Gary; "your" Cast iron stove wax came in yesterday; pulled the grate out and let it dry but it flash rusted in a couple of hours; this time am going to take her out of the electrolyte and clean her with denatured alcohol and then put your Cast iron stove wax covering instructions are pretty simple BUT I CAN screw up simple things.... Lou
G,,day . I have never seen the wax . but it says water soluble . I wonder if you remove from the bath , quick rinse with fresh water , blow dry with compressed air . and apply a coat to stop the rust forming . just an idea. cheers kerry
Uuuhhhh... definitely not "my" cast iron stove wax. I read in the thread here that Sparky was the one who suggested it for your steel trivet. I use stove blacking (cast iron stove wax) on cast iron pan rings (trivets). I believe I said that earlier. It may work out for your steel pan ring, too, but I recall saying I paint those with high temp paints. As to the electrolysis... that was your idea, but... When I've used electrolysis I do the following to combat flash rust. I rinse the item for a long time in clear, fresh water when I remove it from the electro-bath. Usually in a basin, with water running into the tub so that the item remains underwater and away from air. This helps to remove all those salts that you use in electrolysis from the pores of the metal item. When I pull it from the rinse, I dry it with towels and blast it with compressed air or use a hair dryer set on high to dry it as best I can, then into the oven at 250 deg F for an hour to bake bone dry. Any flash rust that develops is buffed out with 0000 steel wool and/or wire brushed. Then, I apply phosphoric acid with a paint brush to convert any remaining flash rust (especially in the pores and pits) and etch the surface for paint adhesion. I let it sit with the phosphoric in a basin for 10-60 minutes, then rinse again in clear fresh water and repeat the drying method. I'll redo the last couple of steps if I get any additional rust bloom. Once satisfied with the derusting, I usually paint. But, I suppose a feller could apply blacking to the steel trivet if he chose. It should work, but, like I said earlier, I use it for cast iron trivets and I don't think I've got any steel trivets that I've tried.
Gary, as always your input is great but have to give both you and Sparky credit for pointing me in the right direction experience tells I had rinsed her in rainwater and let it sit out to dry when it flash rusted; just got her covered after drying and washing with denatured alcohol; just want to go with the iron/steel look and try to preserve her from dying of the rust rot, she has been a good stove for many years; here are a couple after 3 hours post coating; you can see how badly pitted she is even after coating; Lou
I have read and heard that electrolysis converts the rust (iron oxide) back to iron. It doesn't. It forms tiny bubbles of hydrogen between the iron and the rust causing the rust to flake off revealing the pitted iron surface. I have used the wax on iron pans with no problem and on cast iron grills from old suitcase stoves. Steel mills pickle hot rolled steel in hydrochloric/sulfuric acid to do the same thing.
Sparky; appreciate the guidance, good thing about this wax according to manufacturer is you can reapply as needed. need to see how the wax holds up in the southeast; high humidity here is deadly on steel will give a follow-up in 6 months or so Lou
Lou, I live in Houston. We are familiar with humidity! BTW, get some latex gloves to apply that wax. It is a booger to get off of your skin.
Sparky/Gary this morning after heavy rains, heat + high humidity no signs of flash rust. yep, that is a great point about gloves, found that out the hard way; about 45 minutes to clean up even with paint thinner Lou
Clean up? What's that? I use a shoe shine brush to buff out the wax when it's dry. Works great and brings up a soft luster. I agree with Sparky that electrolysis seems to remove the metal that is rusted leaving you with pitting if the rust has been busy. Look forward to seeing the final result.
