Naval jelly. Safe for moulds?

[Bucks Owin]

I'm always on the lookout for moulds at yard sales and such and have picked up a few with a little light rust in them. Would it be prudent to try some "Naval Jelly" to remove this and then hope for the best as far as dropping decent boolits from them?

TIA,

Dennis

[mhb]

I recommend against naval jelly for removal of rust on molds - it is primarily phosphoric acid, and will not only remove rust, but etch the entire surface of the mold it contacts. Rust on the outside of the blocks can be easily removed by several mechanical means - on the inside, I've always used the pencil-type typewriter eraser, which incorporates a mild abrasive, and shapes itself to conform with the features in the mold cavity, without doing any harm to the surface. A pitted mold is no fun to use, and not much good - an etched one would not be much better.
mhb - Mike

[Bucks Owin]

Typewriter eraser huh? Sounds good to me.... (Or maybe some JB bore paste on a Q-tip?)

Thanks,

Dennis

[454PB]

Yeah, Dennis......I've used JB bore compound before and it works great. The typewriter eraser idea sounds good too, if it's very light rusting. I've used Flitz metal polish with good results too.

I recently acquired a three old Ideal moulds in a trade, and all of them had very light rusting in the cavities. I applied some Break Free with a Q-tip, let them sit for a while, then cleaned them with Gun Scrubber. All the rust was removed and they cast beautiful boolits.

[w30wcf]

Bucks Owen,

Very fine steel wool on the end of a popsicle stick works great.

w30wcf

[StarMetal]

Dennis,

There have been posters here that have described the "reverse plating" by reversing the poles on your power hook up. Way it works is it removes the rust which is collected onto a piece of iron you place in the solution. You can do this at home easy. Someone has the website for building this little gizmo and it works very well.

Joe

[fecmech]

Here is the place. I did a badly rusted saeco 4 cavity 185 gr. swc .45 mold a year or so ago and it worked great. Just make sure the polarity is correct! http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/rust/electrolytic_derusting.htm

[imashooter2]

I've used electrolytic rust removal too and it is truly ideal. Rust is completely removed and the parent metal is untouched. Here is a link with a diagram and a picture of a nice setup:

http://www3.telus.net/public/aschoepp/electrolyticrust.html

I used a 5 gallon bucket with a couple strips of scrap sheet metal folded over the rim and hung the mold halves from bailing wire wrapped around a paint stirrer as an expedient setup.

[Blackwater]

FWIW, I recently cleaned up two guns that were victims of hurricane Katrina, and I was amazed at what simple liquid hand soap (not detergent) did with a plain ol' toothbrush. A friend who knows more about cleaning and chemicals than I do said the fats in the hand soap emulsified the flakes of rust that the toothbrush would abrade off, and lift them out so the next brush stroke could get to the next layer. A brass brush was used on the harder rust spots.

After this cleaning, using hot tap water (had to wear insulated gloves to do the work), I used detergent to clean the mould of the soap, so no residuals would cause rerusting. The moulds were hot from the hot tap water, and dried PDQ. When sure they were absolutely dry, I oiled with Marvel Mystery Oil, let sit a while, and then wiped dry and reoiled with CLP. I'm still amazed at how well plain old soap works on rust, and I think it ought to work on the fine rust that usually inflicts a mould pretty well, and there's no risk involved in its use.

Just another option, of course, but FWIW, I'd steer clear of Naval Jelly. I wound up having to use it on those guns, and it's not the most user friendly thing I've ever used. Getting rid of that gray haze on the metal after its use would be a problem for a mould, I think.

[Bucks Owin]

Gee, what a great forum! Thanks much amigos!

Dennis

[cherok9878]

Best forum on the "NET"..............larry