Painting an OLD cook stove

[shaniac]

Greetings folks, I just picked up an old Universal brand cook stove, that is in fantastic shape. This stove will be a daily user for my wife and I as we live simple lives far off the grid.

My question is: There are a few small areas of surface rust on top of the enamel covering the stove. I was thinking about sanding it of, priming it and giving it a new coat of paint. Does anyone know what paint can be applied over the enamel for best results. I have searched this forum and the StoveBright brand seems recommended, but I was not sure if it could be applied over the old enamel. I have used it for an old steel stove in the past, with great results, but I wanted your council on the best options for enamel.

A second question would be, since the surface rust is so minor in places, is there an option for removing it that will bring back the enamel below without a full repaint. I have tried a little steel wool and CLR, and that helps, but does not pull all the rust off. Is there a buffing wheel that might help with this?

Any input will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your time.
Steve and Stephanie

 

[Harley]

This is only a guess.... hopefully more on here will have more experience with this than I do. I have an older wood cookstove - but it's painted cast iron, but there was rust on the nickle trim in places when I got it. The thing that worked best there was navel jelly. It ate away at the rust, and as long as its not pitted, I would think that would do the trick. I'm not sure if it would dull the enamel though. The other thing I've used for rust (again chrome or nickle) was a polishing cloth and some gun oil or break-away. The only thing I would be concerned about there would be, is that the "polishing" might be breaking up the rust, but you end up draggining it across parts of the enamel surface and scratching and dulling it.

Hope that helps, and good luck with the stove.