Best abrasive brushes according to redditors

TL; DR: Don't even bother getting the paint stripper, if you insist on fresh brick it's easier to rip the painted brick out and put up fresh brick.

I think I ended up not being able to get SoyGel, which is commonly recommended so I used a Blue Bear solution and I think Ready-strip. I got one off Amazon, ran out and grabbed whatever they had at Home Depot for the second attempt. Both of them stink to high heaven, so you need a really good gas mask and ventilation. Nobody else should be in the house. Though save your time, money and brain cells, because it didn't work for me:

My brick was heavily caked from multiple layers of paint. The stripper actually did a good job on the first layer, and then there was this resilient horrible looking off-white underneath. I don't know if it was stubborn because it was a better paint (maybe oil?) or just because it was mechanically locked onto the brick surface whereas the previous coat was just on top of this one. Anyway, the gels didn't work, so I bought some wire bristle cups for my angle grinder to try to pull the paint off without destroying the surface of the brick.

My whole house shook from my fireplace laughing at the tickle from those things. So I stepped up to these. It was more effective, but slow. At some point my angle grinder burnt out, so I was back at Home Depot buying a new angle grinder, and upgraded from a 4 amp to a 7 amp. I also got some of these, which looked way too strong but I was getting desperate.

Between the stronger angle grinder and those wire discs it was actually chewing through the paint pretty good. Mind you, I had built a Dexter-quality tent of drop sheets around my fireplace with 2-3 layers on each side to try keep the brick and paint dust from going through my home. I had a purple respirator, eye glasses and full face shield and would have to stop because the tent would get so filled with red dust in the air you couldn't see anything. It took me weeks to scrub all the red dust off everything, I had to paint the ceiling and walls because the inside of the tent walls were so stained with red dust, and I'm sure I still have plenty of it in my lungs that will eventually kill me.

I ended up cleaning all the brick to 'good enough', since I was planning on white washing anyway. It'd be impossible to get it completely red again. Then I went through the process of repairing all the brick I chipped and cleaning out the mortar. Then I repointed the mortar and did my white wash. That was a mistake, then the mortar was all colored, so I removed the fresh mortar again, touched up my paint, then repointed the mortar a second time.

In the end I'd say it actually came out really nice. You couldn't convince me to do it again with a gun to my head. Oh, and I'm wrapping up a major remodel and we just decided that we're going to have the entire fireplace resurfaced because brick doesn't really fit our house anymore. Shoot me.

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A mop or bristle sander is helpful to get the fuzzies out without impacting the carve.

I use these for machined carves -

https://www.amazon.com/Abrasive-Nylon-Woodwork-Polish-Grinder/dp/B0787ZPHKN/ref=sxts_sxwds-bia

There's no simple chemical fix.

There are tons of products on the market, and almost everyone thinks they have the uber-secret ultramegarustfix technique using some kind of special blend of obscure chemicals. "It worked for my Uncle's friend's brother, it's definitely the best!" Don't waste your time.

Short of dipping the entire rack in a tank of acid, the best possible way to fix any rust is to mechanically remove it, then properly prime the clean bare metal and top coat it to prevent corrosion in the future.

I'm assuming you don't have a full shop of tools to work with, but you can probably find a battery drill. Get a wire wheel like this there on Amazon or at basically any hardware store. Put it in the drill and go to work. Just remove all visible rust. Use a maroon paint prep scuff pad to scuff the surface of the rest of the rack. Wipe it down with wax and grease remover.

If you don't want to go with the drill and wire wheel, just use 180 and then 320 grit sandpaper. That will take care of it. I just prefer rotary tools whenever possible because hand-sanding always sucks.

Your choice in top coat paint will determine the best course of action following removal of the rust. I'm an automotive painter, so I always recommend going with 2k catalyzed automotive materials for the absolute best in durability other than powder coating, which is much more expensive.

You don't have a lot of rust there, so not much will be bare metal. You can get away with simple non-catalyzed self-etching primer rather than epoxy, which is tougher. Spray a light coat or two of etch primer over the bare metal, let it dry, then scuff with the same maroon pad. Wipe down the surface with wax and grease remover again, then top coat.

