Removing Corrosion

[sign216]

I've got this Major in-floor safe door. The exterior corrosion is signifcant, but fortunately it hasn't reached the interior. What's the best way to remove the oxidation marks?

I'm assuming it's a nickle plating on carbon steel?

[MartinHewitt]

I have little experience with corrosion removal, but as nobody else response I will tell you the little I have.

I recently tried evapo-rust on a key that was a bit more rusted then the handle brackets of you door. The rust was gone quickly, but the result was not pleasing, because the key was overall dull and especially so where the thick rust stains were. The overall result so far is IMHO not better than the rusted version.

Some while ago I got a rusted lock (made from gray cast iron) sand blasted to remove the rust, which was more than on the key. Directly after sand blasting it was even more dull than the key, but working on the surface with emerald paper made it look much more better, maybe nearly as good as new (because the grad cast is itself quite porous and was so new).

So I would start with not obvious parts to test any cleaning method, maybe under the handle brackets. If you can recreate the circles then it could make sense to disassemble it completely and mechanically clean up the complete surface. Otherwise I would look into mild cleaning

[billdeserthills]

$52.11



CRATEX Engine Turning Kit - Z086
Roll over image to zoom in
CRATEX Engine Turning Kit - Z086

https://www.amazon.com/CRATEX-Engine-Tu ... B07WC5K963

[sign216]

MartinH,
I'm surprised the Evaporust was so aggressive, I think of it as mild, compared to the alternative (naval jelly). However, Evaporust will take off gun blueing right away, so Evaporust does have a "dark side." For this unit I was perplexed, because the corrosion has a greenish cast, instead of the red or black of rust. As you suggested, I tried naval jelly on a small spot, and it didn't do anything. Steel wool didn't do much either.

I think the underlying finish isn't very robust. I'm guessing it's nickle plating over carbon steel. I've accidentally removed the turned surface of other ones with just aggressive cleaning, so I don't want to strip that, and then the plating. Once the plating is gone, it would be a mess. Sometimes for nickle plating the object is first plated with copper, which might explain the green tint here.

BillDHills,
That engine turning kit is interesting, I'll keep it in mind. It's a good option.


In the end, I got rid of it for what I paid. The mechanism was locked up, which I could solve, but once you add on the corrosion it wasn't worth all the labor it would take.

[MartinHewitt]

I don't think the Evaporust was very aggressive. I think it just wasn't able to fill up the damage the rust did.

[sign216]

I don't think the Evaporust was very aggressive. I think it just wasn't able to fill up the damage the rust did.

I understand now. As they say; "rust never sleeps."

[jimdoc]

If it is pitted bad enough, I would just sand it down and paint it. Or powder coat or Cerakote it, if you can.

[stratmando]

Maybe Walnut Blasting Or Other Media?

[Kaesekopf]

I'm told soda blasting is the thing they do on cars these days instead of sandblasting, but I'm not by any means an expert