Any suggestions on removing surface rust from machined cast iron surfaces?

From time to time I salvage a machine from someone's garage or barn and
clean it up. Big jig saw, jointer, and latest is a 14" band saw.
Usually the table surface has light rust.

I've used steel wool, and Scotchbrite, with oil, and it seems to work
OK. It's a lot of hand work though, and for some strange reason the
table surface turns kind of black.

Any other suggestions for methods or materials?

Rich

Wire brushes! Hand or power, see: ohiobrush.com

"Rich" wrote in message
...
Any suggestions on removing surface rust from machined cast iron surfaces?

From time to time I salvage a machine from someone's garage or barn and
clean it up. Big jig saw, jointer, and latest is a 14" band saw. Usually
the table surface has light rust.

I've used steel wool, and Scotchbrite, with oil, and it seems to work OK.
It's a lot of hand work though, and for some strange reason the table
surface turns kind of black.

Any other suggestions for methods or materials?

Rich

On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 14:30:26 GMT, "Tom Gardner"
wrote:

Wire brushes! Hand or power, see: ohiobrush.com

"Rich" wrote in message
...
Any suggestions on removing surface rust from machined cast iron surfaces?

From time to time I salvage a machine from someone's garage or barn and
clean it up. Big jig saw, jointer, and latest is a 14" band saw. Usually
the table surface has light rust.

I've used steel wool, and Scotchbrite, with oil, and it seems to work OK.
It's a lot of hand work though, and for some strange reason the table
surface turns kind of black.

Any other suggestions for methods or materials?

Rich


I HIGHLY recommend Tom's brushes. In fact I used one yesterday morning
to remove the old gasket from the water pump housing when I had to
change out the waterpump. (damnit) One small enough to fit in a
cordless drill and get into the engine compartment.

I use quite a number of his various brushes in my machine shop and on
the welding bench.

Gunner

"Gunner, you are the same ridiculous liberal f--k you ever where."
Scipio

WIRE BRUSH RULES:

1. Buy brush
2. Use brush once
3. Throw brush away
4. See rule #1


"Gunner" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 14:30:26 GMT, "Tom Gardner"
wrote:

Wire brushes! Hand or power, see: ohiobrush.com

"Rich" wrote in message
...
Any suggestions on removing surface rust from machined cast iron
surfaces?

From time to time I salvage a machine from someone's garage or barn and
clean it up. Big jig saw, jointer, and latest is a 14" band saw.
Usually
the table surface has light rust.

I've used steel wool, and Scotchbrite, with oil, and it seems to work
OK.
It's a lot of hand work though, and for some strange reason the table
surface turns kind of black.

Any other suggestions for methods or materials?

Rich


I HIGHLY recommend Tom's brushes. In fact I used one yesterday morning
to remove the old gasket from the water pump housing when I had to
change out the waterpump. (damnit) One small enough to fit in a
cordless drill and get into the engine compartment.

I use quite a number of his various brushes in my machine shop and on
the welding bench.

Gunner

"Gunner, you are the same ridiculous liberal f--k you ever where."
Scipio

On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 15:49:00 GMT, "Tom Gardner"
wrote:

WIRE BRUSH RULES:

1. Buy brush
2. Use brush once
3. Throw brush away
4. See rule #1

Hee Hee. Funny. But you do realize you are *not* helping your own
cause with that one?

The crappy Taiwan Harbor Fright throwaway brushes I would expect to
only last one or two hard uses, and be frazzled or broken out enough
to require tossing...

-- Bruce --

(PS: Your counter is broken.)
--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
Spamtrapped address: Remove the python and the invalid, and use a net.

Rich wrote:
Any suggestions on removing surface rust from machined cast iron
surfaces?

From time to time I salvage a machine from someone's garage or barn
and
clean it up. Big jig saw, jointer, and latest is a 14" band saw.
Usually the table surface has light rust.

