Thread: Surgically Removing Rust/Spots

So I have been thinking about the threads I have read lately (including my own) where we want to remove rust or spots in a very minimally invasive way. We would like to protect our etching and gold wash and get the best result possible.

We talk a lot about the products to use or not use, like MAAS, toothpaste, ammonia, and also things like using a q-tip to reduce the area being affected.

It seems to me that what we need is a way to have a tiny tipped power tool do this, but the problem is one of surface area and control. I know there are cone shaped hard felt wheels for a Dremel, but that is still a large area.

So here is a list of things I want to try to get very small areas.

1. Draftsman's electric eraser - with and without some kind of compound on the eraser.

2. A q-tip chucked into my dremel - with and without some kind of compound on the cotton.

3. Just the paper shaft of a q-tip chucked into my dremel - with and without some kind of compound. Use the end like a very small buffing wheel.

4. A bamboo skewer chucked into my dremel - with and without some kind of compound. The idea here is that the bamboo end grain is quite tough but porous and I thought it might eat away rust in a very tiny location as well as hold some buffing compound.

Anybody tried these already or have any other ideas?

I suppose I don't care enough about the issue of rust to go beyond Maas on a q-tip or a paper towel but Randydance suggested to me that the gizmo used by professional fingernail polishers would be good. Lower RPM than a dremel and less aggressive.

Although I like your incentives and ideas I would think twice before chucking anything in your dremel that's not originally meant for it. That's just looking for trouble if you ask me and can be extremely dangerous if done by a person with no experience at all. We truly like to keep safety our first priority.

Gold wash is a burden when it comes to restoring or cleaning up a blade. It's either keep, lose or work around it with whatever safe means.

Originally Posted by Maximilian

Although I like your incentives and ideas I would think twice before chucking anything in your dremel that's not originally meant for it. That's just looking for trouble if you ask me and can be extremely dangerous if done by a person with no experience at all. We truly like to keep safety our first priority.

Gold wash is a burden when it comes to restoring or cleaning up a blade. It's either keep, lose or work around it with whatever safe means.

Yeah, good points to take into consideration.

Abrasives on a small stick sound like a good start to me. Beauty supply house carry orange type sticks that come with abrasives on their ends. Bamboo sounds like it would work well, that is a good idea. I would do the work by hand and not use a dremel though.

One of the little airbrush beadblasters with some good masking would most likely work very well.

Charlie

Hey, I just spotted a air dental cleaner.

It functions like a micro sandblaster, but it uses water/powder mix. They can do anything from punching out cavities and enamel to gently removing stains - and the pattern is tiny.

I am goin to do some investigating. Might be the ticket.

I have actually done the "stick" method.

Using a set of magnifying goggles so that my wretched eyes can keep a close view of what I am doing, I dip the end in whichever paste seems right.

if its a more rusty, the white car polishing compound stuff, if its just a water stain or the like, a bit of mothers mag polish.
I used the wooden BBQ sticks, so I can cut the pointy end down to what ever is the right diameter for the job at hand. Just twirling them between the fingers works, just takes time.

And while I will agree with Max that its not safe (especially for the less experienced) to put non-bits in a dremmel, I have done that as well, with the vary speed set to its lowest setting.
You MUST use a short length, push straight down, or a very slight angle, or the wood will flex and break.
I found with the dremmel, I didnt need any compound at all, as the wood fiber was enough to clean most dirt and loose rust on its own.

Again, being safe is the best way to go.