metal trating spurs

JimS · Sep 5, 2018

I have several items that were damaged in the wildfires here in CA. I have a couple of pairs of spurs that burned but are in
otherwise good shape. How would you go about cleaning them? They are rather rusted now. Should I wire brush or use a rust
remover. I might be able to have them blasted. Once they are clean, how should I treat them so they do not rust again but look
decent? They are probably not worth doing if I exceed the cost of new spurs.

Thanks.

DoubleO7 · Sep 5, 2018

I think I would use a fine wire brush on a bench grinder.
If they have fancy filagree engraving or such on the outside.
Then steel wool on the smooth areas like on the inside.

Then use polyurethane spray or dip to seal it good.

504 · Sep 5, 2018

Sand blast with baking soda.

Ken Combs · Sep 5, 2018

soak in vinegar, scrub the black stuff that forms off, rinse and dry. I'd warm them in the oven and rub with linseed oil. wipe off excess. It drys and leaves a protective film and gives a nice 'patina' IMO.

kcm.MN · Sep 5, 2018

(quoted from post at 15:16:42 09/05/18) soak in vinegar, scrub the black stuff that forms off, rinse and dry. I'd warm them in the oven and rub with linseed oil. wipe off excess. It drys and leaves a protective film and gives a nice 'patina' IMO.

I 2nd this.

DO NOT assume that since it's household vinegar that it can't do the job! We've just recently started trying this, then got busy with other things. We left some items soaking for several days. Was the wrong thing to do!!

Had a couple of metal putty knives -- not much left of them besides the handle. Had some small nail bars, couple hammers, other misc odds and ends. Vinegar started eating away at the good steel after a while.

All in all, the vinegar truly surprised us and we'll be using it much more in the future. ...Just don't leave items unattended for more than a couple of days. Anything after two days, just wire-brush away. It won't be much.

Richard from SE AZ · Sep 5, 2018

I was given a ammo magazine that was pretty rusty. I had heard about the soaking in a pan with Coka Cola method and decided to try it. It worked. The rust was gone in a couple of days although the magazine color was splotchy. It cleaned it enough to read " Colt, 45 auto " on the base. I buffed it with steel wool and it works great.

Square Eye · Sep 5, 2018

Evaporust works well. It melts the rust away without damaging the metal. Readily available, including Harbor Freight.

metal trating spurs

JimS

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DoubleO7

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504

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Ken Combs

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kcm.MN

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Richard from SE AZ

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Square Eye

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