Frame rust removal

I've been playing around with different methods of cleaning up my frame (with out media blasting). I've got a cordless drill, a Dremel tool, and my hands.

So far the Dremel with the grinding drum/spool works very well, but can be a bit invasive. The wire brushes take more time and fall apart quickly. Sand paper is laborious but effective.

But getting into the tight places (gusset/tube joints, etc.) have been a bit of an issue (euphemism).

Any tricks or tools or methods or ideas? :blush:

no other way except blasting really. if you have a compressor you can get a cheap siphon gun blaster that works great if you have a big enough compressor. If you dont you just have to wait and let it catch up but you can use a smaller one.

Go to paint forum and see what people use as far as chemical strippers for paint. Do you need to remove all paint or just rusty areas and rough up rest to except new paint?

you can use some of the chemical rust killers, they work good but you need to knock off the big stiff first with a wire wheel, or you can get it dipped in acid, works good as lond as it is done right, but I think a good blasting would be the best, gives you a good " hook " for the paint to stick to

Hey Godsjester - Try some medium grade steel wool. It is great for scuffing the existing paint so the primer then paint will stick. Worked great for me.
Cheers-Colin Firth-Ontario Canada

I would not suggest using a wire wheel on a Dremel and running it at high speed. I tried that one time and spent two weeks pulling bits of wire out of my skin :woohoo:

In my business, I use wire brushes on Dremmel tools constantly. You must keep them on the lowest speed ranges to keep them in one piece. I use about two brushes per every set of carburetors I clean as they are really the best way to polish the inside of the carburetor (venturi / slide). I do tend to get wire bits in my skin, clothes and shoes. If you want to REALLY get the rust, take the frame to a blast shop and let them sand blast it.

If I were doing a whole frame, I think a blast shop would be the best idea. But working on a small area that is hard to get to, I use a 1/4" piece of tubing, wrap duct tape around it until it meets, then back around it sticky side out. Then I unfold a new piece of steel wool and wrap it around the tubing nice and tight. Insert it into my variable speed drill and go at it. It works nicely. It's a pain to change out, but it works pretty good on the rust and paint removal. Depending on the grade of steel wool, it can polish the aluminum parts very well, like using the 0000 grade...

aircraft paint stripper/remover (only at auto paint stores)& navel Jelly (hardware store) are your friends.

steell wrote:

I would not suggest using a wire wheel on a Dremel and running it at high speed. I tried that one time and spent two weeks pulling bits of wire out of my skin :woohoo:

Yeah, took me about 2 second to realize what was bouncing off my face. :laugh:

This is the grinding wheel on the left:



Post edited by: godsjester71, at: 2006/02/18 13:50

reborn650 wrote:

Hey Godsjester - Try some medium grade steel wool. It is great for scuffing the existing paint so the primer then paint will stick. Worked great for me.
Cheers-Colin Firth-Ontario Canada

Thanks, I will try that for the non-rusted areas!

Post edited by: godsjester71, at: 2006/02/18 13:54

RomSpaceKnight wrote:

Go to paint forum and see what people use as far as chemical strippers for paint. Do you need to remove all paint or just rusty areas and rough up rest to except new paint?

I'm just hitting the rusty areas, and roughing up the paint, then with as good of a rattle can paint job as I can. I'll go full media blast and powder coat in a couple years.

Here I have used the grind spool, some hand sanding at the bottom, but I still can't get into the corners. At he top, you can see how close I can get with the grinding spool. I'll try the low speed Dremmel/angled wire wheel here:



Post edited by: godsjester71, at: 2006/02/18 13:56

Post edited by: godsjester71, at: 2006/02/18 13:59