Cleaning Plaster dust off guns? - Page 2

FITASC · July 18, 2016, 09:24 PM

If you merely blow them off, then you'll have the dust everywhere in that room. Use a vacuum, then a cloth with a light coating of oil or similar to attract and retain on the rag anything left over from the vacuum. (Like you would dusting fine wood furniture)

drobs · July 19, 2016, 08:15 AM

I think we need a picture of the gun room...

Snyper · July 19, 2016, 01:56 PM

Quote:

If you merely blow them off, then you'll have the dust everywhere in that room.

There's already dust all over the room.
A minute fraction of an ounce more wouldn't make any difference at all.
The smart thing would to be take them outside for any blowing.

T. O'Heir · July 19, 2016, 02:04 PM

"...high humidity it can corrode steel..." That's the humidity causing the corrosion. Steel being made man stuff and Ma Nature dislikes stuff that is man made. Rust is steel returning to its natural form.
Like Snyper says, suck or blow it off. Makes no difference. Like briandg says, gypsum, like water, isn't going to cause your firearms to rust instantly. Isn't going to do anything when it's dry either.
If your dry wall crumbles when stuff is drilled into it, something is terribly wrong. Start by sharpening your stuff.

pappa · July 19, 2016, 04:14 PM

A lot of varied opinions offered. Lot of ifs involved. If all the metal is completely free of lubricant (which I would think they aren't), then the dust would have nothing to stick to. In that case only an air blow may work.
Also, corrosion problems vary greatly with humidity. Someone in Colorado (often~15%) has much more time before need to worry than a person in Florida with 87-97% often.
Only question with corrosion is when, not if.
See ASTM article on Assessment and Remediation of Corrosive Drywall. http://www.astm.org/COMMIT/C1101-EdL...tation.pdf.pdf. . Simplest to just google "corrosive drywall". Lots of sources of info.
All my guns - no Cerrocote- have a thin film of oil for lubrication/corrosion resistance. I live in Florida and water wash (detergent too, if needed- depends on amount of lube in gun) is only way I have ever been able to remove windblown fine sand grit.
By the way, Columbia was an ORBITER. The Space Shuttle is 2 SRBs, 1 External Tank, and the orbiter. STS-xxx was different for each flight. To poster on this, I am just teasing - I knew what you meant. Brought back a lot of memories - used to build them. Gosh, 1982 was 34yrs ago! Almost half my life-76 , 2 more months. Stay cool, and again, I am just kidding about it. Pat

buck460XVR · July 21, 2016, 04:43 PM

Quote:

It's just some dust on the guns.
It's not some hazardous substance.

Depends. If the plaster is from the 50s thru early 70s, and is really plaster, it may very well contain asbestos. If that is the case, the last thing you want to do is blow it into the air. Suck it up, don't blow it around, even if it's plain gypsum. Plaster dust is also very fine dust and can damage good vacuum cleaners. Use a shop vac. I'd vacuum what I could and then wipe down the guns as if I was cleaning them after hunting in the rain/mud.

July 18, 2016, 09:24 PM	#26
FITASC Senior Member Join Date: December 6, 2014 Posts: 6,446	If you merely blow them off, then you'll have the dust everywhere in that room. Use a vacuum, then a cloth with a light coating of oil or similar to attract and retain on the rag anything left over from the vacuum. (Like you would dusting fine wood furniture) __________________ "I believe that people have a right to decide their own destinies; people own themselves. I also believe that, in a democracy, government exists because (and only so long as) individual citizens give it a 'temporary license to exist'—in exchange for a promise that it will behave itself. In a democracy, you own the government—it doesn't own you."- Frank Zappa

July 19, 2016, 08:15 AM	#27
drobs Senior Member Join Date: July 17, 2015 Location: South Central MO / Africa Posts: 1,111	I think we need a picture of the gun room... __________________ NRA Life Member

July 19, 2016, 02:04 PM	#29
T. O'Heir Senior Member Join Date: February 13, 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 12,453	"...high humidity it can corrode steel..." That's the humidity causing the corrosion. Steel being made man stuff and Ma Nature dislikes stuff that is man made. Rust is steel returning to its natural form. Like Snyper says, suck or blow it off. Makes no difference. Like briandg says, gypsum, like water, isn't going to cause your firearms to rust instantly. Isn't going to do anything when it's dry either. If your dry wall crumbles when stuff is drilled into it, something is terribly wrong. Start by sharpening your stuff. __________________ Spelling and grammar count!

July 19, 2016, 04:14 PM	#30
pappa Member Join Date: April 6, 2002 Location: Dade City, Florida Posts: 51	A lot of varied opinions offered. Lot of ifs involved. If all the metal is completely free of lubricant (which I would think they aren't), then the dust would have nothing to stick to. In that case only an air blow may work. Also, corrosion problems vary greatly with humidity. Someone in Colorado (often~15%) has much more time before need to worry than a person in Florida with 87-97% often. Only question with corrosion is when, not if. See ASTM article on Assessment and Remediation of Corrosive Drywall. http://www.astm.org/COMMIT/C1101-EdL...tation.pdf.pdf. . Simplest to just google "corrosive drywall". Lots of sources of info. All my guns - no Cerrocote- have a thin film of oil for lubrication/corrosion resistance. I live in Florida and water wash (detergent too, if needed- depends on amount of lube in gun) is only way I have ever been able to remove windblown fine sand grit. By the way, Columbia was an ORBITER. The Space Shuttle is 2 SRBs, 1 External Tank, and the orbiter. STS-xxx was different for each flight. To poster on this, I am just teasing - I knew what you meant. Brought back a lot of memories - used to build them. Gosh, 1982 was 34yrs ago! Almost half my life-76 , 2 more months. Stay cool, and again, I am just kidding about it. Pat