Will Rust Keep Occuring?

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Caw

Minister of Fire
May 26, 2020
2,555
Massachusetts
Recently I was discussing paint with everyone here and how my 2 year old Osburn 1600 has some rust spots from dog drool (thanks Gordon). I managed to solve the paint issue and got the correct product and nowI have some related but different questions:

Will the spots I sanded just continue to rust if I don't paint them? I've attached some pictures. I sanded them down with fine steel wool a few weeks ago but checking on it now there is more rust even though I know it hasn't gotten wet again. Is the humidity in the air causing it? Did I simply not sand it all off and it came back? That seems unlikely.

I'd really like to avoid repainting but if it's the only way to stop the corrosion I'll have to do it. I dont want to pull the stove so I'd basically be doing the top of the stove that protrudes (about 8") and dealing with the fact it may not all look uniform. Also the hassle of spray painting in the living room with the smell and cardboard id need.

What do you guys think? This is really annoying. Can't blame the dog he's just doing dog things and laying on the steel hearth to stay cool.

I also need to keep reminding my kids to stop putting their greasy mits on it!
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Bare steel will rust without paint or some other coating in many if not most environments.
 
Bare steel will rust without paint or some other coating in many if not most environments.

I guess that begs the question should I sand it down or just leave it be until I'm able to paint it? I'm going to have to find a time when I can leave the windows open and the kids won't be around for a bit. It's rained basically every day for a month here and we're always busy so it might be a few weeks+.

PS - The door on this model is cast iron where as the stove itself is made of steel. Can I use stove polish on the door? It has a few spots as well.
 
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bare, sanded metal will rust quicker because you're taking off any protective layer or coating that could still be on there. This is why sandblasted metal can flash rust very quickly, and even quicker if it's metal that was heavily rusted and pitted in the first place. I wouldn't sand until you're ready to paint.
 
Non gloss high temp spray paint is quick and surprisingly fast drying. Whether you wait or paint it now you need to prep the surface just before spraying.
 
Don't you remember Neil Youngs album, Rust Never Sleeps ;)

As long as there is oxygen in the air and a damp surface its going to rust. Even if you sand it down pretty well there is usually some iron oxide left and if it gets oxygen and a bit dampness in the air it will start rusting. You can use a "rust destroyer type chemical to convert it to FeO3 which gives it a black appearance but unless its coated with a tight coating it turns back to rust. Most of the rust destroyer products work that way. Its stove so you need something temperature resistant or it will stink.
 
You can use a "rust destroyer type chemical to convert it to FeO3 which gives it a black appearance but unless its coated with a tight coating it turns back to rust. Most of the rust destroyer products work that way. Its stove so you need something temperature resistant or it will stink.
I've had this discussion with others before...if rust converters turn the rust into an inert substance, you should be able to run the stove to "burn off" anything left by the RC (the rust has already been converted, right?) and then coat everything with a HT paint product...no?
 
I have the proper paint for it from SBI. I was hoping to not have to paint it this summer but it's clear to me it has to be done. It'll be a little annoying the paint might not look perfect (because I'll only be doing part of the stove) but that's better than rust.

Can the same high temp paint be used on the cast iron door or does that require stove polish?
 
Can the same high temp paint be used on the cast iron door or does that require stove polish?
I used the same paint on my Drolet 1400i door...no issues...
 
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I've had this discussion with others before...if rust converters turn the rust into an inert substance, you should be able to run the stove to "burn off" anything left by the RC (the rust has already been converted, right?) and then coat everything with a HT paint product...no?
Yes that is the theory. I think the base ingredient is an acid. Folks used to use Coke. How to Use Coca-Cola to Get Rid of Car Rust | DIY Rust Removal Tips (carhop.com) . POR has a rust converter used to prep metal prior to sealing with their one component moisture cure polyurethane (the top coat is definitely not recommended for stove use)
 
I think good sanding prep followed by a few light coats should do the trick. It's not gonna be perfect looking since I can't do the whole stove but I care more about keeping it in good shape than looks. The door is going to be annoying I'm gonna have to take the glass/nickel part off and then I'll do it outside.
 
I clean my cast iron pans every few weeks with hot water and steel wool, they will develop rust within hours if I dont coat them with oil right away.
 
I clean my cast iron pans every few weeks with hot water and steel wool, they will develop rust within hours if I dont coat them with oil right away.

That makes sense, mine do the same so I expect the door to react similarly. Since the stove is steel I thought maybe it would be less reactive but that doesn't seem to be the case. I'm assuming it's regular carbon steel so again it makes sense, it doesn't have much chromium in it like stainless.
 
