Rust Removal

[willisl]

I've been removing rust from our steel deck furniture with my angle grinder and have discovered that some of the steel is pitted in the most rusty areas. Of course, there's rust in the pits that the sanding wheel isn't reaching. Must I get all of the rust out of those pits (with wire brushes, etc) before I prime and paint the surface, or will the primer sufficiently fill and cover those spots to hold the rust at bay?

Thanks.

Lynn Willis San Diego

[RonB]

You need to try to get it our because it is likely to cause your paint to life and bubble over time.

I don't know where you are in the process or how many pieces you have to clean up. But have you considered having them commercially sand- blasted. A few years ago I had three of the old metal "resort" lawn chairs that needed to be redone. I did some repair welding on one and took all three, in pieces, to a sandblaster who did all of them for about $15. I have also had bicycle frames blasted for as little as $7. In both cases I was willing to drop the parts off and let them work them in with other flow.

Shop around because the price varies greatly. The blasted surface provides a good paintable surface.

RonB

[tnom]

Use POR-15

[JIMMIE]

You might want to try a powder coating business as I dont think their are too many places around that just do sand blasting. I was able to get mine done pretty cheap by waiting until he had an oven full. The guy did mostly industrial stuff and would let his teenage son take care of little projects like mine on the side for spending money. The kid must have done all right. He had a V8 'stang.

JImmie

[trader4]

I'd also wonder about the wisdom of using an angle grinder to prep steel chairs for painting? I would think a wire wheel or similar that is far less aggressive and also capable of following the shape, getting into more recesses, etc would be the way to go.

Agree that sandblasting could be a good choice.

[chaniarts]

shops that do car restorations and painting usually have sand blasting units.

i have one, but use it on glass. there might be some glass artists or places that do glass blasting (for things like shower or front entry doors, tables, etc) around that would have one.

[willisl]

Thanks to all for the timely and very helpful responses. I'll definitely explore the sandblasting option -- the grinding isn't easy, and it's a fairly labor-intensive process.

Thanks again.

Lynn Willis San Diego

[bob haller]

the cost of sandblasting will likely be more than new deck furniture...

do yourself a favor, remove scaly rust, so you have firm surface, then use rustoleum rusty metal primer and regular paint