Light rust on picks

[Sourman]

Hey,

My homemade picks are showing light rust after a light rain shower.

Does anyone had to handle with this before and got a good and permanent solution?


Hope its visible...

[MBI]

Permanent solution? Buy stainless steel picks next time.

Water is wet, the sky is blue, women have secrets... and carbon steel picks will rust if left in wet or humid environments.
Wipe them down with the oil of your preference and keep them dry.
Just care for them like a good knife or a firearm.

My wife said to soak them in tomato juice for a couple weeks. But I wouldn't suggest doing that.

[lock2006]

This is a funny question and sounds like a 5 years old child question
what would you expected after a light rain shower
would happen to you picks.

[MacGyver101]

Some oil and a light rubbing with some fine steel wool will probably clean up the surface for you.

For on-going protection, if you check out your local sporting-goods store you'll probably find that the hunting/fishing section has a good variety of oils that include rust-inhibitors: something like Break-Free CLP would probably work well if you think your picks are going to get damp again, or you're storing them in a really humid environment.

[Sourman]

Permanent solution? Buy stainless steel picks next time.

Water is wet, the sky is blue, women have secrets... and carbon steel picks will rust if left in wet or humid environments.
Wipe them down with the oil of your preference and keep them dry.
Just care for them like a good knife or a firearm.

My wife said to soak them in tomato juice for a couple weeks. But I wouldn't suggest doing that.

These picks I made myself outof hacksaw blades so no carbon steel
I will try to put some oil on it, does it matter if it sewing oil/ scooter oil of is there no difference?

Some oil and a light rubbing with some fine steel wool will probably clean up the surface for you.

For on-going protection, if you check out your local sporting-goods store you'll probably find that the hunting/fishing section has a good variety of oils that include rust-inhibitors: something like Break-Free CLP would probably work well if you think your picks are going to get damp again, or you're storing them in a really humid environment.

Break-Free CLP won't work for me, there are no gun stores in my country... I will look for some online fishing stores for rust-inhibitors. THNX

[MrScruff]

Any kind of oil will offer some kind of protection, the only thing you really need to watch out for is that you don't use an oil that goes rancid, like olive oil or vegetable oil. You could look for mineral oil at one of the local grocery stores as well; you use it to keep fancy cutting boards from drying out and it works well on tools.

Worst case, send me a fresh pack of stroopwafels and some griotten and I'll send you some oil!

[bembel]

I always use Klever Quick Browning for rust protection.
Don't mind the green color, your picks will turn black.

[emptech1]

I know this is an old post, but perhaps it will help somebody.

Somebody mentioned earlier, treat the metal like it was a gun.

There are several metal treatment processes for steel. Most processes
are actually oxidation processes, were there is an intentional covering of
an oxide. Some call it blueing, some call it rusting. Another process is
commonly called parkerizing, often a finish used on military equipment.

There are chemical kits you can buy for this purpose but you can also make
your own. Once the steel is cleaned and degreased, it can be put in a solution
that will cause it to attain a dark color, can be black, can be dark green,
depends on the alloy and the chemicals. The process is also called
phosphating, hence, it uses phosphoric acid. Phosphoric acid can be purchased
from a chemical supply but is often the active ingredient in mag wheel cleaner.
You can also get a kit from auto paint suppliers used to "convert" rust for painting.

Once you have phosphated the metal, you can oil it and have a durable finish.

No spell check here, so probably lots of miss-spelled words.

You can also purchase "cold blue" from shooter's supplies, used to retouch scratches
on firearms. What ultimately protects the metal is the addition of oil.

hope this helps

[Violaetor]

Home remedy - baking soda to scour the rust off, then any light oil to rub it down.

[cuttinedge1]

Try boiling some vinegar. Clean your picks with soap and water to get all the oil off. Then take it off the heat and put your picks in. Every hour or so just wipe them off and put it back in. This will turn your picks grey/black depending on how long you leave them in. It corrodes the surface of the pick uniformly meaning rust can't corrode your picks in spots.

[illusion]

ACF-50 - hands down pure godliness in an aerosol can.

A tad pricey but a tiny bit goes a long way - Use it on your car or motorbike and they'll stay corrosion free for a fair while. While you're rubbing them down with something like micromesh or wet-and-dry, pick up some jewelers rouge or chromium oxide to polish your picks even further - death cheap and it lasts for years.

[critmass235]

anything non polar will do (car wax to preserve, and rim cleaner to get rust) the point is to keep o2 and h2o away from it( might be able to electro remove it like silver but ive never tried it on steels) but just like guns consent maintaining is key(ever been in the army you"ll know) also most mid strength acids(or strong ) will clean in but over time if you dont coat it your just slowly eating it away

[mechanical_nightmare]

I coated my hacksaw picks in plasti-dip for this exact same reason. The result looks a little brutish, but before that the handles used to rust because of the perspiration from my hands. There are some members on the site who managed to coat their picks in plasti-dip while keeping it aesthetic. This way the handles are protected, and I wipe the tips with brake fluid every once in a while and they do not rust at all.