I avoid sandpaper on the stove and use scotch bright instead. My wife gets water on the stove every so often with the tea pot or something else and a little rub when the stove cools takes out the spots. Hit it with a littlepaint and its gold..
I would paint the stove in late summer and early fall. Id put a box fan in the window closest to the stove and suck out the fumes on a day that is relatively cool

just a thought
 
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I wish I could get the same paint in a can and brush on some touch up but it's only spray according to SBI...it's their metallic black. I may see if the dealer has something similar has something similar I could rub it brush on. Again I'm not too concerned with aesthetics I just want to stop the rust...Gordon is just gonna get it again lol.

Speaking of Gordon here he is doing his thing... sleeping on the steel hearth extender and dwarfing the stove lol.

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I’ve been touching up my stove yearly for the last few seasons. I’ll use a little acetone on a rag to clean things off. It will kill brain cells so I make sure to use an appropriate mask and only use as much as I need. It will remove light rust easily along with any other dirt / oil to make a good surface to paint. It will take the existing paint off if you use too much. It dries almost instantly so you can paint pretty much right away.

It probably takes me longer to set up the painters tape and newspaper to protect the glass and the brick than it does to do the cleaning and painting. I keep the dogs and other people out of the room for an hour and have a fan blowing air out the window.
 
LOL Is your stove tiny or is Gordon as big as a pony? ;lol

I have used a product called "Exrust" by Kano Labs in TN. While it does a
good job or neutralizing and keeping rust from coming back, I have zero
experience as to how it would behave on steel that gets hot. Just the same,
if I had this problem I would indeed try it out. It's paintable BTW, so I would
also get out the artist brushes and put tiny dabs of high temp stove paint
over it too.
 
I wish I could get the same paint in a can and brush on some touch up but it's only spray according to SBI
Blow some of that spray paint into a spray can cap and use a small artists brush to touch up as needed...
 
I wish I could get the same paint in a can and brush on some touch up but it's only spray according to SBI...it's their metallic black. I may see if the dealer has something similar has something similar I could rub it brush on. Again I'm not too concerned with aesthetics I just want to stop the rust...Gordon is just gonna get it again lol.

Speaking of Gordon here he is doing his thing... sleeping on the steel hearth extender and dwarfing the stove lol.

View attachment 280361
#tinystove
 
Blow some of that spray paint into a spray can cap and use a small artists brush to touch up as needed...

You’ve got to shoot the metallic so the flakes are even and appropriately oriented. To simply stop the rust you can spread Crisco on it if you want. Dog might lick it though.
 
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You’ve got to shoot the metallic so the flakes are even and appropriately oriented. To simply stop the rust you can spread Crisco on it if you want. Dog might lick it though.
True, but for rust control I wouldn't worry about the metallic flakes...can spray over it later on for cosmetic touch up...and yes on the Crisco/dog issue ;lol
I used the metallic black on mine too...its not real "metallic-y"...I don't thing you'd notice the difference between sprayed and brushed on that much...the shade difference between the old and new paint would be more noticeable IMO...but it all looks the same after a few months though...
 
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I would scuff that with a red scotch pad, mask off the part, setup some plastic to keep the overspray down, open all of the windows, DUST an aerosol paint on there, build it up slowly and minimally untill it’s uniform in color.

Yes it will fume out the room for a day
 
Blow some of that spray paint into a spray can cap and use a small artists brush to touch up as needed...

Good idea! Right now it's far enough I'll spray it but I'm gonna keep this in mind next time.
 
Stove polish is not impermeable to water or water vapor. That is why antiques needed to be coated constantly as it would rust under the coating. Paint is far superior.

Moisture from any animal laying on cold metal is bad news. WD-40 was formulated as an aircraft protectant and leaves a protective coating. I keep the inside of my new, unfired collector stoves coated with it.

If you have linseed oil, that is a hard drying oil that will protect any bare metal until lightly sanded or cleaned down to bare metal before paint.

Bacon grease, lard or their replacement Crisco can go rancid if not fired. Heating it to it’s smoke point changes the coating to a harder coating than the original and is the process used when seasoning cast iron. Heat causes the molecules to cross link, or polymerize into a different substance. That’s the coating you get in a conventional oven that needs the higher temps of a cleaning cycle to remove since the cross linked coating has a higher smoke point than the original grease spatter. Lard was used on antiques, but pigs aren’t fed the same with higher fatty acids now, so Crisco is better than nothing.
 
True, but for rust control I wouldn't worry about the metallic flakes...can spray over it later on for cosmetic touch up...and yes on the Crisco/dog issue ;lol
I used the metallic black on mine too...its not real "metallic-y"...I don't thing you'd notice the difference between sprayed and brushed on that much...the shade difference between the old and new paint would be more noticeable IMO...but it all looks the same after a few months though...
You absolutely see the difference. It stands out like a sore thumb