During the month of August, you "can't swing a dead cat" without seeing some reference to the "dog days of summer". And while we may think of Southern hounds lazing under the porch, too hot to bother barking at strangers, the term is quite a lot older than that. It actually was coined in ancient Greece and refers to the annual time when Sirius, known as the dog star, would rise with the sun. In those days, that was during July and August.

In 1815, an Englishman named John Brady published his 2 volume work "Clavis Calendaria", a "Compendious Analysis of the Calendar: illustrated with ecclesiastical, historical, and classical anecdotes." I mention this because he mentions the Dog Days of Summer as a time when; "the Sea boiled, the Wine turned sour, Dogs grew mad, and all other creatures became languid; causing to man, among other diseases, burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies." I'm not sure about any of that, but I do know that these hot, humid weeks can play havoc on our cast iron equipment.

The moisture laden air alone can cause rust to show up. I don't usually have that problem, and I am VERY careful to only set my drink glasses on surfaces where the condensation rings will not be a issue, but today I noticed a "sweaty forearm" mark on my table saw.

Since I keep my equipment well waxed, these things are usually easy enough to wipe away. But the breach in the protection and the muggy air caused is one to go a bit deeper than usual. So it seemed a good idea to strip the top and recoat.

My method is to sand the top with a high grit paper or scotchbright pad, clean it with a penetrating oil, then wax the top with a good paste wax. With normal usage, this method lasts at least six months before I need to repeat it. In this instance I used a 220 grit Abranet disk. It removed the rust and dirt without marking up the top.

I find that the time spent maintaining my equipment to be a relaxing and contemplative time and, of course, it serves my work well to have the equipment in good order.

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