"Correct" Rust Removal/Mitigation and Wood Preservation

T

thisistheway

Well-known member
I have several parts in my collection now that have varying degrees of rust, from "smooth orange patina" to "crusty." I've read a lot of commentary on what not to do to metal that would adulterate it from a collector's standpoint (hit anything original with serious abrasives, cold blue, even boiling seems controversial). On the flipside, I have heard suggestions such as dry #0000 steel wool, WD-40 or Flitz on a rag and elbow grease, and of course "don't touch it" as means for removing surface corrosion to a point where you can then wipe on some Ballistol/preferred anti-rust agent and preserve what is left of the original finish.

Similarly, on the topic of preserving wood stocks, there is consensus on plenty of things you obviously should not do (sanding, stripping, carving a crude deer head in the side), but I've seen little in terms of what you should. Is wiping on some plain BLO to replenish the surface a sin? Perhaps more complicated, what if you have a stock with severely raised grain (particularly of the unfinished late war vintage) from moisture exposure, resulting in a dried out, uneven surface that is likely splinter and crack-prone? Is there an accepted method for protecting the wood from further degradation?

Obviously, I'm sure there are differences in opinion regarding what is good, what is ok, and what is ruinous. There's a reason "restoration" appears in quotation marks so frequently here. I am curious, though, if there's some degree of consensus around things you can or should do to protect these increasingly quite valuable investments. How do you care for and protect yours? And for the advanced collectors here, when evaluating a serious matching acquisition, how have you most often seen well-meaning people inadvertently destroy the value of a rifle?
 
For light surface rust (orange /patina) a soaking in Kroil will loosen it up for removal with a soft brush (old toothbrush) and cloth. Repeat as necessary. No steel wool or wd40. For more serious rust there are a number of rust removers available. The mildest is the Birchwood Casey stuff but it also will remove bluing especially cold blue. For what you refer to as "crusty" usually means surface flaking/pitting. One of the "Evapo Rust" or POR15 formulas may be best but my experience once you get to "flaking" stage there isn't much one can do short of removing top layers of material.(n) For post rust removal treatment, I prefer Birchwood Casy Shield (previously known as Sheath) which was developed for protection of saltwater fishing gear.

For stocks first step is a nonabrasive cleaning not stripping. I have found Murphy's Oil Soap works the best. Its veg oil based not petroleum and is used on fine furniture, wood musical instruments etc. Follow directions its mixed with warm water and applied liberally with sponge/soft rags, an old toothbrush can be used to pull up grime & oil/grease saturated areas. It will not remove any colored stain that may have been applied. After that treatment with whatever wood presentative of choice, but unlike many on here I do not like using anything on wood that is petroleum based as it tends to break down wood fibers.
I have seen some wood items that have dried out to the point where surface is breaking down that were re hydrated using a hemp oil based treatment much like what it used on wooden cutting boards and butchers blocks. It is also nonpetroleum based.
 
For rust greater than a small area boiling or steaming is the best option. It convert's the active rust to bluing and doesn't hurt the value. The process is fairly straightforward you'd just have to do some googling. I wouldn't recommend cold blue for two reasons, one you can smell it from a mile off and two it comes off easily especially if you run a ultrasonic like me.

For wood it just depends on the finish and how dry it is. Ballistol is a safe bet as long as the stock doesn't have a synthetic finish. Linseed oil is very good, Lemon oil also works especially if the stock has a odor, antique wood polish (equal parts turpentine, beeswax and turpentine) is excellent as well if the stocks already well oiled.

For me as long as you're doing simple maintenance it doesn't hurt the originality.
 
Thank you all for your thoughts. I'm familiar with all of these products and use them regularly for different things.

Regarding boiling - I've experimented with doing it with just tap water and it did a great job of loosening the surface rust but barely darkened the surface. Does using distilled water make that big of a difference?

As for wood, these are all great options for cleaning, and I have a few methods I use depending on how light a touch I want to be in that regard, but I am curious about the hypothetical of a stock with badly raised grain. I suppose if you used a product with beeswax (I would use Tried and True Original Finish for that - it's just polymerized linseed oil and beeswax) you could build up the finish enough to fill the raised grain enough to smooth it out. The result would still be very much less clean looking and feeling than taking down the grain, but if you're dedicated to not removing any material, once the grain is raised I suppose the only option is adding material (wax). If an oil-and wax finish isn't likely to bother collectors, this is good to know.
 
thisistheway said:
Does using distilled water make that big of a difference?
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I've used steam from a tea pot with regular water to do spots and it worked pretty well. For barreled actions or big parts I use a gutter filled with distilled water. Depending on how bad it is it may take several boilings. One thing I forgot to mention is don't oil the parts after you convert them. As soon as you're done soak them with kerosene (outdoor and the Mrs is gone type of job) I use a spray bottle and a brush. The kerosene prevents rust and hardens the bluing. Oil may or may not remove the fresh blue. After a day or so you're good to go.
 