I'm assuming you want the rack black again, so I'll recommend a catalyzed chassis black paint.

That's exactly how I'd do it. You'll end up with a very durable, good looking surface.

3m metal cleaning attachment for a power drill after a little degreaser soak. I'd just use elbow grease but 75 to 100.... go to home depot and spend 10 bucks, grab a power drill and unleash the fury dude.

Forney 72729 Wire Cup Brush, Coarse Crimped with 1/4-Inch Hex Shank, 2-Inch-by-.012-Inch https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000TG60GS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_p-EwDbTYE43E4

Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wPR55HoN_M
That guy has great information and tips. I use Rustoleum. Doesn't matter if it's gloss, satin, or flat, it all comes out looking good as long as you sand the enclosure as he does in the video. You can always spray clear coat on top to make it shiny, or leave it flat. Bake it in a dedicated toaster oven for 30 minutes on about 175. Not one that you will be cooking food in as the chemicals will leach into your food. The toaster oven is not necessary but it sure helps dry and cure the paint. To remove paint, I bought one of these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004UUADHQ?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage and attach it to my drill. Lay the drill on it's side on a sturdy table, wear leather gloves, and strip away.

Put a bolt thru it tighten it with a nut and put it in a drill chuck.

Should look/work like this.

You got a link to that? Sounds funny lol I'm not 100% sure i'm doing it the "right" way but i'm trying to do as best I can.

It was a lot of work, getting in all the cracks and crevices on the frame was a pain. Eventually invested in one of [these] (https://www.amazon.com/Forney-72730-Crimped-2-Inch----008-Inch/dp/B001GM8POY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1475185920&sr=8-1&keywords=wire+drill) and it made life a lot easier

I use a nylon cup brush on a drill:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0193F9YWW

It is something like an 80 or 100 grit. It polishes more than it grinds. Good for getting into nooks and crannies.

Wear a face shield and an apron, though. You will spatter stuff using one of these.

This will get the rust off the bar and plates in no time. Beats the heck out of hand brushing.

https://www.amazon.com/Gunpla-Brush-Crimped-Tempered-Bristles/dp/B0787R6WJY/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1539046956&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=gunpla+wire+brush+hex&dpPl=1&dpID=51Ca3ps3v2L&ref=plSrch

After sanding down my pans I can tell you that I would never want to do it by hand. It would probably take you hours and hours of sanding.

Might be better off asking a friend or relative if you can borrow their sander for a day.

Or if a drill is more in the realm of something doable, I linked to some stuff in an earlier comment.

> If you want to go with another method outlined here you can use a regular drill. Tons of uses for a drill other than sanding down your skillet.

> Drill $30
> Coarse Wire Brush attatchment $9
> * Fine Wire Brush attatchment $6

> Total of $45

I don't have that kind of time either, so I use one of these on a 4" angle grinder

Get a wire cup brush. Forney 72729 Wire Cup Brush, Coarse Crimped with 1/4-Inch Hex Shank, 2-Inch-by-.012-Inch https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000TG60GS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_.Jg2CbCJF1RXX

Just use a wire brush to scrape the rust off.
You won't hurt any markings, it will be brand new.
The only way you'll remove the markings is if they were pitted/rusted.

Or use a wire wheel like this one, and chuck it into your drill press.

I don't recommend a bench grinder with a wire wheel, they can remove a lot more than you want.

You know with just an ounce or two of 91% alcohol and salt (I like coarse kosher salt) plus ~10 seconds of shaking and it is all done. I plug up the down stem hole with TP, and when I'm done, I use the left over alcohol with a paper towel to clean up the resin that gets in the sink from cleaning the bowl. I use a nylon pipe brush for the down stem, just drop the down stem in the bottle of alcohol and go to town with the brush. Entire process takes no more then 3-5 minutes.

I've had to remove hard foam from a hot tub before so I'm not sure how well it works with the foam insulation you were working with but I was able to remove it pretty well with this on a drill. Makes a mess but it tore through the insulation pretty fast.

