Absolutely, you're right. Problem is the big industrial sandblaster at work is broken more than it works.
And I'm always looking for new ways to deal with rust. I put the rim back in the brew, as the blaster is still down, so time will tell.
I'm also looking for ways to remove rust from things too big to put in the blaster.......so the molasses seemed like a logical thing to check out.
Get a home blaster? Or one of those water blasters that hooks up to your power washer...or you could get a soda blaster I understand they do a good job and don't leave to much residue. I think you'll get long whiskers waiting on the molasses....
Yes, actually I have a huge gas engine powered two-stage compressor and a pressure blaster setup. Problem is I need to build a piping cart with water traps to catch the condensation. Right now I've got a good paper filter element, but it gets full of water pretty quickly and then the sand gets all clogged up in the bottom of the pressure tank. I'm just lazy....I know. I've got the setup designed....I just have to get off my ass and go buy the piping, elbows, drops, etc. Maybe this weekend.....although I've been saying that for quite a few weekends now.
What about soaking the rims in coca-cola? I have used this as a rust remover for 40 years or so. It's amazing what it will eat through... teeth included. The attached link will give you an idea of the power.
PS... you can use the cheapest brand of brown soda with the same results.
Thanks for reminding me about using cola......I've know about it for some time but just never acted on it. So today I'm hitting the supermarket on the way home from work to get a few 2-liter bottles of the cheap stuff. I'll try soaking some things this weekend and report back.
I just remembered that I use lye as a soak for removing paint on steel (NOT aluminum) and it does seem to make getting the rust off easier. The old military paint our trucks were coated with is often lead based and sticks real good. A couple of day soak in a high concentration of Lye will get most of it off with just a rinse of water.
Just a thought.
-John
Member of Dixie Division MVC
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That's funny right there!