Cleaning a straightedge

Today I was given a Moore & Wright No. 312B straightedge (Grade A and Hardened). Unfortunately it has a few rusty spots and general staining over much of the surface. Any suggestions for the best way to clean it up?

Thanks,

Rob

Nothing more than oil and wire wool on the edge, but fine wet and dry paper, say 600 or finer on the rest.

Thank you, I'll give it a go tomorrow

Obviously not wanting to abrade it, I'd start first with one of those plastic kitchen scouring-pads, the sort usually found backing a small sponge block. Use it wet with a spot of WD-40, paraffin or thin oil.

If that's not quite enough, try fine steel wool - raid the under-sink cupboard again, for a Brillo pad. Again, use it wet; but as these are impregnated with soap, use warm water.

Sounds odd, using soapy water on something you want to be rust-free, but not if you wipe the straight-edge clean and completely dry immediately afterwards then apply a smear of lubricating-oil or petroleum jelly (' Vaseline '.

Provided the working edge has not become badly pitted by corrosion, light rust-patches on its sides spoil its appearance more than function. You may have to compromise between some remnant etching and risking harming the working surfaces.

Sorry - I forgot the anti-silly-face break has to be at least two spaces long. I had not intended that wink at all.

Can the site's managers please get rid of these childish symbols completely?

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Nigel,

I hope you don't mind me mentioning that 'those plastic kitchen scouring-pads' are rather variable !!

Some of them are just plastic, but others have abrasive particles bonded into the fibres ... and can be much more abrasive than steel wool. Just try [if you dare] rubbing 'across the grain' on a brushed stainless steel surface.

MichaelG.

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Edit;

[quote]

At relatively low magnifications, several embedded particles 30-100µm in size were rapidly identified by the SEM, using both secondary electron and then HDBSE imaging. HDBSE imaging distinguished the elemental variations of the particles, piston coating and aluminum substrate, which were then subsequently qualified and measured to determine their composition using EDX.

This data was used to further investigate the engine assembly process. What the engineers found was that the source of the contamination was the Scotch-Brite pads consisting of Al2O3 abrasive employed in engine block cleaning. The elimination of the use of Scotch-Brite pads has resulted in zero re-occurrences, thereby saving considerable time and money.

[/quote]

Ref. https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=12159

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 27/07/2019 23:39:05

Having been told many years ago that nylon scouring pads would scratch chrome trim on cars, I think I'll stick with the steel wool.

( 'One space is ample' )

I'm afraid they appear to be build in to the editor.

Neil

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Albeit, I believe, as a selectable option

MichaelG.

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Edit: The  HTML script for these forum pages has become near-impossible to navigate, but there was previously a clear statement declaring the software that is used ... I had a skim through the documentation at the time, and found reference to the 'ON/OFF switch' 

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 28/07/2019 10:27:45

The scourers for not stick pans and baths are non abrasive, these usually seem to be white and the abrasive type seem to be green. The white seem good for getting flies off windscreens and even paint without an harm to glass or paint, not bad on alloy wheels if they are painted type.

Mike

I also find the green kitchen ones are abrasive, leading to find scratches on tea spoons leading to more rapid accumulation of tea stains. On a separate tack, I have found that Cif is abrasive, in spite of claims to the opposite, a soft abrasive that breaks down easily (chalk?) and I think it contains an alkali. It is an effective cleaner for greasy things, though, only needs a spot or two.

I use neat cif to clean the bench tops and epoxy coated floor with a damp cloth. The muck grease and pile just vanish

Edited By Zan on 28/07/2019 12:32:23

Scrubbing with scrunched up aluminium foil in water is quite a good rust remover.

Adrian

The most gentle abrasive I’ve used is Malamine Foam, sold in supermarkets as magic sponges. Non woven pads without added abrasive are white if buying in a DIY outlet or blue if buying in the supermarket ...

Have you thought of using a rust remover like what WD-40 currently offer? Or would that eat the parent metal too? I have used it on old rusty tap wrenches etc and it works well. I have never used it on anything with a precision finish though.