Ian
Notorious member
This comes up a lot here. Guns, reloading tools, bullet moulds, hand tools, etc. A part that was polished and blued has rusted and we want to remove the crust, stop the rusting process, and restore the appearance without removing all of the original bluing.
While we can't put metal back where it has been etched away, we CAN stop the rust and preserve the finish. Here's how:
Degrease the parts and boil them in plain water for 30 minutes to an hour to convert FeO² to FeO³. Card off the bright red rust with a fine-bristled stainless steel carding brush or degreased steel wool. Soak in kerosene or Varsol overnight, dry, and oil the part.
Here are an unblued and very lightly rusted cold chisel, a blued and very rusty punch, an unblued and very rusty home-made tee wrench, and a polished, blued Quadrajet socket with a couole spots of bad crust. The large and small carding brushes are from Brownells.
While we can't put metal back where it has been etched away, we CAN stop the rust and preserve the finish. Here's how:
Degrease the parts and boil them in plain water for 30 minutes to an hour to convert FeO² to FeO³. Card off the bright red rust with a fine-bristled stainless steel carding brush or degreased steel wool. Soak in kerosene or Varsol overnight, dry, and oil the part.
Here are an unblued and very lightly rusted cold chisel, a blued and very rusty punch, an unblued and very rusty home-made tee wrench, and a polished, blued Quadrajet socket with a couole spots of bad crust. The large and small carding brushes are from Brownells.