I've used steel wool, and Scotchbrite, with oil, and it seems to work

OK. It's a lot of hand work though, and for some strange reason the
table surface turns kind of black.

Any other suggestions for methods or materials?

Rich

For light speckled rust, you're using the right stuff. Doing things
that way won't cause a lot of wear on the machined surfaces. I like to
use LPS 1, but WD40 also works. Soak first, overnight, then go at it.

For really heavy rust on painted surfaces or non-critical areas, you
can use powered wire brushes or a phosphoric acid-based rust remover.
An old standby is Naval Jelly. If you use it, you'll have to have an
area where you can wash the stuff off and oil it up immediately. This
is where WD40 is good, LPS 1 also works for water displacement. If you
use LPS 1, you can follow it up with LPS 3 for long-term rust
prevention.

Your iron surfaces turning black after removing the rust is undoubedly
a partial rust bluing. I have a multi-great-grandfather's Civil War
sword I rescued from my grandparents' coal bin, it was one mass of rust
from end to end, grip was long gone. I used a fine wire brush to
remove the rust, turned out to have the nicest blue finish underneath,
along with a mass of pits. These swords were originally bright with a
polished finish.

Stan

Amazingly enough, I hardly penetrate the trades anymore due to imports. My
only customers left in that arena are some mill supplies that sell to pros
and the Gov.. My biggest sector is food-service anymore.


"Bruce L. Bergman" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 15:49:00 GMT, "Tom Gardner"
wrote:

WIRE BRUSH RULES:

1. Buy brush
2. Use brush once
3. Throw brush away
4. See rule #1

Hee Hee. Funny. But you do realize you are *not* helping your own
cause with that one?

The crappy Taiwan Harbor Fright throwaway brushes I would expect to
only last one or two hard uses, and be frazzled or broken out enough
to require tossing...

-- Bruce --

(PS: Your counter is broken.)
--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
Spamtrapped address: Remove the python and the invalid, and use a net.

On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 18:18:59 GMT, "Tom Gardner"
wrote:

Amazingly enough, I hardly penetrate the trades anymore due to imports. My
only customers left in that arena are some mill supplies that sell to pros
and the Gov.. My biggest sector is food-service anymore.


and thats a damned shame as Ive posted before yur brushes are GOOD
stuff

Gunner



...
On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 15:49:00 GMT, "Tom Gardner"
wrote:

WIRE BRUSH RULES:

1. Buy brush
2. Use brush once
3. Throw brush away
4. See rule #1

Hee Hee. Funny. But you do realize you are *not* helping your own
cause with that one?

The crappy Taiwan Harbor Fright throwaway brushes I would expect to
only last one or two hard uses, and be frazzled or broken out enough
to require tossing...

-- Bruce --

(PS: Your counter is broken.)
--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
Spamtrapped address: Remove the python and the invalid, and use a net.


"Gunner, you are the same ridiculous liberal f--k you ever where."
Scipio

Thanks! I wish there was a market for "REALLY GOOD" brushes. I would know
how to make such. As it is now, I cut a lot of corners to keep the price
down.


"Gunner" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 18:18:59 GMT, "Tom Gardner"
wrote:

Amazingly enough, I hardly penetrate the trades anymore due to imports.
My
only customers left in that arena are some mill supplies that sell to pros
and the Gov.. My biggest sector is food-service anymore.


and thats a damned shame as Ive posted before yur brushes are GOOD
stuff

Gunner



...
On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 15:49:00 GMT, "Tom Gardner"
wrote:

WIRE BRUSH RULES:

1. Buy brush
2. Use brush once
3. Throw brush away
4. See rule #1

Hee Hee. Funny. But you do realize you are *not* helping your own
cause with that one?

The crappy Taiwan Harbor Fright throwaway brushes I would expect to
only last one or two hard uses, and be frazzled or broken out enough
to require tossing...

-- Bruce --

(PS: Your counter is broken.)
--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
Spamtrapped address: Remove the python and the invalid, and use a net.


