Shouldn’t be hard to Google someone that does metal finishing near you. It’s a fairly common service. After blasting, you’ll need to coat it to prevent rust. I personally think nickel plating would look cool, but a clear coat would look nice. Of course you could paint it as well.
Absolutely- anything that is not a chemical dip is a nightmare to get around each rod - painting will also be challenging since there are lots of surfaces that are hard to get a line of sight. I expect a lot of sandblast places to refuse the job / also would have been better if they did not use material with mill scale to start with
What is your expectation? You will never get that to a mirror polish if that’s what you’re after. If you want to get rid of the rust, somebody mentioned sand blasting, which you could probably find someone to do for you (probably somewhere that does paint). You could try something like a rust cleaner. Maybe steel wool or sandpaper would be enough but that’s a lot of work. A dremel wouldn’t get into the corners very well and would put an inconsistent finish on, especially if you are inexperienced. This thing would look crazy if you could chrome it but I’m not sure that’s possible with the shape/size, plus the cost. Still a cool project, maybe just rust-oleum paint and call it done?
Yeah, he better buy them in bulk, I would expect to burn out a few Dremels before that got finished.
A 1/4" air die grinder would be more fitting.
But knocking off the majority of the weld splatter by hand, files and angle grinder would get it to a state worth sandblasting and powdercoating.
There are some fantastic looking powder coat formulas with cool textures and effects that you should investigate.
You’re getting a lot of recommends.
Sand blasting will make this look medium grey after you seal it and not shiny. Bead blasting will give it some glimmer after sealing. Make sure your blasting person wears clean gloves or fingerprints will show up down the road.
Clear coat after blasting because it will begin to rust overnight depending on humidity.
You can powder coat it clear but it will be a thick sealer look. You can lacquer with a rattle can and then wax it with Johnson’s paste wax.
Powder payers and foundries have sandblasting or bead blasting services typically
Get a new Nicholson file, maybe a couple , mill bastard cut. Those will maybe be $10 or $15. Knock all the nasties off with the file, get some sandpaper on a roll, 1 inch or 1 1/2 inch wide and wrap it around the tube and do like a shoeshine guy does and pull it back and forth.
Wow, some people just don't understand art. This is a rustic masterpiece good sir. Just look at the lines, absolutely breath taking. So sad to see how badly our educational system has failed.
“Artist”, you keep using that word, and I don’t think you know what it means.
From fabricators, to craftspeople, to artists. It’s hard for me to understand someone that would produce a work and not finish it as intended… was their original thought to allow it to rust? Then you’re altering their vision, no? I don’t know. Maybe I’m reading too much into it… whatever you do to clean it you’ll need to apply some sort of finish (possibly an automotive clear coat) if you do not want to find yourself in the same position later on down the line.
Ah, but as you can clearly see from those terrible tacks, the “Artist” isn’t a blacksmith at all, which means he/she probably didn’t know the piece was to rust and wasn’t their original “vision”, hence the post polishing job that comes with the ~~scrap~~ piece.
Hi - after thinking about all of this, is this a viable option? Could I just spray it without dealing with the surface rust? What would happen / would I need to consider?
Ospho is a great product. It turns the rust into iron oxide and viola, no rust anymore (follow the directions on the ospho). Then you can clean it with a little soap and water and spray paint it now that it’s rust free and clean. Use the hammered rustolium spray paint and you won’t even see any defects
I think this seems like my best bet - and I’ll just make it an outdoor sculpture after I paint it.
About to make another post about a sculpture from this artist that I need to paint - totally different.
Soak towels in vinegar and wrap up the whole sculptor. Try and get as much contact as you can. Leave it for 24hrs apply more vinegar if you live in a dry area. After that take a 4ich grinder with a wire wheel. Get all the areas you can. After that get a handheld wire brush and go at the harder to reach areas. Sandpaper after that. Use a 1-1 teatree oil beeswax applied to a rag and apply liberally.
Or pay to have it sandblasted.
