"TomWoodman" wrote in message
...
These damn cast iron table saw tops are nuthin' but trubble!!! Isn't it
time to find a better solution?
How about .....


1. Granite
2. Teflon coatings
3. Hi tech plastic composites
4. Graphite
5. Oak


I'm votin' for oak. You just rub her down with some nice tung oil to
slick her up and every month you can run yank it off and
run her through your planer for a fresh new surface. The top would be in
12 inch wide 4 inch thick T & G sections so you can have a table as wide
as your shop....lol

Any other ideas? Let's have 'em. maybe we can get rich quick!
lmfao.

I mounted a piece of rock maple to the face of my fence, and I'm very
pleased with it. HOWEVER, after four years of moderate use, (i.e. sliding
pieces of wood along the fence), there is a perceptible grove in the fence.
It can be replaced very easily, and at a very reasonable price. I would not
appreciate trying to replace the entire table top, even if it had been
coated with Formica, after a rather short period of time (relatively
speaking compared to cast iron), it would have to be replaced in total.

Besides, oak splits, splinters, and wears much faster than iron, and
requires as much or more attention than any cast iron table top,
besides.......Iron does not expand or contract with changes in humidity, and
it's expansion rate is considerably less than any wood, with the changes in
temperature.

I have some saw horses made out of some polymers, and they are outstanding,
strong, stable, relatively light, but even they show wear from wood sliding
across the surface.

I'll have to stick with cast iron. And Johnson's paste wax. Besides, I
like the stability that comes from the weight of the cast iron
components..........

James...