"Gunner, you are the same ridiculous liberal f--k you ever where."
Scipio

On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 08:52:43 -0500, Rich wrote:

Any suggestions on removing surface rust from machined cast iron surfaces?

From time to time I salvage a machine from someone's garage or barn and
clean it up. Big jig saw, jointer, and latest is a 14" band saw.
Usually the table surface has light rust.

I've used steel wool, and Scotchbrite, with oil, and it seems to work
OK. It's a lot of hand work though, and for some strange reason the
table surface turns kind of black.

Any other suggestions for methods or materials?

Rich

For light rust I like to use steel wool and oil or Diesel fuel.

If the rust is so bad it requires some serious elbow grease, I'd
suggest one of the following:

1) phosphoric acid
2) soaking in a solution of vinegar and table salt
3) electrolysis

I've given a number of electrolysis demonstrations and have prepared a
handout on the topic. It's not Web friendly, but you can go to this
site and print it out for yourself.

http://users.moscow.com/oiseming/rustdemo/rustdemo.htm

Orrin

On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 14:30:26 GMT, "Tom Gardner"
wrote:

Wire brushes! Hand or power, see: ohiobrush.com


Just out of curiosity Tom...

Are you _really_ using cadmium plated steel on your Handle Braces???


Mark Rand
RTFM

On 6 Jan 2005 09:45:13 -0800, wrote:


Rich wrote:
Any suggestions on removing surface rust from machined cast iron
surfaces?

From time to time I salvage a machine from someone's garage or barn
and
clean it up. Big jig saw, jointer, and latest is a 14" band saw.
Usually the table surface has light rust.

I've used steel wool, and Scotchbrite, with oil, and it seems to work

OK. It's a lot of hand work though, and for some strange reason the
table surface turns kind of black.

Any other suggestions for methods or materials?

Rich

For light speckled rust, you're using the right stuff. Doing things
that way won't cause a lot of wear on the machined surfaces. I like to
use LPS 1, but WD40 also works. Soak first, overnight, then go at it.

For really heavy rust on painted surfaces or non-critical areas, you
can use powered wire brushes or a phosphoric acid-based rust remover.
An old standby is Naval Jelly. If you use it, you'll have to have an
area where you can wash the stuff off and oil it up immediately. This
is where WD40 is good, LPS 1 also works for water displacement. If you
use LPS 1, you can follow it up with LPS 3 for long-term rust
prevention.

Your iron surfaces turning black after removing the rust is undoubedly
a partial rust bluing. I have a multi-great-grandfather's Civil War
sword I rescued from my grandparents' coal bin, it was one mass of rust
from end to end, grip was long gone. I used a fine wire brush to
remove the rust, turned out to have the nicest blue finish underneath,
along with a mass of pits. These swords were originally bright with a
polished finish.

Stan

Just buy a pint of goog old "Blackstrap Molasses" and slather it on.
Wash it off tomorrow, and the rust is GONE. (assuming it is thin rust,
not heavy flakey rust)

Rich wrote:

Any suggestions on removing surface rust from machined cast iron surfaces?

From time to time I salvage a machine from someone's garage or barn and
clean it up. Big jig saw, jointer, and latest is a 14" band saw.
Usually the table surface has light rust.

I've used steel wool, and Scotchbrite, with oil, and it seems to work
OK. It's a lot of hand work though, and for some strange reason the
table surface turns kind of black.

Any other suggestions for methods or materials?

Rich




Use a belt sander with a fine grit, and a light pressure, and keep it
moving.


John

On Fri, 07 Jan 2005 21:05:16 -0500, john
wrote:



Rich wrote:

Any suggestions on removing surface rust from machined cast iron surfaces?

From time to time I salvage a machine from someone's garage or barn and
clean it up. Big jig saw, jointer, and latest is a 14" band saw.
Usually the table surface has light rust.

