# can cast aluminum table saw table top be sanded flat?



## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

Any sanding on it will ruin it's surface , and you will be unhappy with all your cuts then, because your wood will hang up and stick.

I would take the top off and go to a quality machine shop and have it resurfaced, on a milling machine, and then polished again.

All at the machine shop.

Or complain to the manufacturer, maybe they will replace the top for you, or pay to have it milled.


ED


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

I would start with the price of a new table top and the chance of getting a free one.

I had a table sander with a bad table. I bolted a piece of mdf to it and set up a jig and routered it flat. You may even get away with routering the aluminum but even then your slots for the miter might be out of whack to flat.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

#1, No way is any machine shop going to be of any help, a milling machine has nothing to do with lapping large surfaces flat!
Check to see how flat it is with a level to see if it really even has a crown?
You have a lower end table saw that works fine for 99% of DIY jobs, expect more then your going to have to step up and buy a cast iron cabinet grade saw.
Tongues and grove's are made with a Dado blade.


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## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

joecaption said:


> #1, No way is any machine shop going to be of any help, a milling machine has nothing to do with lapping large surfaces flat!


OP is not talking about lapping the table to grade AA surface plate, just skimming the top flat within a few thousanths. Machine shop will definitely do that. But that is probably not a high end saw, might not be worth putting money into it. But maybe OP has buddy that works in a machine shop, that can skim it during a lunch break.


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## ChuckF. (Aug 25, 2013)

I'd look for another way first, like some way to pull it into alignment. The table top bolts to some kind of a frame underneath, in fact it could be that the frame is out of whack and it pulls the table out of flat. If you removed the tabletop from the rest of the saw, would it still be unflat? Could you shim the frame underneath so that when you put it back together it would pull flat? Could you add a bolt or two (countersunk) to the high spot to pull it down into the frame?

Failing that, how strong is it? If you got a piece of heavy angle iron and bolted it to the underside could you pull it flat?


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

I'll flatten it with my Vixen file followed by the 14" mill bastard draw filing and the cost will depend on how out of flat it is. The going rate for my service on that job will be $122.00 / 0.001" out of flat. Let me put that in perspective. 0.007" out of flat would be, let me see said Mr. Haney, that'll be $854.00. Business has been slow and I can start tomorrow.:vs_laugh:


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## MI-Roger (Aug 8, 2009)

I would look for a machine shop with a large surface grinder. If too bowed it will need to be milled first


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## Buster Snacks (Jan 21, 2021)

Hi All,
I've just joined so I'm coming in very late to this chat. 
My DeWalt contractors saw is dished near the blade not crowned as the original post. What I've thought of doing is getting a large piece of thick Melamine, waxing it up, placing it on the floor and brushing on a good coat of epoxy surface coat and then placing the saw top down on it. A day later I would separate the Melamine from the surface and hopefully have a nice flat surface on my saw. Doing it this way would prevent the surface coat from dripping down into places I wouldn't want it to go.
Any thoughts on this?
Thanks


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