with the wood.