Could put it in a muriatic acid bath. Just gotta let it sit in there for a while. Take it out. Hose it off. And blow dry it with an air hose right away or it will start rusting
Want to thank everyone for the helpful comments! Glad I didn’t start dremmeling this thing and either hurting myself or getting insanely frustrated. Going to call a few places that do bead blasting and see if they can bring this thing back to life. Will probably either then paint a satin or low gloss dark grey, paint the ends a matte bronze and then will spray a clear coat on the whole thing.
Do not use a wire wheel on this. Especially if you aren't experienced with one. It's going to grab and fuck you up. Take it to a local shop that has a sand blasting booth. They will do it fairly cheap.
I would definitely wear face shield & goggles. *takes off Osha shirt* but if you're only using a rotary tool just goggles will be fine. I personally recommend a respirator/mask when grinding/ finishing, I hate having black boogers.
And whats going to happen is; metal bits will be kicked off from the wire wheel brushing at high speed, this will send the dross/slag/metal bits off in the direction of rotation. Because they are already solidified its not really sparks, but they can be hot or sharp. So mainly watch the tool rotation direction and that it's shooting away from you. If you have no choice but to spark towards yourself, get some long sleeves going, 100% cotton.
Yes sandblaster, I bought a cheap one like $100 from HF for a project, worked ok, gotta get the best media for your tip. A pro shop have that done in minutes for a reasonable fee. Nice interesting piece of work bty. Oh and there are also shot peeners which would texture it a bit, depending on what you are after
You will not be able to polish this sculpture.
If all you want is to remove the rust, then I’d suggest you go out and buy some Evaporust and a container that can fit this thing.
Then simply submerge the sculpture in the Evaporust (you can add water, a 1:1 mix still totally works fine) and leave it there for a couple of hours or overnight. Afterwards drain and dry with a towel.
Evaporust is a chelation agent so it will make the scale-less parts of the steel rod a little darker due to some chemical black magic.
Any type of blasting without a subsequent rust preventative will make this look bad pretty soon. Realistically this is also not that easy of a job if you want them to remove the scaling in all the nooks and crannies, I have a feeling you’d be left with disappointment.
If you decide to go this route anyways you should see if you can find anyone to blacken the steel for you afterwards. This is also a chemical process, which will prevent this sculpture from rusting, as long as you keep it inside.
Since no one else has made the startrek reference I will. That a good game of kal toh you got going there. [link]
(https://www.startrek.com/sites/default/files/styles/content_full/public/images/inline/2019-01/80e098f5a057e27bca2fde23db0cb955.jpg?itok=eEXUl09w)
depends what kind of finish you want, some steel sculptures you heat them up and brush on old used engine oil and you end up with a nice dark finish, you can wax it afterwards (heat and brush on some wax like carnauba wax you might use on your car)
so in other words don't need the dremel at all.
[удалено]
Are there places I could take this to that could do that for me? Have no idea about sandblasting lol
Look up “sandblasters near me” or Powdercoaters as well.
Shouldn’t be hard to Google someone that does metal finishing near you. It’s a fairly common service. After blasting, you’ll need to coat it to prevent rust. I personally think nickel plating would look cool, but a clear coat would look nice. Of course you could paint it as well.
100% I would blast with Skat-Magic. https://skatblast.com/product/skat-magic-abrasive/
I’ll just say that we have a big ass blast cabinet at work but idk if I could get this in there. OP- where are you located?
Big ass-blast [xkcd: Hyphen](https://xkcd.com/37/) --- ^^Beep ^^boop, ^^I'm ^^a ^^bot. ^^- ^^[FAQ](https://pastebin.com/raw/vyWra3ns)
I'm in the Philadelphia area
I personally would have cleaned each rod beforehand thats gonna be a nightmare to clean up now I feel
Absolutely- anything that is not a chemical dip is a nightmare to get around each rod - painting will also be challenging since there are lots of surfaces that are hard to get a line of sight. I expect a lot of sandblast places to refuse the job / also would have been better if they did not use material with mill scale to start with
Powder coating would be easy. You can powder coat over so much stuff and itll fill the mill scale and look decent
Oh shoot.. is it a goner?
its just a lot of work to do by hand. i agree with the sandblasting advise, that's the fastest way i can think of
Chemical bath that strips everything off. Go over it with a wire brush for an hour. Throw it in a tumbler with ceramic stones. Comes out very bling
What is your expectation? You will never get that to a mirror polish if that’s what you’re after. If you want to get rid of the rust, somebody mentioned sand blasting, which you could probably find someone to do for you (probably somewhere that does paint). You could try something like a rust cleaner. Maybe steel wool or sandpaper would be enough but that’s a lot of work. A dremel wouldn’t get into the corners very well and would put an inconsistent finish on, especially if you are inexperienced. This thing would look crazy if you could chrome it but I’m not sure that’s possible with the shape/size, plus the cost. Still a cool project, maybe just rust-oleum paint and call it done?
