rust removal

[tpl77]

I have (3) spots where I need to remove some pitted rust. I don't want to sand off anything more than I have to. I tried some Naval Jelly, but after an hour it barely did anything more than make the rust look clean. Is there a chemical (mabe an acid) out there that I can try? In simple terms, what is the best way to remove rust chemically?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Geno]

+1 for same question. My Mosin 91/30, after looking over under good light, I have noted that it has rust inside the action. Thanks for the thread tpl77!

Doc2005

 

[Robert Hairless]

The makers of WD-40 recommend squirting some on a wad of #0000 steel wool and polishing the surface rust away. I tried that method quite a few years ago on an old blued gun with some flash rust. My dim recollection is that it worked, sort of, and that I was able to use cold blue to cover the area, sort of. It's no substitute for complete refinishing by a professional.

 

[ball3006]

To remove rust and scale...

from a blued surface, squirt some gun oil/penetrating oil on the rust area and rub with the edge of a nickle coin. The rust will be worked off and the blue left intact. To get rust out of a pit, soak with penetrating oil and let sit. Not much can remove subsurface rust except bead blasting....chris3

 

[chris allen]

rust

If it is only surface rust, saturate oooo steel wool with any light oil and gently rub the spot.
If it is actually pitted you will mechanically have to polish out the rust pit.

Good luck ,
Chris

 

[Jim K]

I recommend bronze/brass/copper wool rather than steel wool. It will often remove light surface rust as well or better and will not scratch the bluing. Plus, the residue of brass or copper will take cold blue well and make the area look better, if only temporarily.

Still, nothing will remove deep rust and pitting; the holes are in the metal and only polishing down the rest of the area will get them "out". In other words, you remove a hole by making a much larger hole. In extreme cases, pits can be filled in with weld, but that is very expensive if done by an expert and very risky if done by anyone else. In an ordinary milsurp firearm, I use either a pentrant or boiling water to kill the active rust, and forget about it.

Jim

 

[Jim K]

I recommend bronze/brass/copper wool rather than steel wool. It will often remove light surface rust as well or better and will not scratch the bluing. Plus, the residue of brass or copper will take cold blue well and make the area look better, if only temporarily.

Still, nothing will remove deep rust and pitting; the holes are in the metal and only polishing down the rest of the area will get them "out". In other words, you remove a hole by making a much larger hole. In extreme cases, pits can be filled in with weld, but that is very expensive if done by an expert and very risky if done by anyone else. In an ordinary milsurp firearm, I use either a pentrant or boiling water to kill the active rust, and forget about it.

Jim

 

[Jim K]

Double post removed.

 

[Rex B]

Evaporust

Find some Evaporust.
Try a Parts Plus auto store, or an Auto Zone, or an industrial supply.

This will remove the rust, without hurting anything.
It will also remove blue. It's not good for spot treatments, but it's perfect for a re-finish.

You can dunk the whole gun in it and leave it for a week if you like, and it won't hurt a thing. I'd probably remove wood grips.

I have used this stuff on guns and machine tools for a couple years now. great stuff. Use it over and over, then pour it down the drain. It's safe, you don't need gloves to handle it.

Should be able to find it for under $20 a gallon.

 

[JohnBlanke]

Deep rust removal trick

Anything that scratches the rust away like a brass or steel brush, or steel wool can and will scratch the bare and blued steel. And it will not get into the deep pits. Chemicals like naval jelly can change the bluing around the rusty area and make the spot bigger than the one you started with.

An old gunsmith, long passed away, taught me a neat trick that leaves all the original metal intact and turns the rust to mush.

Take the part and place it in regular 30 weight high detergent motor oil for 30 days. For barrels, make a trough out of a 2x4 frame and line it with polyethylene. Just lay the plastic in the form and pour as many quarts of oil as it takes to entirely cover the barrrel. When the part comes out, a toothbrush will remove the rust and leave the base metal untouched. This even gets down into the deep pits. Smaller parts can be held in small pans from the kitchen.

Lacquer thinner or acetone removes all the motor oil before final cleaning and oiling.

While I'm waiting the 30 days for the oil to work, I sometimes refinish the stock to make the time go faster.

 

[tpl77]

I experimented with one of the pitted spots last night. The pitting is pretty deep. I was able to use penetrating oil with a razor knife for scraping. In this area I was very careful not to scratch the finish, but I did remove some of the bluing around the pitted area. That doesn't worry me because I will re-blue the barrel when It's ready. The problem I'm finding is that the rust pits are deep enough to have to really get on it with an abrasive. I didn't want to get into this, but it will not look right if I leave the pits and just re-blue... so I suspect I will have to start rubbing back the steel to blend the pit. This pitted area is worse than I was hoping for when I was thinking a chemical could eat it away without making it look worse.

for those with experience in blending a pitted area, do you think I can bead blast these areas and then go to a wet sand methond to smooth it out?

I do appreciate everyone's input, and as always, I learn more with every discussion. Thanks.

 

[1 old 0311]

Try a pencil eraser FIRST. Won't harm finish.

 

[4fingermick]

The oil soak method is good, but one great trick I was told was to clamp the rifle/whatever securely then use the shaft of a screwdriver rolled carefully over the rust to crush it, then oil and scrub with a toothbrush. You might have to 'pick' the pit if deep to get all of the rust out. Any steel wool or other abrasive treatment is going to remove blue.

 

[chris allen]

pits

Draw file with a smooth mill file then use aluminum oxide or wet and dry paperwork ing at 45 degrees to the previous direction go all the way to 400 or 600 grit .Keep switching directions with each progressive grit.

I have reblued hundreds of guns and a pit does not look like much until you have to get it out.

Be patient as you work and get the previous polishing marks out.It takes a lot more work than may be thought.If done properly does a much nice job than machine polish.

Chris

 

[Oohrah]

If very deep, there isn't any way to stop the action and return the already
gone material lost throught oxidation. Easiest stop is by bead blast and refinish. Lite pits the whole area can be brought down to a smooth surface,and refinished. I have heard of blasting, filling, and refinishing
but never seen an example. I have only seen very light surface areas
restored to where the same area did not continue to oxidize and rust in
the same areas.

 

[tpl77]

...I guess there's just no short cut method. I've tinkered around with different methods on this one area on the barrel and it's just not going to look right unless I take the matrerial down close to the depth of the pitting to minimize the pit's depth.

I want to try one more method, though. I want to blast the area with either glass beads or Aluminum oxide, or some kind of abrasive. Does anyone know where I could find a chart or just someone's experiences with different abrasives and the results they will give on steel? I'm a little bit aggrivated right now, so I'm thinking about some Black Beauty shot at 150 psi (just kidding)..... Are glass beads too mild? I've never used them before.

Thanks for everyone's input and ideas.

 

[Rex B]

spot blaster

Harbor Freight (and probably others) make a handheld spot blaster that might be just right for your purposes. It comes with several plastics masks with rectangular, round etc openings. You can isolate the blasting to an area smaller than a dime. Under $20.

 

[JMusic]

As far as chemical removal Birchwood Casey's Blue and rust removal works well. Good advise from above include pensil eraser, 0000 wool and oil, there are also some rubberised abrasive impregnated dremal wheels that work well. Be careful with the latter it can cause some obvious dipps if you stay too long in one place. An eraser or 0000 wool are my standards. Beed blasting probably will not do what you need. Aluminum oxide (fine) blasting followed by wet oil sanding with 2000 3m paper works for sever rust. A small wire wheel on a dremal works for small pits. All will work but you must be careful and patient. Its easy to go too far fast.

Jim