Here is my dilemma:
For years I have been trying to find a product or way to completely remove the rust and oxidation (both red oxides and hardened black oxides) from rusted and mainly pitted metal. I have tried just about everything. Loctite Naval Jelly, Steel Wool, Mineral Spirits (Soak), K1 Kerosene, CLR, Brasso, Flitz, Brass Gun Brushes, Metal Finishing Pad, 800-2000grit wet/dry, WD 40, Liquid Wrench, Rem Oil, Ballistol, and Hoppes Weathergaurd. The best results I have gotten was from a treatment of Naval Jelly (for 10 minutes each application) followed by a scouring of Steel Wool. Then I rinsed the metal with hot water and wiped down with a rag soaked with K1 Kerosene (to penetrate the light acid in naval jelly and stabilize the metal). Then I hit the steel pits with a brass gun brush and repeat until the pits are exfoliated. (the problem is this is ALOT of work and very time consuming process that takes a lot of focus. Especially while trying to keep with the lines of the knife)
There has got to be a better way to remove the hardened black oxides from the pits in steel.
I have never tried sandblasting a pitted blade before and don't know if this is even an option. I know there is bead blasting for finish, so it might be a possibility. Has anyone ever tried bead blasting heavily pitted metal? I know train engineers use large industrial sandblasters to remove heavy oxidation and rust from the wheels and steel frames of steel train cars. I saw this on an episode of Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe a few months back. The extremely pitted train car frames were rust free after being media blasted. So this might work?? The only thing I would worry about is the lines of the knife(s) being kept sharp and clean. But bead blasting is a finish. Thoughts??
What about the sand shakers that clean the residue from brass shells before reloading.. This is a good medium as an abrasive that obviously wont effect lines a lot. The shell has to be just about exact down to measurement with a micrometer or the gun will not function correctly in battery. Thoughts??
Something I find very interested is the use of products that are not specifically designed for knife/gun care. Such products are all over. If you have had experience in auto work (be it body work or motor/frame work) You know that they use an acid bath or bead blasting to clean rusted or oxidized metals before they cut out quarter panels in cars and tig/mig weld them. Then they use flat bartard files and sand paper blocks (With 300grit - 800grit - 2000grit wet/dry) to flatten and flush up the welds and worked on areas of the car - to "keep to the lines"...
Just something to think about..
Does anyone out there know of any products out there that work well for removing rust or penetrate enough to really get into those hardened oxides in pitted steel? Someone should really make a product that penetrates deep into oxides. If you make a weak acid like naval jelly, it will work well to remove the surface rust, but the problem is that it oxidizes the steel in the process, and without enough abrasive getting into those pits, you are only just touching those oxides with a treatment. If someone could invent a product that removes metal oxides, and didn't oxidize the steel itself it would be the perfect product. Some polishes work because the fibers of whatever you polish with work as a micro abrasive with the polish and actually get into those pits.
Maybe if an electric current was applied with a penetrant of some kind??? It could somehow penetrate the oxides and pull them to a magnetic or electro charged source? Keep in mind that Parkerization works almost reverse of this process; involving a weak acid bath and manganese or zinc hooked to an electric current. Sometimes corrosion occurs on aluminum with an electric current (called Galvanic Corrosion) This can be due to a mixture of acids, salts, or oils and sometimes chemical reactions. Even aluminum pits, which isn't as well known about as it should be. If an electric current mixed with certain mediums can cause a chemical reaction to cause Galvanic Corrosion or any other corrosion it could be tweaked to do just the opposite in just the right mixtures and conditions. (Just like Loctite Naval Jelly will corrode metal if left for long periods of time, but it will remove a large amount of oxides from a knife and is just about the only thing other than polish that removes oxides from pits)
However the process... (chemical, magnetic, electric, or an abrasive medium) there really is a necessity for someone to invent or come up with a process or product to remove the oxides on steel. They would make a fortune, I would buy it, and it would be a game changer in every industry that works with and restores metal.
We need some metallurgists, engineers, and people with experience with finishes and chemicals on board here. Does anyone else feel the same way about this?
I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences. Maybe someone can think of something here. I want as many people on this thread with knowledge about products and processes that I can get. Feel free to post or comment.
