Cleaning rusty steel parts fitted to Cast aluminium pans?

[tombear]

Before I expend vast amounts of elbow grease on wire brush and wooling the rust from the steel fittings on a Aluminium 3 gallon Dixie I just acquired is there a chemical way to do it that will not damage the aluminium?

Googling the topic has blinded me with science and there's conflicting opinions in plenty.

i know I could just clean the insides and use it but in some sort of bizarre stamping ownership ritual I like to restore wot I buy before I start using it.

cheers!

tom

 

[crosslandkelly]

Molasses work surprisingly well, and cause no damage, slow though. Coke is faster, but acidic.

 

[tombear]

Cool, thanks. I knew fruit acids can eat into Aluminium so I was loathe to use the citric or the oxcilic stuff without asking about.

ATB

TOM

 

[Drain Bamaged]

Never tried it myself but was told Tomatoes are good for cleaning Aluminium (even tomato sauce) but not to leave it in contact for any length of time as it can pit and discolour the metal.

Sorry just realised it's actually the steel rather than the aluminium you was asking about.

D.B.

 

[Janne]

Do not use acid or anything acidic!
Acid works well on rusty steel, but will severely damage the Aluminium.
You could be very precise and use a small brush and apply the acid gel carefully, but I imagine steel wool is quicker.

You can buy specially formulated acid gels to restore Aluminium, but those hardly touch rust.

 

[KenThis]

I'm pretty sure aluminium is more reactive than steel (which is why it's so much harder to refine bauxite than iron ore in the first place) so anything chemical to attack the rust will also want to attack the aluminium.
I think.
Maybe.
Perhaps.
Possibly....

 

[Janne]

I'm pretty sure aluminium is more reactive than steel (which is why it's so much harder to refine bauxite than iron ore in the first place) so anything chemical to attack the rust will also want to attack the aluminium.
I think.
Maybe.
Perhaps.
Possibly....

Definitely!

 

[KenThis]

Unfortunately I'm never confident of anything anymore, I keep thinking I've made up at least 90% of what I think I know.

 

[Janne]

Unfortunately I'm never confident of anything anymore, I keep thinking I've made up at least 90% of what I think I know.

That is only what you think, not what you know....

Interet is to blame. Like this site.
Has changed you from a happy camper that uses one knife you bought in a builders shop for all tasks including cutting barbed wire, to a freak that need a Damascus bladed, fossilized ivory handled, handcrafted piece of art to cut your kindling.
Of course you only use that one if any of the other 5 knives you carry for that purpose are out of reach, or the Scandi grind on your favourite Limited Edition Fällkniven knife has lost its hair splitting edge..........

 

[tombear]

Cheers folks, so it looks like it will a mix of elbow grease and the Dremel for the rusty bit's and Brillo pads to get the Alu" nice and shiny again. I'll make sure it's well dried before I store it as well, had too many Alu pans messed up by lending them to folk who then leave them wet inside until they pit and become awkward to clean properly.

ATB

Tom

 

[KenThis]

Has changed you from a happy camper that uses one knife you bought in a builders shop for all tasks including cutting barbed wire, to a freak that need a Damascus bladed, fossilized ivory handled, handcrafted piece of art to cut your kindling.
Of course you only use that one if any of the other 5 knives you carry for that purpose are out of reach, or the Scandi grind on your favourite Limited Edition Fällkniven knife has lost its hair splitting edge..........

Have you been watching me???
Spooky.

 

[santaman2000]

Am I correct in assuming that you can't just remove the steel bits and clean them separately? That would seem the most logical way to do it?

 

[tombear]

They are securely riveted on, I could drill them out but then I would have to source more the right sizes and fit them. i'll clean them up by hand, I was just seeing if there's a lazy option!

ATB

Tom

 

[Leshy]

Unfortunately I'm never confident of anything anymore, I keep thinking I've made up at least 90% of what I think I know.

Are you sure about that?😁
You're just making it up now.... or are you?😉

 

[Leshy]

On a serious note...

0000 superfine steel wool and a generous bit of elbow grease should do the trick...

 

[santaman2000]

They are securely riveted on, I could drill them out but then I would have to source more the right sizes and fit them. i'll clean them up by hand, I was just seeing if there's a lazy option!

ATB

Tom

On a serious note...

0000 superfine steel wool and a generous bit of elbow grease should do the trick...

I guess you'll just have to do what you have to do. My worry about not bein able to disassemble it would be the corrosion between the parts (it's that contact of dissimilar metals that creates the corrosion cell) will just speed it coming back

 

[santaman2000]

They are securely riveted on, I could drill them out but then I would have to source more the right sizes and fit them. i'll clean them up by hand, I was just seeing if there's a lazy option!

ATB

Tom

On a serious note...

0000 superfine steel wool and a generous bit of elbow grease should do the trick...

I guess you'll just have to do what you have to do. My worry about not being able to disassemble it would be the corrosion between the parts (it's that contact of dissimilar metals that creates the corrosion cell) will just speed it coming back

 

[Janne]

Have you been watching me???
Spooky.

6th sense.

 

[Janne]

I guess you'll just have to do what you have to do. My worry about not being able to disassemble it would be the corrosion between the parts (it's that contact of dissimilar metals that creates the corrosion cell) will just speed it coming back

Yep. The Aluminium turns to crackers beneath the iron.
But if that happens you just throw it away and get a new one.

I think it is a weird can you have. Most I have seen have the fittings and rivets in Aluminium?

 

[tombear]

Yeah, It doesn't have the full NATO stores code cast on so I suspect is from the 50s or early 60s. I really wanted a Great War or WW2 all steel job but I've never seen one for a decent price that wasn't shot. I know Alu distributes the heat better but I'm a ferrous sort of guy....

The fittings seam to be sound, nothing's loose or rattles and if push comes to shove I could drill them out, although saying that looking at them I'd just take the heads off with the power file, something I've become quite dexterous with. I suppose farting about with models has paid off when it comes to having a light touch, and knock them through with a drift.

Just out of interest ( you can see I'm trying to avoid it like the plague ) what are Alu rivets like to use? I've done plenty of iron , brass and copper ones ( all small ones done cold ) .

ATB

Tom