OK, was getting frustrated cooking pancakes with the Coleman auxiliary burner pretty much not doing anything except maybe warm things a bit so pulled out this very beat not used for years Primus 5 to use it in addition to feed 3 hungry impatient kids BUT did not fire her up;..... so nothing else to do on a very very rainy day; looked at the grate and it is rusted to hell; was planning to do the electrolysis tank that I have used on other cast iron and steel objects over the years; just wondering how it might turn out; here it is comments and suggestions very welcome; Lou
G,,day . electrolysis only removes rust . so it has to work. it will just need painting as soon as possible to stop it rusting again. cheers kerry
Like you, I've done a lot of electrolysis on cast iron cookware but never steel stove parts. I'll be curious to see how that top plate comes out.
gentlemen thanks for the support ; any recommends on paint available here in the USA ; was thinking rattle can for exhaust manifold in a brass/bronze/gold color; Lou
I have just been struggling with the paint question ever since I burned the paint off my stove. VHT Flameproof paint has the highest temperature rating I've found 1300-2000 F. I bought some of the Satin Clear and sprayed it on some bare steel pot supports then baked them in the oven per instructions. The finish didn't stay clear but turn almost a sepia/cast iron color which it turns out I like a lot. My main goal was a finish that could stand up to the heat and stop further rust, which it should do. The problem is this paint comes in very limited colors which doesn't include gold. Here's a link to their website: http://tinyurl.com/ltf5u8m
Ben, thanks for the info; have an O'Reillys a few blocks from here and am going to pick up a can of the flat grey......will let you know how it goes cheers; Lou
My view is that if the manufacturers were unable to find suitable heatproof paint or think it necessary then why should we? I strongly suspect you can have either a user stove or a display stove and personally, I don't have a problem with that. I've found ordinary car rattle-can paint survives over a wide area of the trivet and burns off only in the parts touched by the flame. Between uses, keep the trivet dry and it won't go hugely rusty. Just my two penn'orth and YMMV...
David; agree totally; she is to be a user; just trying to keep her from rusting more and further deteriorating if I can help it Lou
Sparky; thanks; will make a run to the hardware store after work today and check out the options; will keep posted; Lou
Checked out Lowe's and Home Depot; neither had it; the local ACE was blown away by a tornado couple of years ago; ended up at O'Reillys and they had to order the grey VHT; not much to show for a lot of running around.....phone calls?! keep getting a "HUH" when ask about the items mentioned quicker and less frustrating to just go there! Lou
"Cast iron stove wax" is also called stove black or stove blacking. It was used for hundreds of years (still is) to protect cast iron and steel stoves like wood-fired cooking and heating stoves. Check a wood stove seller to find it. Or, put "stove black polish" into the search box at eBay or Amazon. I got mine from Home Depot. Here's what I bought: IMPERIAL MFG GROUP #KK0057 8OZ BLK Stove Polish A check online shows Lowes and Home Depot in Oregon have it. Maybe no wood stoves needed in Alabama? Stove black contains high temperature waxes and "carbon black". Stove black seals the metal surface from air and moisture and helps prevent rust. It provides a lustrous black finish. It makes cast iron look like.. well... cast iron. Wipe it on. Let it dry. Buff it out with a soft cloth. Repeat as necessary as the flames from your stove burn it off over time. Stove black is especially good for restoring cast iron pan grates. It's what the original purchasers would have used after the flash-and-dazzle gold paint applied by the manufacturers burned away. The cheap quality gold paint applied by the manufacturers was never intended to last very long and was just to get the customer to buy the "pretty" stove. Alternatively, the high-temperature "flame-proof" paints from VHT will resist the heat of your stoves flames when used on pan grates. Manufacturers 50 or 100 years ago did not have access to these newer paint formulations brought to us by modern chemistry and that's why they did not use them on pan grates of old. Look for VHT products in automotive stores like NAPA, PepBoys or AutoZone here in the US. VHT can be found through online sellers as well. Follow the curing instructions which involves a three step heat curing in order to make the paint chemical and heat resistant. Don't forget that you will be heat curing the VHT paint at 650 deg F (343 deg C), so this is not a good paint to use on any stove item that is held together with solder. Solder melts at temperatures as low as 351 deg F (183 deg C) depending on the formulation of the solder alloy. I've used VHT Flame-Proof silver, cast iron and orange. Silver seems the most heat and flame resistant of the three colors I have used. The silver I have on my Coleman 500 pot support has received extensive direct flame contact over several years and remains unchanged in color. The cast iron and the orange have tended to brown slightly over time on the ares where direct flame contact has been made.
Ummmm. Not sure on the "black lead". Read the two Wikipedia articles and decide for yourself if they are the same. "Black lead" seems to be a name people in the UK gave graphite. Carbon black is something else. I'm thinking not the same, but I could be wrong. Carbon black Black lead
Bernie; have learned a lot from your you-tube videos.......thanks for the time and effort put into them ; hate to say it but most of the cast iron stuff was scrapped a few years ago when the price of scrap metal went out the roof; will check online later on the product you mentioned; still have the grate in my electrolysis vat; 5 gal plastic drum with 4 pieces of 1/2 inch rebar and connected with scrap copper wire and hooked to a old "trickle" charger using washing soda that has been there about 3-4 years Bernie; where did you obtain your red squeeze bottle for alcohol; it seems a lot more practical than the old mustard squeeze I am using and did not seem to leak Lou
Heya Lou The red squeeze bottle is a Nalgene laboratory wash bottle. I bought a couple of these a few years back because they seemed like a good choice for using here in the shop where stoves are fired up frequently. The spout is not sealable, so it doesn't make a good portable spirit container as it will empty out if it's not upright. I find the Trangia bottles are really nice and also can be sealed for transport. They have a dispensing button on the top of the valve which makes spirit pouring really controllable. I use the Trangias a lot these days. You can find either on eBay, or on the internet by Googling, "red wash bottle" or "Trangia fuel bottle". Cheers, Gary
Gary; George and so many that have helped will pursue all the advice; just got the VHT very high temp paint in today BUT the color is IMO way too light; can always use it on exhaust manifolds I guess; went ahead and purchased the cast iron 8 oz online and will compare colors but think best to go with Gary's cast iron recommend.......too light a color just doesn't sit well on this 1933 stove; till then will leave the grate in the electrolysis bucket maybe this weekend Gary have sent an email to the gentleman you recommended; thanks again to all; cheers; Lou
Still have not received IMPERIAL MFG GROUP #KK0057 8OZ BLK Stove Polish took a picture of my set up; 5 gal barrel with washing soda and 2 pieces of rebar + piece of scrap iron pipe; had a 4th piece of rebar but it was donated to another project the grate still had a lot of scale on it so I hit it with a stiff plastic brush and back in the vat it goes; noot I guess to change to solution BUT it still works and "bubbles" when I stick the current to it....the current donor is a scrap trickle car battery charger that I was about to throw away BUT grate emerging underside Primus No.5 grate hope this helps, primitive but it works; clamps are just to hold the rebar/scrap pipe in place all connected with a piece of scrap copper wire, the positive from the charger to one of the rebar pieces and the negative to the grate/item to be derusted. Lou