Examples of exfoliating pits in blades:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ion-and-Removal-of-Rust-Oxidation-and-Pitting
For years I have been trying to find a product or way to completely remove the rust and oxidation (both red oxides and hardened black oxides) from rusted and mainly pitted metal. I have tried just about everything. Loctite Naval Jelly, Steel Wool, Mineral Spirits (Soak), K1 Kerosene, CLR, Brasso, Flitz, Brass Gun Brushes, Metal Finishing Pad, 800-2000grit wet/dry, WD 40, Liquid Wrench, Rem Oil, Ballistol, and Hoppes Weathergaurd. The best results I have gotten was from a treatment of Naval Jelly (for 10 minutes each application) followed by a scouring of Steel Wool. Then I rinsed the metal with hot water and wiped down with a rag soaked with K1 Kerosene (to penetrate the light acid in naval jelly and stabilize the metal). Then I hit the steel pits with a brass gun brush and repeat until the pits are exfoliated. (the problem is this is ALOT of work and very time consuming process that takes a lot of focus. Especially while trying to keep with the lines of the knife)
There has got to be a better way to remove the hardened black oxides from the pits in steel.
I have never tried sandblasting a pitted blade before and don't know if this is even an option. I know there is bead blasting for finish, so it might be a possibility. Has anyone ever tried bead blasting heavily pitted metal? I know train engineers use large industrial sandblasters to remove heavy oxidation and rust from the wheels and steel frames of steel train cars. I saw this on an episode of Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe a few months back. The extremely pitted train car frames were rust free after being media blasted. So this might work?? The only thing I would worry about is the lines of the knife(s) being kept sharp and clean. But bead blasting is a finish. Thoughts??
What about the sand shakers that clean the residue from brass shells before reloading.. This is a good medium as an abrasive that obviously wont effect lines a lot. The shell has to be just about exact down to measurement with a micrometer or the gun will not function correctly in battery. Thoughts??
Something I find very interested is the use of products that are not specifically designed for knife/gun care. Such products are all over. If you have had experience in auto work (be it body work or motor/frame work) You know that they use an acid bath or bead blasting to clean rusted or oxidized metals before they cut out quarter panels in cars and tig/mig weld them. Then they use flat bartard files and sand paper blocks (With 300grit - 800grit - 2000grit wet/dry) to flatten and flush up the welds and worked on areas of the car - to "keep to the lines"...
Just something to think about..
Does anyone out there know of any products out there that work well for removing rust or penetrate enough to really get into those hardened oxides in pitted steel? Someone should really make a product that penetrates deep into oxides. If you make a weak acid like naval jelly, it will work well to remove the surface rust, but the problem is that it oxidizes the steel in the process, and without enough abrasive getting into those pits, you are only just touching those oxides with a treatment. If someone could invent a product that removes metal oxides, and didn't oxidize the steel itself it would be the perfect product. Some polishes work because the fibers of whatever you polish with work as a micro abrasive with the polish and actually get into those pits.
Maybe if an electric current was applied with a penetrant of some kind??? It could somehow penetrate the oxides and pull them to a magnetic or electro charged source? Keep in mind that Parkerization works almost reverse of this process; involving a weak acid bath and manganese or zinc hooked to an electric current. Sometimes corrosion occurs on aluminum with an electric current (called Galvanic Corrosion) This can be due to a mixture of acids, salts, or oils and sometimes chemical reactions. Even aluminum pits, which isn't as well known about as it should be. If an electric current mixed with certain mediums can cause a chemical reaction to cause Galvanic Corrosion or any other corrosion it could be tweaked to do just the opposite in just the right mixtures and conditions. (Just like Loctite Naval Jelly will corrode metal if left for long periods of time, but it will remove a large amount of oxides from a knife and is just about the only thing other than polish that removes oxides from pits)
However the process... (chemical, magnetic, electric, or an abrasive medium) there really is a necessity for someone to invent or come up with a process or product to remove the oxides on steel. They would make a fortune, I would buy it, and it would be a game changer in every industry that works with and restores metal.
We need some metallurgists, engineers, and people with experience with finishes and chemicals on board here. Does anyone else feel the same way about this?
I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences. Maybe someone can think of something here. I want as many people on this thread with knowledge about products and processes that I can get. Feel free to post or comment.
Examples of exfoliating pits in blades:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ion-and-Removal-of-Rust-Oxidation-and-Pitting
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