OldColt said:
I've used steam from a tea pot with regular water to do spots and it worked pretty well. For barreled actions or big parts I use a gutter filled with distilled water. Depending on how bad it is it may take several boilings. One thing I forgot to mention is don't oil the parts after you convert them. As soon as you're done soak them with kerosene (outdoor and the Mrs is gone type of job) I use a spray bottle and a brush. The kerosene prevents rust and hardens the bluing. Oil may or may not remove the fresh blue. After a day or so you're good to go.
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This is really good info - I spray parts down with Ballistol after cleaning as a matter of course so did the same when boiling to convert rust. Next time I'll have some lighter fluid on hand. Is the charcoal stuff good enough or should I get something higher grade?
 
I'm not sure. I just use regular K-1 Kerosene because that's what I've got on hand for my shop heater and mixing ed's red.
 
Thinking about trying steaming some bolt components with light surface rust by literally using the steamer basket on a rice cooker. Found an old bottle of Ronsonol (more potent kerosene than the charcoal lighter stuff) lying around so I'll give that a try. As for the crusty parts it looks like most are flat buttplates (no original finish) so dropping in a bowl of evaporust overnight is probably the way to go with those. Will try the Kroil on an old trigger guard that has the "haze" (it's also badly pitted and has no visible markings other than the S/N so seems like a good guinea pig. I'll share results when done.

I do need to get one of those gutter setups, I'm thinking with a plug-in electric stove as the heat source and set everything up outside. I have an old Argy barreled action that's absolutely crustified I've been meaning to experiment with.
 
So I have a semi-professional ultra sonic cleaner that heats up to a pretty high temp.

I was thinking of throwing in a trainer bolt and maybe the action (can't fit whole barreled action in the ultrasonic cleaner) but I was like yea....with my luck I will totally jack the rifle up, so, would it be okay to throw those in? What cleaning solution would work without harming the finish? Could you use Dawn?
 
WreckTangle said:
So I have a semi-professional ultra sonic cleaner that heats up to a pretty high temp.

I was thinking of throwing in a trainer bolt and maybe the action (can't fit whole barreled action in the ultrasonic cleaner) but I was like yea....with my luck I will totally jack the rifle up, so, would it be okay to throw those in? What cleaning solution would work without harming the finish? Could you use Dawn?
Click to expand...
I use a small dollop of Dawn in a heated ultrasonic as my milsurp cosmoline removal method. Dish soap isn't totally harmless though and of course strips away all oil and often desirable protective forms of oxidation from the surface (same reason you clean your stainless cookware with Barkeeper's Friend and not dish soap, or should be), so parts go from the ultrasonic to a rinse in the sink then quick wipedown and spray down with Ballistol. So in a nutshell, yes dish soap works, it's the gentlest and most effective degreaser in combination with high heat and ultrasonic in my experience, but it's still not totally innocuous and depending on what you're working with you can get pretty nasty flash rust if you're not careful. It's great for caked ComBloc milsurps, I would do anything valuable by hand. Also, stay away from SimpleGreen, it had a weird mottling effect on the bluing of one of said ComBloc milsurps and I don't go near it anymore. Hydrochloric acid and even vinegar are also dangerous, you're just as likely to end up acid-etching the metal as lifting the rust (and bluing) off. Evapo-rust is an amazing product but it will remove *everything* including bluing - I pretty much only use it on badly corroded bores.

EDIT: Also, I don't think most heated ultrasonics go up to boiling, but I could be wrong.
 
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.I use Eds Red in my ultrasonic minus the acetone. You have to be careful with the temp so it doesn't go over flashpoint though. Stupid simple and it just works.
 
I tend to be pretty conservative and just clean anything rare/valuable by hand with the usual tools of brass brushes, oil, picks, etc.

Things are different of course if it's been kept in a damp barn for 40 years or is a twenty pound block of cosmoline with a mosin somewhere inside, but I consider that kind of thing to be a totally different conversation from guns that are already in acceptable condition.
 
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