I've used steel wool, and Scotchbrite, with oil, and it seems to work
OK. It's a lot of hand work though, and for some strange reason the
table surface turns kind of black.

Any other suggestions for methods or materials?

Rich




Use a belt sander with a fine grit, and a light pressure, and keep it
moving.


John

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Gunner


It's not unwise to remember that Mother Nature is essentially a
murderous, sneakly, promiscuous bitch who has been trying to kill you
since your conception.

Eventually she will succeed, perhaps with the help of your fellow man.

Life consists in putting off the inevitable as long as possible and
taking what good and joy you can before her success.

Whether you attribute that situation to evolutionary forces, a fallen
nature after Adam and Eve screwed the pooch, or whatever, it's no less true.

Be friendly, pleasant, unaggressive, and honest toward all and be
prepared to ignore, avoid, or even kill anyone who is otherwise toward
you. Being ready doesn't mean eager, just ready. What true friends are
found in life will undestand and accept that fundamental rule of human
interaction." John Husvar

On Sat, 08 Jan 2005 05:54:09 GMT, Gunner
wrote:

On Fri, 07 Jan 2005 21:05:16 -0500, john
wrote:



Rich wrote:

Any suggestions on removing surface rust from machined cast iron surfaces?

From time to time I salvage a machine from someone's garage or barn and
clean it up. Big jig saw, jointer, and latest is a 14" band saw.
Usually the table surface has light rust.

I've used steel wool, and Scotchbrite, with oil, and it seems to work
OK. It's a lot of hand work though, and for some strange reason the
table surface turns kind of black.

Any other suggestions for methods or materials?

Rich




Use a belt sander with a fine grit, and a light pressure, and keep it
moving.


John

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Gunner


Sorry...kneejerk reaction.

Might I suggest a 1/4 or half sheet sander and some 200 grit followed
by some 400 grit?

Though, I simply use a fine wire wheel in a 4.5" right angle grinder
most of the time. And it doesnt break any sharp edges

Then followed up with a liberal G coat of Johnsons paste wax. Works
pretty well when doing cast iron table saw tops too.

Gunner

"The French are a smallish, monkey-looking bunch and not dressed any better,
on average, than the citizens of Baltimore.
True, you can sit outside in Paris and drink little cups of coffee,
but why this is more stylish than
sitting inside and drinking large glasses of whiskey I don't know."
-- P.J O'Rourke (1989)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No, they are zichrome plated...whatever that is.

"Mark Rand" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 14:30:26 GMT, "Tom Gardner"

wrote:

Wire brushes! Hand or power, see: ohiobrush.com


Just out of curiosity Tom...

Are you _really_ using cadmium plated steel on your Handle Braces???


Mark Rand
RTFM

I missed the staff meeting but the minutes show Gunner
wrote back on Sat, 08 Jan 2005 06:35:13 GMT in
rec.crafts.metalworking :

Might I suggest a 1/4 or half sheet sander and some 200 grit followed
by some 400 grit?

Though, I simply use a fine wire wheel in a 4.5" right angle grinder
most of the time. And it doesnt break any sharp edges

Then followed up with a liberal G coat of Johnsons paste wax. Works
pretty well when doing cast iron table saw tops too.

Johnson paste wax was what we used on the table tops for a pin router.
Wax up the table, then you could slide the templates around with a lot less
effort. Same for table saws.


--
pyotr filipivich.
as an explaination for the decline in the US's tech edge, James
Niccol wrote "It used to be that the USA was pretty good at
producing stuff teenaged boys could lose a finger or two playing with."

On Fri, 07 Jan 2005 20:56:21 -0500, Gene Kearns
calmly ranted:

I recommend Evaporust. I used it on my last project machine and was
very satisfied. See the results:
http://myworkshop.idleplay.net/machi...hear/index.htm

I can't seem to get onto your site here or the homepage.


