Coating on HF Bandsaw Table?

[dale]

I've got the Harbor Freight four speed bandsaw; I think it's item #32208. Anyways, I've never been able to get the miter gauge to slide through the miter slot. I think I've seen mention here that the bs tables come with some sort of coating that should be removed, but I'm not finding it in any of my searches. Anybody know what I'm talking about, or did I get things mixed up in my head?

[gary]

Cosmoline - a thick kind of grease. You can use kerosene to remove it but DO IT OUTSIDE and don't burn down your house please. Coat it with Boeshield and/or wax afterward so it won't rust.

[LCHIEN]

after you clean off any coating, if the miter still does not slide through easily, try taking some sandpaper to the two parts; see if there are any burrs.

[eddy merckx]

Hi Dale

After you clean the gunk out of the miter slot, it might be worth checking the corners of the bar on the miter gauge. If you're using the miter gauge that came with the saw (and it's the same miter gauge that came with my HF saw) it is really soft aluminum. You may have to file a little radius around the ends of the miter bar so it doesn't catch. I replaced my stock miter gauge with a cheap steel one which works much better.

Eddy

[Jeffrey Schronce]

I've got the Harbor Freight four speed bandsaw; I think it's item #32208. Anyways, I've never been able to get the miter gauge to slide through the miter slot. I think I've seen mention here that the bs tables come with some sort of coating that should be removed, but I'm not finding it in any of my searches. Anybody know what I'm talking about, or did I get things mixed up in my head?

Cosmoline would not hinder a miter gauge passing through a slot. Its just grease. If the table is painted around the edges there may be paint in the slot or as Loring notes the milling may not be perfect and should be sanded or filed.

[eezlock]

coating on bandsaw table?

That protective coating is sort of a cosmoline type to prevent rust, had the same stuff on my HF jointer. I used some spray carbuerator cleaner from
auto parts store, it melts that junk off real quick, just spray it on, and wipe
it off with a paper towel. Clean up the spray with windex, wipe off, and wax the table a couple of times with Johnson's paste wax or Minwax and you should be good to go from there! eezlock

[dale]

Like a knife through cold butter!

Thanks for the quick responses, guys. After some cleanup and far more sanding than allows me to believe that was milled properly, I can slide the miter gauge through the miter slot with almost no binding. If it bothers me any more, I'll know what to do.

Thanks again!

[Uncle Cracker]

You can get a beeswax stick at most any hdwre. store. works good for metal to metal sliding parts.