I spent most of this past year helping a friend to clean out his dad's farm/barn/house/etcetera to get it ready to sell. The owner turned 99 this past month, and hasn't lived in the place for several years. I managed to save quite a few old tools from the metal scrap bin, and have cleaned most of them up with a wire wheel. The PSA? If you plan to use a wire wheel to clean rust, WEAR A GOOD DUST MASK! My shop is in the basement of our house, which is heated by a propane-fired forced-air furnace. The picture shows two air filters, the one on the left was changed just before I started wire-brushing, while the one on the right was changed after several hours of rust removal. I started wearing a mask once I saw that second filter!

Edited February 2, 20242 yr by HARO50

Thanks! My shop is also in the basement. Forced hot air heating. I will be more diligent 

Thanks John. Great reminder. Wearing a mask while using the wire wheel is something I need to be much more diligent in doing than I am. I'll start thinking this will only take a minute, then we'll that didn't take long at all, then grab something else. Next thing I know, I've been there 30-45 minutes. While in the garage versus the basement, the air borne particles are the same. Old bad habits are hard to change. 

11 hours ago, Grandpadave52 said:

Next thing I know, I've been there 30-45 minutes.

...or longer! BT,DT!!!