Thread: Removing rust from accordian type steel way covers ?

Originally Posted by Neslob660

I send my way covers to this outfit in Rockford Illinois. They do a great job. They always come back like new.

BUWW Coverings Inc. | Machine Tool Protection | Custom Enclosures & Bellows & Way Covers

Brian

Good to know! I could use this in the future.

I've never tried it myself, so no first-hand experience, but I know a small handfull of old-engine / old-car guys who swear by a molasses-and-water mixture as a rust removal bath. From what they tell me, molasses:water ratios between 1:5 and 1:20 work well, and bulk molasses can be purchased at many livestock feed mills.

Got any anodize or plating companies in the area? We used to have Oakite Rust Stripper tanks (hot NaOH) that would eat the rust very quickly. Simply hang the part and dunk it in the tank. Come back in 1 hour. Rinse off with a triple cascade DI water rinse. Done.

I used to use dunk anything from disassembled chucks to machine parts in the tank (after degreasing them) and it comes out nice without scrubbing.

If you have not tried Evaporust you will not believe how well it works. I did a whole mill table once: put it upside down in a shallow tray - it was a rubbermaid cart shelf actually - and then poured in the Evaporust. Almost anything else you can use is pretty toxic and also damaging to other things it touches. Evaporust is so benign you can rinse your eyes out with it when you are done. I'm not kidding, the only warning on the bucket says don't let it sit around or some kid will drown in it. It will not touch paint, plastic, or oil.

More to the point I just did the VMC way covers, similar size to yours. You do need to degrease thoroughly, any oil keeps the Evaporust away from the rust. It will take the rust to clean metal, which means it will take the black oxide off of bolts and such so you may want to remove those if any. You can leave all the rubber or brass or aluminum parts on it - Evaporust won't bother it at all.

What about dry ice blasting
As it is rust fallen on the covers and not from the covers itself it might work
You could do it on the machine
Those machines are probbably for rent

Peter from Holland

Originally Posted by dian

evaporust?

Check here: Evapo-Rust Rust Remover Home

i was actually recommending it. use it all the time. problem: if you reuse it or apply a too small quantity and it turns dark, the metal will get dark also.

"If that comment was directed at me, re read my post Mr. Magoo."

it wasnt. its just that when you were to use some evapo soaked towels or something, the stuff would firstly get between the covers and secondly could dripp onto the ways. both would be a mess. it dries into a jelly type coating. also, you need to clean evapo with water after the application, so i reckon it will be inconvienient on the machine. (you could somehow put plastic under the covers and use sudds?)

who the hell is magoo?

and yes, seeing below post, be sure to soak it over night.

Example of Evaporust. I suppose that washing soda and a battery charger would work, too.

Two heads for a Sturtevant-Richmont torque wrench. I dissassembled, cleaned, and then used Evaporust. Soaked for about an hour, wiped off with the omnipresent "blue paper towels". You get a lot of black crud, which I believe is FeO, or ferrous oxide (rust is ferric oxide, Fe2O3, and related hydrates of same). The FeO wipes off readily with a towel, although I did use a wire brush to get some of it off. Pretty easy.

Greased the head with moly-d grease, reassembled. The Sturtevant Richmont folks seem to be pretty expert in torque-related products. www.srtorque.com.

Before:

After:

According to the Evaporust manf, most of the "black" is carbon left from the orginal steel as it rusted. If you are going to repaint, wash everything off with hot water so the steel dries quickly; it will "flash rust" almost immediately if not.

who the hell is magoo?

Mr. Magoo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Why not give the soaking towels a go with Vinegar. Cheap and easy!

Here's an example of it used on a car roof:

So you have some rust...A different way to use vineger.. - THE H.A.M.B.

milacron, so what did you end up doing?

Originally Posted by dian

milacron, so what did you end up doing?

Removed guarding, seperated each into three sections and did a combination of Evaporust, scraping with wide razor scraper, sandpaper on 5 inch disk oscillating type sander, finished up with 3M abrasive pads by hand (to remove swirl marks from sander)

It's possible Evaporust would have got it all if left submurged long enough, but due to way section sizes it would have taken probably 5 gallons, and I only had 1 gallon. So I tried the soaked with Evaporust rag trick, but after 4 hours it didn't do much. In the end it was pretty much the PITA I feared, but done in stages so I didn't quite melt into a pool of boredom. Still can't believe these were not SS in the first place.

i have tried vinegar in the meantime, as suggested above and really it works, it gives you "virgin metal". interestingly you dont have to submerse the part, actually it works better where the part sticks out of the vinegar (in a sealed container). the process is very slow, however.

and, btw, today i might have found a solution to the problem you had. i tried a solution for removing rust from stone on metal. i took a piece of moderately rusted sheet metal, put a double layer of kitchen towel over it and sprayed it with the stuff. after an hour i took off the towels, brushed the piece under running water and: "virgin metal". i dont know what the stuff is, it has a peculiar smell. ct-chemie gmbh,moeller stone care hmk, r 79, rostfleckenentferner. how is that for lateral thinking?

Originally Posted by dian

and, btw, today i might have found a solution to the problem you had. i tried a solution for removing rust from stone on metal. i took a piece of moderately rusted sheet metal, put a double layer of kitchen towel over it and sprayed it with the stuff. after an hour i took off the towels, brushed the piece under running water and: "virgin metal". i dont know what the stuff is, it has a peculiar smell. ct-chemie gmbh,moeller stone care hmk, r 79, rostfleckenentferner. how is that for lateral thinking?

I'm not sure what the rust situation was with these way covers in the sense that I would say they appeared "extremely" rusty...except most of the rust would scrape off with the razor and the end result of the bare metal after cleaning has no noticable pitting. All that rust and no pitting whatsoever...weird. It's almost as if there was a layer of a substance on top of the sheet metal and that substance had solidified and rusted, such that the main issue was just getting that layer, of whatever it was, off. And that's what the Evaporust didn't seem very effective at.

It was almost as if the way covers got a little rusty 11 years ago, so someone sprayed a layer of LPS-3, then 3 years of cast iron dust fell on them and the dust rusted so they sprayed another layer of LPS-3, repeat ever 3 years...until I bought the machine. That senario seems unlikely and I'm just guessing...but that's what it was like...a sort of solid "goo" thick layer of rust. Which, when I finally got underneath it, the metal itself wasn't terribly rusty. But it was pretty difficult to get that layer off.

There was a layer of cosmoline or LPS-3 on the table, which had turned black with age...but no rust on the table once that layer was scraped off. So why the sheet metal would react differently than ground cast iron just adds to the mystery.

Took some pictures specifically of the way covers yesterday. Not perfect, some bits of stain here and there....but turned out pretty nice overall. Have to be kept up with Boeshield or they will rust again however.