I'd try a wire wheel in a drill.

I know I'm late to the party but this is available for a good price

The wire brush suggested by WWD should work. I had the same problem with the paint in the small grooves and brushing them looked tedious to me. So I used a wire brush attachment on a drill and saved some time/elbow grease.

Honestly, just use a drill and wire wheel. Anything else is overkill unless the calipers are incredibly pitted, in which case you’d almost certainly do better to just replace them.

One of these and one of these or go nuts and get one of these and save yourself some time. (Obviously you should order more than one wire wheel at $4/each)

I tried an assortment of brake dust cleaners and even brake parts cleaner with no luck so I resorted to a relatively soft wire brush attachment for a drill.

This was a last resort for me. It was between this and new wheels. I’m very happy with how they turned out.

Forney 72729 Wire Cup Brush, Coarse Crimped with 1/4-Inch Hex Shank, 2-Inch-by-.012-Inch https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000TG60GS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_pxnYDbWFA2K9V

It didn’t scratch the wheel at all. I even used it on the front of the wheels and it didn’t scratch the paint. Turned out 1000x better than anticipated. Took about 2 hours for all 4 wheels including the time it took to jack the vehicle up and down.

Side note: If you wet the wheel down first it seems to work better.

You can probably use an abrasive brush on a drill (~3500rpm) for the cast iron parts without damaging the details.

http://www.amazon.com/IVY-Classic-39202-3-Inch-Abrasive/dp/B011ICCS1W/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1462196764&sr=8-12&keywords=abrasive+brush

I would not use steel wool on stainless cookware. Unless it was stainless steel wool, which it is usually not.

Using a steel tool in conjunction with a stainless part is iffy in some circumstances. For example, there exist stainless screwdrivers to use on stainless screws. Also stainless wire wheels for use with angle grinders on stainless steel work.

Note, some tools are stainless steel just to be rustproof or autoclavable, which is a different use case.

If you have the money I like using formula 420. It's only $8 at my local smoke shop, and will clean my bong at least 10 times. It always works great, and you don't need to use that much. I would also invest in a pipe brush, they work great for down stems / joints.

Should be just fine. If it bothers you, and you really want to get it off, I've had good luck with one of these wheels mounted in a drill. It's basically a high-powered brush version of the green scotch-brite pad you'll find on a kitchen sponge. Removes a very small amount of material, but it's basically polishing. It'll leave a smoother surface than you currently have, and everything will wash right out.

I recommend something like this for removing the rust without damaging the metal. You just put it on the drill and let it do the work. The surface of the metal afterwards will be great for allowing paint to stick.
I'd go with rustoleum or some other rust proofing enamel for the paint. I also recommend either a white primer or white paint as the first coat, then your color, then decals, then clear coat. Be careful when clear coating decals. Thin coats and lots of dry time in between coats will prevent the decals from getting fucked up by the solvents in the paint.

You'll need to scuff the paint in between coats and wetsand off any fish eye before applying clear coat as well as wetsand clear coat to remove any funky textures or fisheye. Then you'll need to give the clear coat a few weeks to fully dry.

Once everything is dry, you can compound with something like meguiars m102 and a microfiber towel.

It's a ton of work, but also pretty rewarding and educational. You realize how much work and attention to detail it takes to produce a good paint job.

Looks cool,
To strip the paint, I'm not sure if this is the best way, but I'd use a grinding brush attached to a powerful drill.

Make sure to use a good mask, old paint dust is nasty stuff.

Apply some rust killer and repaint it white like the old one.

Have fun

if you're wire brushing much of anything you'll want a power brush. something like this in a drill works decently. Next step up is a cheap angle grinder and a cup wheel.

either one will be far far far quicker and easier than doing it by hand.

a wire wheel http://www.amazon.com/Forney-72729-Crimped-2-Inch----012-Inch/dp/B000TG60GS/ref=sr_1_11/185-6920570-4868405?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1417352093&sr=1-11&keywords=wire+wheel+brush+for+drill

Scrape it out with a metal spoon.

Heat it in the microwave to melt it.

Wire brush on a drill.