Rust Penetration

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skyhightree1

skyhightree1

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Hello guys and gals... I wondered if anyone had a suggestion as to what I should use to penetrate rust and loosen it up to make it easier to use my angle grinder and wire wheel to clean up a old sickle bar mover with alot of rust on it. I bought a sickle bar mower for my cub and it looks like its been left outside for a few years but the knives slide back and forth just looks ugly and I want to clean it up and paint it but need to break up the rust first ... .HELP....... S.O.S :help:
 
Phosphoric or Hydrochloric acid, full strength. (Hydrochloric is stronger)
wait til it stops fizzing
Neutralize with baking soda or 20% ammonia/water solution (BS is better)
Brush, scrape, sand or grind as desired
Repeat as needed
 
Haven't tried it personally, but a lot of guys swear by a half and half mixture of ATF and acetone. Don't get it on any painted surfaces you value. It will seperate so you have to shake before use. There are certain plastics the mixture will dissolve if left in the bottle/squirt can long term.
 
Thanks... I will try couple of the mixed but I think ill probably end up sand blasting the whole thing....BOOOOOOO.... Its a PAIN IN THE ... I think they need to come up with something that will eat up rust and then take a leaf blower and blow it all off...lol
 
The rust guys have some stuff that you put on and it penetrates the rust and converts it to a hard surface. Works great but it's pricey
 
Years ago my dad did some corrosion research for a company he worked for. He told me there were 2 different types of rust. The scaly type that pits and flacks and a smooth type that will actually protect the steel from further corrosion like a rust finish on a gun barrel. There is a way to treat steel for the proper pre-rusting and some steel already has the right type. Some of u-guys may have seen this method being used on hi-way overpass "I" beams.
Just go out and cut hay with it before doing all that work. Using it will knock off most of the rust for you. Afterward clean the balance and paint. The next time you use it the paint will wear off and re-rust. If it is the the flaky type just paint over it after cleaning.
 
Naval Jelly is a little safer to use than just a bottle of acid, if you're scared of spraying that stuff: it'll take a lot longer, but there's not any splash..: Ospho really isn't going to work against thick rust: it is a lot better suited to just converting a surface rust into that hard coating.. I'll agree with the "just use it" part: letting it hack on some grass and weeds for a few hours is going to work better than any chemical..
 
On something like that, I recommend just USING it, the rust will come off with some use

Method 2 is to leave it where the cows can rub on it
 

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