How to rehab a Unisaw front rail

[Papa Jim]

I decided to show my Unisaw a little love by cleaning up the front rail. It doesn't seem like rocket science but I thought maybe the forum members might have some helpful suggestions.

So far I've just taken it off and sanded down the rust spots on the bottom. Should I sand the whole thing to bare metal? The remaining finish appears tight. 

I will be repainting it. Any suggestions on what type, brand or finish method is best?

I will also replace the tape. There are several different brands. Are ther any favorites?

Any other advice on methods or pitfalls I may not be aware of would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks! Papa Jim

[dfess1]

I decided to show my Unisaw a little love by cleaning up the front rail. It doesn't seem like rocket science but I thought maybe the forum members might have some helpful suggestions.

So far I've just taken it off and sanded down the rust spots on the bottom. Should I sand the whole thing to bare metal? The remaining finish appears tight. 

I will be repainting it. Any suggestions on what type, brand or finish method is best?

I will also replace the tape. There are several different brands. Are ther any favorites?

Any other advice on methods or pitfalls I may not be aware of would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks! Papa Jim

The Guide tube and L brackets on my Biesmeyer were rusted pretty badly. I took them to my buddies powder coating show. He sand blasted everything, and I told him to throw on whatever color he had in the gun (was an off white luckily). Had to retap the holes as they had a little overspray on them, then reapplied a new tape. I made sure to score the guide tube where the tape should have started first, and took exact measurements as backup. The added bonus of the powder coat, its' a couple mils thick so the fence grabs really tight now.