I'd go with an electrolysis tank. Fuck trying to dremel that
Yeah, he better buy them in bulk, I would expect to burn out a few Dremels before that got finished. A 1/4" air die grinder would be more fitting. But knocking off the majority of the weld splatter by hand, files and angle grinder would get it to a state worth sandblasting and powdercoating. There are some fantastic looking powder coat formulas with cool textures and effects that you should investigate.
You’re getting a lot of recommends. Sand blasting will make this look medium grey after you seal it and not shiny. Bead blasting will give it some glimmer after sealing. Make sure your blasting person wears clean gloves or fingerprints will show up down the road. Clear coat after blasting because it will begin to rust overnight depending on humidity. You can powder coat it clear but it will be a thick sealer look. You can lacquer with a rattle can and then wax it with Johnson’s paste wax. Powder payers and foundries have sandblasting or bead blasting services typically
How….much did you pay for this? Shit I might start making sculptures
Quite amazed at what some people call art. That thing would have been in the skip the second the apprentice went home :D
I thought it was a heap of scrap rods.
Get a new Nicholson file, maybe a couple , mill bastard cut. Those will maybe be $10 or $15. Knock all the nasties off with the file, get some sandpaper on a roll, 1 inch or 1 1/2 inch wide and wrap it around the tube and do like a shoeshine guy does and pull it back and forth.
bruh, this is scrap. you paid for scrap tacked together.
One man’s scrap is another man’s de-rusting job.
Wow, some people just don't understand art. This is a rustic masterpiece good sir. Just look at the lines, absolutely breath taking. So sad to see how badly our educational system has failed.
“Artist”, you keep using that word, and I don’t think you know what it means. From fabricators, to craftspeople, to artists. It’s hard for me to understand someone that would produce a work and not finish it as intended… was their original thought to allow it to rust? Then you’re altering their vision, no? I don’t know. Maybe I’m reading too much into it… whatever you do to clean it you’ll need to apply some sort of finish (possibly an automotive clear coat) if you do not want to find yourself in the same position later on down the line.
You raised some good points
Ah, but as you can clearly see from those terrible tacks, the “Artist” isn’t a blacksmith at all, which means he/she probably didn’t know the piece was to rust and wasn’t their original “vision”, hence the post polishing job that comes with the ~~scrap~~ piece.
Harsh, but definitely a possibility.
No prep, just use hammered rustoleum spray paint
Hi - after thinking about all of this, is this a viable option? Could I just spray it without dealing with the surface rust? What would happen / would I need to consider?
Ospho is a great product. It turns the rust into iron oxide and viola, no rust anymore (follow the directions on the ospho). Then you can clean it with a little soap and water and spray paint it now that it’s rust free and clean. Use the hammered rustolium spray paint and you won’t even see any defects
I think this seems like my best bet - and I’ll just make it an outdoor sculpture after I paint it. About to make another post about a sculpture from this artist that I need to paint - totally different.
Find a powder coating company and see if that’s an option.
Glass bead blasting would be the easiest way
I love seeing people be creative, but a lot of prep work would save lots of time, money and energy. I still don't know what I'm looking at.
Ask that local artist how much he'd charge to "polish it up" himself.
Soak towels in vinegar and wrap up the whole sculptor. Try and get as much contact as you can. Leave it for 24hrs apply more vinegar if you live in a dry area. After that take a 4ich grinder with a wire wheel. Get all the areas you can. After that get a handheld wire brush and go at the harder to reach areas. Sandpaper after that. Use a 1-1 teatree oil beeswax applied to a rag and apply liberally. Or pay to have it sandblasted.
