Rust removal
#16
#17
I posted this question in another thread but did not get a lot of feedback. I have a marine steering wheel that I need to restore (I volunteer in the wooden boat shop at a maritime museum). The wheel has typical cracks from "exploding" rust. I know that I need to get the rust out and halted. I restored a Banjo wheel in the past, however the rust on the rim was not that significant. I typically media blast parts however not a good option in this case. I have also used the diluted muriatic process on nuts and bolts. Has anyone gone thru this process? Your thoughts?
#18
Except for the guy who completely ruined a crack-free block by leaving it in a couple days too long. Every machined surface looked like a golf ball, pits all over. As I recall he had to throw it away. There are so many faster, cheaper ways to clean a part, I just don't understand the attraction. Molasses works because it has sulfuric acid in it. Sulfuric costs a whole lot less and doesn't stink, but again there is a point where good metal starts disappearing, you need to be standing there when it happens. My machine shop charges $30 to thoroughly vat a block, not worth the trouble to do anything else IMO.
Concentration of acid in molasses can't be that high.
Heck molasses is all natural so just dump it and wash it way. As for the rust left over, ferrous iron is the most abundant mineral in the ground, I'm sure adding a little more won't hurt
#19
I posted this question in another thread but did not get a lot of feedback. I have a marine steering wheel that I need to restore (I volunteer in the wooden boat shop at a maritime museum). The wheel has typical cracks from "exploding" rust. I know that I need to get the rust out and halted. I restored a Banjo wheel in the past, however the rust on the rim was not that significant. I typically media blast parts however not a good option in this case. I have also used the diluted muriatic process on nuts and bolts. Has anyone gone thru this process? Your thoughts?
#20
#21
Case in Point.....A road tanker overturned spilling say 2000 gallons of milk has the potential to be a mini environmental disaster. A trailer full of eggs even worse.
So that volume of molasses IMHO could pose a major problem to properly dispose. Add all the iron gunk maybe even lead or mercury and what ever unknown substances it draws or converts out of the iron or left over paint and you could have a real problem.
10 gallons or so... no big deal. A couple of hundred gallons...big difference.
Another thing is, there is no free pass. Who knows what this stuff really does to the metal. It may be fine now but what about 50 years from now? It's an acid treatment and acid attacks the metal. It does in a few days what would take years of natural oxidation or rusting. The reason this stuff "works" is it goes through the oxidation "rust" to get to the parent metal. In porous metal like cast iron it penetrates and attacks the iron deep inside the metal. That's why a finely machined iron part like a head or block surface comes out looking like a deck gun from the Santa Maria.
I think this stuff takes something away from the part. It goes through the layer of oxidation very fast to chew on the parent metal. That black gunk you scrub off is not all "rust". In my accidental experiments, A viable but rusty sheet metal part came out looking like a million dollars, a short time later it was a crumbly brittle POS.
For stuff like pulleys brackets this stuff may be fine. For cabs bodies and frames, I would not.
#22
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codys50ford
1948 - 1956 F1, F100 & Larger F-Series Trucks
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09-27-2007 01:25 PM