Laser rust removal

[ray66v]

Yeah, no point in looking at laser welders or rust removers, at this point.

Unless, you are a retired CEO, or won the lottery.

 

[BravoXray]

Edd China, previously on Wheeler Dealers, has a video of using a Narran Laser to take rust and paint off an Land Rover frame.

 

[stuckmotor]

At the prices quoted for the laser, I'll have to stick with a soak in white vinegar.

 

[Racer4]

Edd China, previously on Wheeler Dealers, has a video of using a Narran Laser to take rust and paint off an Land Rover frame.

I watched that episode. Amazing tool. Looked very expensive, and probably not cheap to operate. It did a nice job, but then they shelved the project and it got all rusty again by the time they got back to it.

 

[70chevellegsp]

I've demo'd one and it was impressive, but slow which I think is evident from the video. I had the same issue as the video, where it was painfully time consuming to get to 'white metal'. I would think that you would have less time to farm out sandblasting...including travel time to and from or cleanup if you DIY. Which I also believe would give you a better end product more efficiently. Where I do see a good use is in auto restoration on 'delicate' or rare body panels that could warp/deform with blasting, and the extra care & time makes sense. It is pretty cool that there is basically no dust/cleanup aside from whatever you have to do with the HEPA filter. Not sure about consumables or maintenance. Talking to one rep last week, it can remove ink from paper, which again, was pretty cool.

 

[chim]

Hi, Wanting to know the best way to clean stainless steel which has signs of surface rust? Nothing bad... just tea staining. But what does everyone do to clean it off and make it look bright and new? And what is everyone using to prevent it?? Any solutions?

We once did a project where a weldor worked on some structural steel above a new tall vertical stainless steel tank. Not long after that there were signs of rust on the tank. They were more severe where it appeared the falling weld boogies hit the tank after they bounced off of adjacent structural parts.

I'd check it with someone with experience, but pretty sure we used multiple washings with citric acid till the rust stopped blooming. I can say for certain that steel wool would be bad. We did stainless fab in our shop and had separate tools and consumables for stainless. Grinding wheels, brushes, polishers were all verified to be safe for stainless. One time we had someone take a flap disc that should have been reserved for stainless only and use it on some carbon steel, then it was used on an outdoor stainless vent. After exposure to the weather the joints he polished got rusty deposits.

Not stainless steel, but at one time we did some work with more specialized alloys that couldn't even be in the same area where we worked on carbon steel