Favorite way to remove rust...

[Kyle Stiefel]

Hey folks,

Well, after more then 2.5 years I finally got my tools out of long term storage in Alaska. All the effort in protecting from the salty island air in SE Alaska wasn't successful. I will now have a much smaller shop, not setting up the majority of things including my Woodsucker DC (love that thing) as I am renting.

To the point whats your favorite ways to remove rust. I am always interested if there is a faster more efficient way of accomplishing a task. So let the verbage fly folks.

Here are a few pics of the carnage.

[Carroll Courtney]

Wire wheel on angle grinder,but safety glasses is a must----Carroll

[Logan William]

Wire wheel on angle grinder,but safety glasses is a must----Carroll

Only on surfaces that don't matter. The wire wheel will remove more material then you expect and flat surfaces won't be flat anymore. BoShield makes a Rust Remove that I recently picked up, I haven't tried it yet but have heard good results. Also do a google search for electrolysis, lots of old iron that gets restored gets stripped of paint and rust via electrolysis.

[Lee Koepke]

naval jelly, sanding pad, elbow grease, patience.....

[Bryan Morgan]

That doesn't look too bad. Some Rust Free and gray 3M pads should fix you up.

[Bryan Morgan]

Only on surfaces that don't matter. The wire wheel will remove more material then you expect and flat surfaces won't be flat anymore. BoShield makes a Rust Remove that I recently picked up, I haven't tried it yet but have heard good results. Also do a google search for electrolysis, lots of old iron that gets restored gets stripped of paint and rust via electrolysis.

Its Rust Free. Works good but make sure you are in a well ventilated area or be prepared for some burning nose hairs. Also, don't leave it on more than a minute or two or the metal turns black... which is why you use the grey 3M pads.

[Scott Hildenbrand]

Barkeeper's friend and a scotch pad.

[Ben Hatcher]

I use BoShield and a greed 3m pad. It works pretty well for me.

[Kyle Stiefel]

I am loving it folks as I have restricted myself over this past period of time on site visitation, to depressing not being able to make dust in a meaningful fashion until now...

Thanks,
Kyle

[Dave Cav]

That looks like mostly surface rust. I would go after it with a single edge razor blade scraper first (it will remove a lot of the rust) followed by medium steel wool and WD40 or something similar.

[Scott Hildenbrand]

I'm not big on WD40 as a protectant. It just oils things up and makes a mess, IMHO. Heck, the stuff barely works to lubricate rusty bolts.

I use a coat or two of Johnson's Paste Wax over any exposed surfaces once it's all cleaned up and spit shined. Puts a good hard protectant layer over it and will not transfer to wood.

[Joshua Culp]

I have very good success with a product named Evapo-Rust. It's meant to submerge parts in, so you would have to dam off a horizontal surface with clay then flood it like a rice paddy.

[Kirk Poore]

Wire wheel on angle grinder,but safety glasses is a must----Carroll

I'd go just a little more elaborate--a knotted wire cup wheel on the angle grinder. Works very fast, doesn't throw wires nearly as much.

Kirk

[Michael Flores]

Why doesn't anybody use CLR?

[Gregg Feldstone]

Scott, You meant to say "protectant" not "protestant", right?

I use Topsaver from Empire Manufacturing. With more heavy rust I normally have to repeat it a few days later, as it draws moisture out of the deeper poors and actually promotes a new layer of mild surface rust which is easily removed. After Topsaver you have to apply some type of sealant to keep out moisture. To this date I have found NOTHING which is safe for wood which will work for more than a few days. Empire claims their Table Top Lubricant does the trick but I still get new rust in a few days. I have tried just about everything. A friend recently told me to melt beeswax into the pores and buff it out....haven't tried this yet.

To make the rust removal easier I use gray or red non-abrasive velcro backed synthetic pads on my Festool Rotex DA sander. I don't get scratches and save my arms. An RA sander works also, but takes a bit longer. I live on an island in the Gulf of Mexico 1/2 mile from the ocean.

Has anyone tried the beeswax method??