Rusty

[Micro man]

Have not done any reloading since before Christmas and when I was looking at some dies last night I noticed a light coating of rust on some of them. My reloading room is in my basement and while not dark and dank the moisture level is higher than the rest of the house.

I have never had this problem before and was wondering what members do to
keep this from happening and the best way to get the rust off the dies.

Thank you for your time.

[Shadow9mm]

Oil and a plastic tooth brush should get things squared away.

I use the mtm ammo crates. Medium size fits about 10 die sets and some silica gel. Keeps everything sealed and dry

[ocharry]

i use a dehumidifier and keep it about 35-38% in the load room....and this time of year i wish i had a drain in that room....i can see how things could rust up with high humidity ...but i have leather stuff in there too..saddles and such...that stuff dont like high humidity either


get a good dehu and keep it running and empty...if you have a drain...i would spring for a crawl space dehu...the stuff you get at lowes and home depot dont last ...MAYBE a year if you are lucky

i put a crawl space dehun in my shop...lots of tools in there and they dont like high humidity either....yes it was expensive but if you by one every year from the big box store, it dont take long to pay for it..and it ( the crawl space dehun) is a water sucking machine.....worth every penny

as for cleaning your stuff up..shadow has already adressed that for ya...some good oil or hoppies and a stiff NON meatal brush should do it

but you got to get rid of the water in the air or it is gona come back

my .02

ocharry

[nhyrum]

I use a dehumidifier, but have also coated things in a thin coat of a rust preventative like lps2. I also used to get very large, 16oz silica gel packets from a place I worked and kept everything in tubs with one of those in there

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[gwpercle]

0000 steel wool and any oil , lube or even WD40 to help the steel wool .

After cleaning all the rust off I spray mine with any "Dry Spray Lube" ... like Liquid Wrench Dry Lube L512 ... but any brand of dry lube will work .
It keeps off the rust and the dry lube isn't messy or greasy ... it's dry and can be left on the outsides and will not hurt if sprayed on the insides ... what is left is a nice dry micro-thin Teflon coating , wipes right off and can be left in place ... on the first case sizing the case sizing lube will remove it or you can easily wipe it clean with a paper towel or rag .
Louisiana is the land of heat , humidity and rust ...lotsa rust !

Another way to protect dies is with automotive paste wax ... a good coat (or two) of Mother's Pure Carnauba Paste Wax will keep them rust free .
Gary

[akinswi]

Use a polish to remove rust, Then use any automotive wax buff off. I posed this very same question about a week ago.

The wax and polish 100% stopped the rusting

[Marco Califo]

There are many rust removal products. Evapo-rust is available at Home Depot and HFT. Use in an ultrasonic cleaner on your dissambled rusty dies. Then I use aerosol CLP.
Naval jelly is a rust-eating phosphoric acid gel (tastes terrible on toast!).

[Unclenick]

The Evapo-rust is a good recommendation, as is Rust Release, which is a smaller competing brand whose product has a slightly lower pH and works a little faster. Evaporust has the advantage you can leave it on the metal as a rust preventive for a short time (hours or a day). Naval jelly is an old-school acidic rust eater and is even faster, but it leaves the surface more etched and activated so that it starts re-rusting sooner if you are in a humid environment.

[jetinteriorguy]

Depending on how rusty, just clean with some fine steel wool then toss the disassembled dies in the tumbler with Nufinish added for a final polish and coating of wax for protection.

[akinswi]

Originally Posted by jetinteriorguy

Depending on how rusty, just clean with some fine steel wool then toss the disassembled dies in the tumbler with Nufinish added for a final polish and coating of wax for protection.

Jet, what media were you using? I tried corncob what disaster that was the media got stuck in the threads .

[Unclenick]

Corncob is soft and absorbant, so it swells and gets softer in the presence of water. I think walnut is what you'd want in this instance.

[Marco Califo]

keep VCI (Vapor Corrosion Inhibitor) sheets with your dies

I bought 200 9" squares on Amazon and plan to wrap all my dies when they are not in use. I have clear plastic tool/parts boxes, one for each caliber, and keep dies, shellholders, case gauges, etc., in them.

[akinswi]

Nick walnut wasnt any better either. It was so bad I ended up throwing that die into the wet tumbler and it cleaned all the media out of the threads

[jetinteriorguy]

Originally Posted by akinswi

Jet, what media were you using? I tried corncob what disaster that was the media got stuck in the threads .

I’m using crushed walnut from Harbor Freight. I don’t use this so much for actual cleaning brass anymore, I just use it for a final bit of polish and as a medium for adding in the Nufinish to prevent the brass from tarnishing in storage.

[akinswi]

I always wonder if Moose Milk would be a good treatment, due that once it dries it leaves a protective film on the surface

[Micro man]

Thanks for all the help! Now I have to figure out what will work best for me. The vapor barrier material sounds good, and I will check it out further after I get my dies clean.

[RoyceP]

Originally Posted by Unclenick

The Evapo-rust is a good recommendation, as is Rust Release, which is a smaller competing brand whose product has a slightly lower pH and works a little faster. Evaporust has the advantage you can leave it on the metal as a rust preventive for a short time (hours or a day). Naval jelly is an old-school acidic rust eater and is even faster, but it leaves the surface more etched and activated so that it starts re-rusting sooner if you are in a humid environment.

Evaporust is fabulous stuff! An hour submerged and your dies will look pristine again. Available at most Harbor Freight outlets.

[Unclenick]

Akinswi,

Interesting that you had the same experience with walnut. I'm thinking the amount of polish is too high even for it to handle. Another thought is to wet the steel with Gunzilla. It takes rust off slowly, then dries to leave a thin lubricating sort of varnish in place.

[Geezerbiker]

I had a Lee universal decapping die and universal expander rust a little. I cleaned them with a bronze wire brush, then wiped down with acetone. After that I sprayed them with Midway drop out bullet mold lube. It's no good for the intended purpose but I love it for things like this.

Tony