doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DIY Gunsmithing @ doublegunshop.com Rust Removal and Annealing

I'm fiddling with a shotgun that is quite decrepit.
But, because of it's origin and rarity, I'm going to work on it.

It's quite rusty.
The barrels cleaned up fine, but the action is "rough".

Should I use electrolysis to remove the rust before annealing and polishing?

Or, should I just send it out for annealing, and polish it when it returns? In other words, not remove the surface rust before annealing?

Thoughts?

What is the reason for annealing?
Mike

A big section of engraving is rotted off. No reason to punish the engraver or risk chipping when the surface is so poor anyway.

I'm trying to ask questions on this forum in a way that a future search engine might pick up
So the titles should always have a specific query.

In the past, I just sent stuff out, and when it got back, I never asked.
Reducing Ferrous oxide to Ferric oxide with electrolysis seemed a possible way to clean it up some.

What do you think?

I think if rust is converted by electrolysis to something else, it's still something that has to be removed, rather than good steel.

I'd consider a good cleaning, maybe ultrasonically. Then, work on the surface prep, with the possibility of stopping after getting an idea of what's going on and having deeper damage welded.

Maybe, then if the project is worth continuing with, the welder might have already annealed the part(s) or the engraver can decide if it needs annealing before picking up the engraving. I think engravers regularly work with harder and tougher metal surfaces, but if the annealing is for the engraver, I'd consider letting them specify that step.

Clapper Zapper,
I see, now, I didn't know you would have engraving done. Electrolysis is one of the methods of removing rust. It basically moves it from the action(anode)and places it on another piece of iron/steel(cathode). This is an electroplating process in reverse. There are other effective methods, that may be easier or don't require unusual equipment.
Mike

The case is about .002-.003, so getting this ready for engraving is more, or less, work for me.

I can drop it off for annealing, and get it back in a couple days.

I've just never heard anyone mention rust removal pre-annealing on the DIY side before.

I'd go over the metal with a wire wheel to remove what ever rust can remove before annealing it.. I do that just because it seems like the right thing to do!. No need to go hard and rough,,just a fine to med wheel with a light coating of oil on the metal and they clean up pretty well.

Take some patterns, lifts and/or pics of the engraving before the polishing especially if it may be lost during the process. The engravers appreciate that.

Do the annealing or have it done.
Then procede with your polishing to clean and square up the surfaces and remove any pitting.

Maybe the engraver would like to do the polishing along with the recut so as not to disturb and loose any of the original pattern or lettering.
Best to ask him/her. Some do,,some don't,, like to do any polishing & prep work.
I prefer to do the prep work myself, but everyone is different.

Electrolytic rust removal is effective. The resulting Ferric Oxide comes off easily, similar to like after barrels have been boiled.

Currently doing an experiment to remove rust from an auger bit. White vinegar seems to be doing a better job than I would have expected. might want to give it a soak.

I derusted an old English rook rifle years ago to engrave. It had a solid patina and a number of pits I was going to fill with soft iron inlay. I soaked it in Steel White as sold by Brownells, a solution I successfully used to derust some Model A body parts.

When the action came out of the solution, it was like extremely fine Swiss cheese, because the patina had eaten into the surface.

I finally used a small engraver's punch and chasing hammer and beat the whole surface area down a few thousandths of an inch to "seal" up the pits before polishing and engraving. Still had the larger pits to fill but they were by this time very clean. The project came out really nice even though taking a lot more time than I had planned.