Rust removal options

I just picked up my first straight at an antique mall today. The brand is ESTAS. Anyway the scales are shot but the blade seemed to be in great shape except for two rust spots on either side. I hit them with a little bit of rem oil since I've had good luck with it removing surface rust. It didn't work that great for this. I've read that most people go for either scrubbing bubbles or diluted clr. The blade has some nice gold etching so I just wanted some opinions on how to save the etching while removing the rust.

Start with a SE razor blade and Scrape the red rust off there (Carding)

Then see what is underneath, the red rust on top isn't the issue the pitting under there may be

If you can get a close up of both sides I can tell you more


DO NOT use chemicals ...

Here's a couple more pics

Yup, that’s cell rot. Test the edge and get those scales off. You have aggressive rust /rot on the edge and a bit of it will have to be removed to get to good steel that will hold a shaving edge.

As said a single edge razor blade or Exacto knife with the chisel type blade works well to cut the rust off.

Fine steel wool, 3 or 4000 and or some 600 grit wet & dry in small pieces backed by a coffee stir stick or pencil with an eraser work well for spot cleaning. But gold wash is thin and often, saving it is not worth the effort and results not as good as removing enough steel to get a flat surface.

Cell rot rust is deceptively destructive, how deep it goes you won’t know until you remove the surface rust to see the depth of pitting.
The bolsters and inlay can be saved and re-applied to new scales. There are tutorial here on removing and re-applying them, be careful they are very thin.

Better photos will help with further advice.

I wish I could, my digital camera is loaned out

Most of your gold wash is gone and not worth saving what is left.

Cut off the rust and see how bad the pitting is, but test the edge first. If it does not hold an edge, you want to know that, before you put in hours and hours of hand sanding.

Once you remove the scales do not store with other razors, it will eat them too.

It has a good edge on it, it still shaves. Once the scales are off they are getting thrown away.

Save the bolsters and inlay, Glen and 10pups have good videos on removing them.

Just soak in Acetone and slide them off.

I'll give it a shot

So I scraped all the rust off with a razor blade. What is left underneath are black/grey spots. The spots feel completely smooth to the touch. Can I just use metal polish to get the spots off or will I absolutely have to sand?

Try the least abrasive first, metal polish, steel wool, wet & dry.
Start with 600 and go lower if needed, or move up if it gets it all. 600 scratches are easy to remove.

It's cleaning up pretty nice. This is only using 600 and maas. It's far from done, but it's way better than it was.

The higher you go in grit the better the polish. Take it up at least to 1k sanding with WD40 alternate sanding from spine to edge and heel to toe with a cork as a backer, polish with good metal polish.

Most automotive parts stores carry up to 2K.

Is the wd40 just for lubrication while sanding with the finer grits?

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Originally Posted by gssixgun

DO NOT use chemicals...

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Just taking some notes from the pros... could you elaborate as to why a product like Kroil wouldn't be a decent option to aid in rust removal?

Over the years, I've amassed quite an arsenal of similar products, and always looking for an excuse to retreat to my "home testing facilities" [emoji106]

Looks like you may have saved it. Polish up to 2k then hone and check the edge to make sure you got it.

Good luck.

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Originally Posted by BlackGOLD

Just taking some notes from the pros... could you elaborate as to why a product like Kroil wouldn't be a decent option to aid in rust removal?

Over the years, I've amassed quite an arsenal of similar products, and always looking for an excuse to retreat to my "home testing facilities" [emoji106]

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Kroil is a penetrating oil, like WD40, & I'm sure, not the kind of chemicals Glen's referring to.

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Originally Posted by xr88

I just picked up my first straight at an antique mall today. The brand is ESTAS. Anyway the scales are shot but the blade seemed to be in great shape except for two rust spots on either side. I hit them with a little bit of rem oil since I've had good luck with it removing surface rust. It didn't work that great for this. I've read that most people go for either scrubbing bubbles or diluted clr. The blade has some nice gold etching so I just wanted some opinions on how to save the etching while removing the rust.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by BlackGOLD

Just taking some notes from the pros... could you elaborate as to why a product like Kroil wouldn't be a decent option to aid in rust removal?

Over the years, I've amassed quite an arsenal of similar products, and always looking for an excuse to retreat to my "home testing facilities" [emoji106]

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Two different things and in this case the Kroil would be fine because the scales were trashed

BUT


You always have to look at each razor individually

With synthetics scales Kroil should not cause issues, but Bone or Ivory could be stained easily

I love Kroil for popping stubborn pins :)

You just have to think first and attack each issue slowly but also keep in mind that Kroil will have little effect on most of the rust issues with razors,,, it is the pitting under the types of rust that are the real issues, not the surface rust..
You cannot get rid of pitting with anything other then abrasives :(

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Originally Posted by xr88

Is the wd40 just for lubrication while sanding with the finer grits?

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Yes, WD40 acts as a lubricant when polishing with high grit wet & dry paper to give a higher polish to steel.

Most any thin oil will work, I like WD40 as it is very thin and inexpensive.

It is also good for cleaning with steel wool and will remove soap and dirt from between scales on a paper towel and coffee stir stick.

After surface rust is scrapped of with a single edge, I work the rust with Q-Tips soaked in vinegar.

The pitting can still slightly be seen, would it be worth it to drop to 400 grit to try to completely remove the pitting or would I be better off to leave it alone and just start the polishing?

That is the OTHER kind of rust, the "good" type of iron oxide that you are trying to get when you blue a gun using the old school rust or fume bluing method or when you get a patina on a carbon steel knife. But not so good on what is supposed to be a bright shiny buffed badly, right? :shrug: Non abrasive metal polishes like Flitz or Simichrome will not really remove that stuff. You will have to get a bit more aggressive,

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Originally Posted by xr88

So I scraped all the rust off with a razor blade. What is left underneath are black/grey spots. The spots feel completely smooth to the touch. Can I just use metal polish to get the spots off or will I absolutely have to sand?

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From my knife experience, I have found that if you are going for the "hand rubbed" look, the alternate direction sanding kinda becomes superfluous once you get at and above 600 grit or so. At that point, you are just knocking the tops off of the very fine previous scratches. One other little trick is that you can used your buffer or dremel to do the spine to edge "sanding" and then do the lengthwise with paper with cork/sanding block, EDM stones or what have you if you want to end up with the lengthwise "had sanded" look. If you do that, another trick is to go a grit higher say to 1200-1500 or 2000 and then go back to the previous grit, say 1000-1200 or 1500 and pull STRAIGHT in one direction heel to toe using a fresh spot on the paper for every stroke using DRY paper. If you use EDM stones, ALWAYS follow up with paper, as buff, etc. . EDM stones kick butt, but they can leave a hazy finish,

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Originally Posted by Euclid440

The higher you go in grit the better the polish. Take it up at least to 1k sanding with WD40 alternate sanding from spine to edge and heel to toe with a cork as a backer, polish with good metal polish.

Most automotive parts stores carry up to 2K.

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