Dumb Question re Rust

[Jonathan Snell]

Morning all, well we've made a few things such as fire pokers, BBQ which goes over a drum, bottle openers, BBQ scraper and 'pirates dice' but can't seem to stop the surface rusting. Particularly on the dice and bottle openers, a week or so after we've wire brushed them to make them shine, the shine is gone and becomes pitted.

Can anyone give us a bot of guidance? We use mild steel from the engineers shop in town.

Thanks in advance.

[Iron Poet]

Get them hot, dip them in oil.

[ThomasPowers]

Damp salty Climate?   Might try seasoning food service items like you would a cast iron skillet---and then maintain them the same way.

Nonfood service items?  Boiled linseed oil as you can recoat it without removing the previous coating.

Lazy but expensive method: forge them out of stainless (and passivate); or monel

[GoodThing Factory]

without some kind of coating mild steel is going to rust  - no way around it. 

beeswax, linseed oil, getting to orange heat and cooling in oil are all common ways to prevent rusting.

however, if you're going make items that touch food you'll want to leave it uncoated and then rinse and give a wipe down with cooking oil after using. 

 

[John in Oly, WA]

and I thought Pitcairn Island was home of the Bounty descendants.

[JHCC]

19 minutes ago, John in Oly, WA said:

and I thought Pitcairn Island was home of the Bounty descendants.

The Bounty descendants on Pitcairn outgrew that island by the middle of the 19th century, petitioned the British government  for help, and were granted Norfolk Island instead. Although the entire population initially relocated to Norfolk, about a quarter of them ultimately returned to Pitcairn, where their descendants live to this day. 

[ThomasPowers]

I've always wanted to visit "Bang Iron Valley" on Pitcairn where the anvil from the Bounty was secondarily located.

[Tubalcain2]

that would be an awesome trip.

[John in Oly, WA]

I didn't know that. Learn something new every day. I love it!

[Frank Turley]

"Iron in its happiest state...rust."

[Jonathan Snell]

Hi everyone. That's really interesting you have linked us to Pitcairn and what u say is true. I am fletcher Christians 8 great great grandson and also go back to  Matthew quintal who flicked the match to burn the bounty. We outgrew Pitcairn and moved to Norfolk arriving 8th June 1856. It is believed the hardy cutter in the forge we use is from the bounty and brought to Norfolk with the Pitcairn era.  Thomas u have raised my interest with 'bang iron valley', do u have any info on that? I have some friends born on Pitcairn so must ask. The forge we use is part of a museum called 'Pitcairn settlers village' and is made from convict stone from our 2nd convict settlement, fire bricks from England as with the double pig skin hand bellows. The second oldest forge in the Southern Hemisphere still in use in its original condition. Sorry for slow reply, was medi evac'd the Sydney on weekend with asthma. 

[John in Oly, WA]

I hope you're feeling better now Jonathan.

Very cool that you're connected to that bit of history! I always wondered why they burned the Bounty rather than beach it and dismantle it. So much good wood could have been used for so many things - housing, for one. But then I come from a woodworking background.

[Glenn]

Jonathan, Your family history is very interesting. Any photos of the forge mentioned? 

Do hope you recover fully and quickly. 

[ThomasPowers]

Faster method of hiding the Ship!  The British Admiralty was well known to be very down on folks taking their ships---especially if they were the crew.

As I recall I read about Bang Iron Valley in a National Geographic magazine article, and then again reading a history of the event in book form.

I note that it's referenced in the Pitcairn News: http://www.pitcairnnews.co.nz/050119.html under "Reclaiming the Bounty" 

[Jonathan Snell]

Here is a pic of the forge, I'll get some of the whole forge for u, if u would like to message me an address on my return home I can flick u a newspaper article with the forges history. Couple of our first projects too. The bounty story is interesting and yes the ship was run aground, stripped of what they could and burned to avoid detection. The community was discovered by American whalers.

[JHCC]

On 2/1/2017 at 0:40 PM, Jonathan Snell said:

I am fletcher Christians 8 great great grandson and also go back to  Matthew quintal who flicked the match to burn the bounty. 

I was telling my brother (another history buff) about your participation in this forum, and (after talking about your being a good sport about our corrective banter) when I told him about your ancestry, he said, "And he takes criticism well?!?"

[Jonathan Snell]

Yes, when u want to learn and move forward it's easier if u can be humble and get over yourself lol. Plus 5 days ago was in a coma with my family told I was going to pass. 98% recovery, look at things but different now too

[JHCC]

Glad you made it back!

[ThomasPowers]

Many Americans learn their history through Hollywood and a rather frail reed it is for that purpose.

I find that the "shipwreck" type of tails from a century or two past map rather well to the more modern "post apocalypse" tales in SF.

It was kind of fun going back and re-reading some of the earlier ones with more worldly experience and see what I missed as a teenager.

[JHCC]

Just now, ThomasPowers said:

I find that the "shipwreck" type of tails from a century or two past map rather well to the more modern "post apocalypse" tales in SF.

Jules Verne's "The Mysterious Island" was a big favorite of mine when I was little.

[ThomasPowers]

Re-reading Robinson Crusoe I was amazed at him hewing planks out of trees, one per tree.  Of course by then I'd been splitting ash trees into rough planks with a sledge a couple of wedges and some gluts, several per tree.

Mysterious Island made it seem easy, elevators and explosives starting with the crystals from their pocket watches...