NO!!!!!

[Bret4207]

So, for several years I've been stowing all my moulds, powder and a few tools in a dead refrigerator with a large desiccant pack and a low wattage light bulb to keep things dry. Then I started storing a few jugs of wormer and other meds that I needed to keep from freezing. That went well for quite a while too. At some point this spring during lambing/kidding I put a bottle of strong iodine in there, not realizing at the time the top was cracked (or, one of the kids used it, cracked the top somehow and put it back!). One way or the other, that iodine seems to be bad news around metal. Happened to open the door today for the first time in quite a while and found some serious rust issues on a bunch of moulds! Did some emergency wire brushing and oiling but the damage is done. Most is cosmetic on the outside of the moulds, which is bad enough, but there are a few cavities that are going to throw some "speckled" looking bullets from now on I'm afraid. I have a couple Hochs and Cramers that are not looking good right now.

I feel terrible.

 

[Ian]

Holy crap, that sucks!

The day I was able to complete my reloading room and start moving moulds, powder, and primers in from my drafty barn was a good day. Even inside moulds can rust. I wonder if just getting a gallon of Ospho and giving all the moulds a good dunk in it would ensure it didn't get any worse until you could attend them better? Rust will continue underneath oil once it starts. Most things I can think of to remove the rust will also remove the bluing.

 

[freebullet]

Wow, that's terrible, sorry it happened to ya.

I have dunked an entire mould in oil for lts or coated them with grease all over. Wipe with volatile solvent to remove embedded moisture, then oil or grease should stop it. Metal needs oxygen to oxidize iirc.

I bet they'll shape back up, but it will take some use.

 

[Ian]

An old cleaning brush wrapped in steel wool (especially the steel loop at the tip) and painted with FINE valve lapping compound is pretty good for removing rust from cavities and will polish them nicely too.

 

[358156 hp]

Try Evaporust. I've used it on rusted molds, and I'm pretty happy with the results. Soak 'em overnight, then scrub them under running water with a nylon brush, then oil them back up. You could also give them a quick touch up with cold blue after cleaning, and before oiling them. They look pretty good that way.

 

[Chris]

Bret, that's a hard thing to see. What 358 above me said about evaporust. I have not used it, but the neighbor had a bunch of rusty molds he got off ebay cheap and I could not believe how effective the evaporust was. I need to get some for general use.

Between evaporust and a brush with a little abrasive you should fix them right up.

I've been keeping my molds in ammo cans with VPN paper clamped in the mold and never had a problem. I got a crapload I bought on sale, want me to send you some? If I ever get that tractor delivered here I am coming up your way to buy cultivators but it might be faster to send the VPN paper US Mail.

Bet you that refrigerator rust never happens to you again...

 

[JSH]

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/homemade-evapo-rust.46474/

 

[JWFilips]

Sorry to hear about that........Yep! I sometimes have used iodine to ""brown ML barrels It will works very fast ( aggressive) on uncoated steel & Iron

 

[RicinYakima]

Also used before thread lockers were developed to use on scope base screws! Ask me how I know.

 

[oscarflytyer]

Plain sucks! Before I went to EvapoRust (which I KNOW works!), I would try EezOx and Brownells Stainless Steel sponge. This combo is much easier on things, and won't remove bluing if you get it on it.

EvapoRust WILL take the bluing off in a second (which is really a form of rust...)! But it DOES work on rust very well. I have used it on rusted dies with great results.

 

[RBHarter]

I've used evaporust on a couple of moulds that weren't bad , they only took a couple of hours to clean up .
The few things I've used it on have come out a nice flat grey bare iron patina . I haven't used it on stuff that was showing scale or blisters .

 

[Bret4207]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I just saw "Evaporust"at our local TSC, guess I'll try it. I've cleaned up some bad moulds before, I suppose I can do it again. I just can't believe this happened to ME. I've been pretty conscientious about my moulds- there are over 80 of them in there! Just feel awful about this. Even the single and double cavs in their boxes got it. Man, just makes me mad.

 

[300BLK]

I would not use Evaporust. Clean them with hot water and SOS/Brillo pads and then spray them with WD-40, or just steel wool and oil. They will need cleaning again to remove the WD-40 or oil, but that will hold them for now. If you remove the bluing, expect to need to cast with them until the turn color form the heat before they cast nice bullets again. Cold blue ISN'T the answer. It ISN'T the same as hot salts bluing, rust bluing, or heat bluing. Copper sulphate might appear bluish for a while, but it really isn't anything I want on anything that I value.

 

[358156 hp]

The only real reason to blue a mould is if the looks bother you when they're nekkid. Bluing has no real function except for appearance. I oil blue mine when necessary because nekkid moulds make me feel awkward. H&G used to heat their finished moulds until smokin' hot, then plunge them in oil. It gave them that neat "straw" finish.

 

[Pistolero]

I lost a pair of nice big channel locks, found them in the field, halfway between a bridge I was building
and the house, about a year later.

Rigged up a electrolysis setup, piece of rebar, battery charger, bucket of washing soda solution and
a copper wire to the channel locks, another to rebar chunk. It boiled and fizzed like crazy, remove all traces of rust very nicely.
Can't fill in the pits but all things considered, it worked really well for the cost of a box of washing soda
at the grocery, a few bucks. One box of washing soda will be pretty much a lifetime supply
unless you found a 1922 John Deere at the bottom of a swamp and are restoring it.

https://www.wwgoa.com/article/removing-rust-with-electrolysis/
Bill

 

[300BLK]

The only real reason to blue a mould is if the looks bother you when they're nekkid. Bluing has no real function except for appearance. I oil blue mine when necessary because nekkid moulds make me feel awkward. H&G used to heat their finished moulds until smokin' hot, then plunge them in oil. It gave them that neat "straw" finish.

It isn't about the look. A white cavity in a ferrous metal mould will cast wrinkly bullets until that cavity has had enough heat in it for it to change color.

 

[358156 hp]

It isn't about the look. A white cavity in a ferrous metal mould will cast wrinkly bullets until that cavity has had enough heat in it for it to change color.

That doesn't match my experience with them, but many moulds won't cast worth a hoot until they get a little oxidization in the cavities.

 

[Bret4207]

My experience has been that anytime you lap or sometimes even polish a cavity, it takes a bit of casting before the mould "get's it's head on straight". Brand new moulds that are prepped from the maker offer the same issues. I don't know if the heat blue has anything to do with it. I do know each time I heat a mould up it's a new adventure! I own few that are dead easy to work with every time.

 

[blackthorn]

For whatever it is worth---A couple of years ago I picked up two lightly rusted round-ball moulds at the local gun show. I don't/didn't need them but they were cheap and I wanted to try saving them. I took enough hot water to cover the mould halves, added a tablespoon of citric acid and left them over night. The next day, not a spec of rust remained on either mold! There was no bluing left either. The moulds were clean down to metal. I have also used this method on a small cast pot that had been left out in the elements for a LONG time. After a couple of days, there was rust hanging off the bail, like Spanish moss off a tree branch. A week in the citric solution and the little pot was like new.

 

[fiver]

citric acid does get the tarnish off our brass cases real well, I have seen it clean up some gunky old carburetors too.
it would be worth a shot.