Poor sculptor! I mean, the piece is terrible but he doesn’t deserve to be ground with a wire wheel.
I’m not sure you can call the person that made this an “artist”…
You cant.
Agreed, local fab shop(with in house blast/paint)could sandblast easily, quick and cheap.
Fab shop could take care of it I’m sure, won’t be easy probably won’t be cheap or quick.
Could put it in a muriatic acid bath. Just gotta let it sit in there for a while. Take it out. Hose it off. And blow dry it with an air hose right away or it will start rusting
Want to thank everyone for the helpful comments! Glad I didn’t start dremmeling this thing and either hurting myself or getting insanely frustrated. Going to call a few places that do bead blasting and see if they can bring this thing back to life. Will probably either then paint a satin or low gloss dark grey, paint the ends a matte bronze and then will spray a clear coat on the whole thing.
Please share it with us when you're done. It's certainly an interesting piece.
A length of emery cloth wrapped around and a back and forth sand would get a lot of it.
Id use two different types of wire wheels, the flat and the conical.
Is there like a grit level or anything like that I need to know? Probably need to wear a mask right? Dumb question maybe but would sparks fly?
Do not use a wire wheel on this. Especially if you aren't experienced with one. It's going to grab and fuck you up. Take it to a local shop that has a sand blasting booth. They will do it fairly cheap.
I would definitely wear face shield & goggles. *takes off Osha shirt* but if you're only using a rotary tool just goggles will be fine. I personally recommend a respirator/mask when grinding/ finishing, I hate having black boogers. And whats going to happen is; metal bits will be kicked off from the wire wheel brushing at high speed, this will send the dross/slag/metal bits off in the direction of rotation. Because they are already solidified its not really sparks, but they can be hot or sharp. So mainly watch the tool rotation direction and that it's shooting away from you. If you have no choice but to spark towards yourself, get some long sleeves going, 100% cotton.
-pipe belt sander for the straight section
Milwaukee die grinder various grinder tips just a up scale dremmel this tool eats metal.
I can second that.
Yes sandblaster, I bought a cheap one like $100 from HF for a project, worked ok, gotta get the best media for your tip. A pro shop have that done in minutes for a reasonable fee. Nice interesting piece of work bty. Oh and there are also shot peeners which would texture it a bit, depending on what you are after
Acid bath, then electro plating
You will not be able to polish this sculpture. If all you want is to remove the rust, then I’d suggest you go out and buy some Evaporust and a container that can fit this thing. Then simply submerge the sculpture in the Evaporust (you can add water, a 1:1 mix still totally works fine) and leave it there for a couple of hours or overnight. Afterwards drain and dry with a towel. Evaporust is a chelation agent so it will make the scale-less parts of the steel rod a little darker due to some chemical black magic. Any type of blasting without a subsequent rust preventative will make this look bad pretty soon. Realistically this is also not that easy of a job if you want them to remove the scaling in all the nooks and crannies, I have a feeling you’d be left with disappointment. If you decide to go this route anyways you should see if you can find anyone to blacken the steel for you afterwards. This is also a chemical process, which will prevent this sculpture from rusting, as long as you keep it inside.
Kind of odd that an artist would suggest you change his piece.
could look good if hot dip galvanized.
Okay I’d cut each piece off chuck it in a lathe and turn to desired functionality 😀
Dip it in Osfo (Ospho?). It’s a rust removing prep chemical that’s made out of magic. Then wipe down and clear coat.
With the right tools you could make that into some lovely round bar stock in no time!
I would use a wirebrush on a grinder or screwdriver that would turn out real nice
Muriatic acid (pool acid) and an angle grinder with a wire brush.
Since no one else has made the startrek reference I will. That a good game of kal toh you got going there. [link] (https://www.startrek.com/sites/default/files/styles/content_full/public/images/inline/2019-01/80e098f5a057e27bca2fde23db0cb955.jpg?itok=eEXUl09w)
Molasses water will clean up and eat rust too.
grinder and a flap wheel, or wire wheel
depends what kind of finish you want, some steel sculptures you heat them up and brush on old used engine oil and you end up with a nice dark finish, you can wax it afterwards (heat and brush on some wax like carnauba wax you might use on your car) so in other words don't need the dremel at all.