Porch40

Does anyone have a good alternative to sandblasting for getting rusted parts back to bare metal ? I don't really have anywhere I could use a sandblaster. And even if I did rent one I'm taking things apart very slowly so I'd have to rent it for weeks. Any ideas other than a wire brush ?

Thanks for your thoughts

SIXFOOTER

Harbor freight has a couple of benchtop sand blast boxes pretty cheap, that might work for you

Monty

4 1/2" grinder with a stranded wire wheel/cup works well.

Star79

Smallish parts you can soak them in vinegar for a couple of days. This removes/loosens paint/rust/etc. Wash and dry right away though or the corrosion starts again real fast.

gator79

that's what I used except with a knotted wire wheel. did the whole frame. I bought a sandblast cabinet from Cummins for $200.00 well worh it for other parts, I even fit my trailing arms and front control arms in it.

Swamper

I use an old gunsmithing trick sometimes, use naval jelly to remove rust from small parts and then fill the pits in with silver solder and sand smooth for paint. I use a mapp gas / oxy burnsomatic torch to apply the solder. You can apply heat to a very small area and it wont take the temper out of hardened parts. Not sure what you are working on but silver solder will stay put on parts that need to flex like hinges and suspension - Swamper

Monty

Yeah, knotted is what I actually meant.

cal camara

Learned this one years ago. Wire brush the part, on a wheel preferibly. Spray with a rust converter. This will convert the micro rust particles missed by the wire brush, so they do not resurface. You can get this in a rattle can at pep boys for instance. It converts rust to a black coating suitable for paiting. However I wire brush again, after the copating dries, and paint as normal. Works great for small parts, Even bolts. I have actually tested it by treating a part and not treating a part after the wire brush. Left the parts out in rain and weather and the treated part looked perfect, the untreated bad. The converter also tends to fill small pits in some metals.
cal

CrossedFlags77

Try using electrolysis. Here are the instructions. I have used it to remove the rust on a tranmission case before and it works really well. You also dont have to worry about any blasting media being left behind in internal parts.

http://antique-engines.com/electrol.asp

comp

interesting

yellow 72

You can carefully use a sodium hydroxide/water mix for small metal parts. Great for removing anodized finishes.......