Here is the commercial advertisement:
http://www.orisonmarketing.com/corro...vapo-rust.html
http://www.regismfg.com/norust.html

Wow, looks like really good stuff.


However, it is available in small quantities from WalMart.

It doesn't come up on the Walmart website. What's the cost?


---
- Sarcasm is just one more service we offer. -
http://diversify.com Web Applications

On Sat, 08 Jan 2005 05:54:09 GMT, Gunner
calmly ranted:

On Fri, 07 Jan 2005 21:05:16 -0500, john
wrote:

Use a belt sander with a fine grit, and a light pressure, and keep it
moving.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, a fine grit on a belt sandah sure beats a 24 grit 10" disc on
an angle grinder, eh? John doesn't deserve to buy used equipment
from any of us, the heathen.


---
- Sarcasm is just one more service we offer. -
http://diversify.com Web Applications

On Sat, 08 Jan 2005 13:22:28 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Sat, 08 Jan 2005 05:54:09 GMT, Gunner
calmly ranted:

On Fri, 07 Jan 2005 21:05:16 -0500, john
wrote:

Use a belt sander with a fine grit, and a light pressure, and keep it
moving.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, a fine grit on a belt sandah sure beats a 24 grit 10" disc on
an angle grinder, eh? John doesn't deserve to buy used equipment
from any of us, the heathen.


Both of em beat sticking your arm in a wood chipper too..but it doesnt
mean any of the three are good to do...G

Gunner


---
- Sarcasm is just one more service we offer. -
http://diversify.com Web Applications

"The French are a smallish, monkey-looking bunch and not dressed any better,
on average, than the citizens of Baltimore.
True, you can sit outside in Paris and drink little cups of coffee,
but why this is more stylish than
sitting inside and drinking large glasses of whiskey I don't know."
-- P.J O'Rourke (1989)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Sat, 08 Jan 2005 19:25:20 -0500, Gene Kearns
calmly ranted:

On Sat, 08 Jan 2005 13:19:23 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

I recommend Evaporust. I used it on my last project machine and was
very satisfied. See the results:
http://myworkshop.idleplay.net/machi...hear/index.htm

I can't seem to get onto your site here or the homepage.

Try again, Larry... I'm having some issues with my upgraded firewall
software... it works TOO good. I can log on here, but I'm not sure
that is representative of trying from the outside.

OK, it comes up fine now. So, when are you going to PAINT that thing?
Nice work, BTW.

(No, I could never be a Navy man. I hate gray.)


---
- Sarcasm is just one more service we offer. -
http://diversify.com Web Applications

For parts that can be taken off and soaked in a bucket, I like to mix a
dilute solution of muriatic acid and water. You can get the acid in the pool
section of home improvement centers.
Naval Jelly works good, for accessible surfaces, but for corners and
places not too accessible, i use a moto tool and wire brush.
WD 40 is a lubricant, not as good as a rust remover as Aerokroil from Kano
labs which is a penetrant and really busts rust up.
--
don paolino
"Orrin Iseminger" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 08:52:43 -0500, Rich wrote:

Any suggestions on removing surface rust from machined cast iron
surfaces?

From time to time I salvage a machine from someone's garage or barn and
clean it up. Big jig saw, jointer, and latest is a 14" band saw.
Usually the table surface has light rust.

I've used steel wool, and Scotchbrite, with oil, and it seems to work
OK. It's a lot of hand work though, and for some strange reason the
table surface turns kind of black.

Any other suggestions for methods or materials?

Rich

For light rust I like to use steel wool and oil or Diesel fuel.

If the rust is so bad it requires some serious elbow grease, I'd
suggest one of the following:

1) phosphoric acid
2) soaking in a solution of vinegar and table salt
3) electrolysis

I've given a number of electrolysis demonstrations and have prepared a
handout on the topic. It's not Web friendly, but you can go to this
site and print it out for yourself.

http://users.moscow.com/oiseming/rustdemo/rustdemo.htm

Orrin