Re: Thought someone might know...

Posted by Joe on May 12, 1998 at 06:52:11

In Reply to: Thought someone might know...
posted by Steve Johnson on May 11, 1998 at 18:25:03

: HELP!I have a Victorian era, free standing fireplace.It is solid, cast iron.Father time has done a pretty good job of putting a good coat of rust on the surface.I want to restore this gorgeous piece of history
Steve
Unless you are forced into it by "hanging scabs of rust", I would try to avoid either sandblasting your stove or dip/stripping it.Both of these surface preparations tend to cut through the exterior layer of chilled cast iron of the stove plates which roughen the surface, make it hard to apply blacking later, and tend to make it rust easier in the summer afterwards.If you have to blast, try to use glass beads.
Here in northern New England we still use stoves some for heating (although their use is dwindling due to cheap oil).I have found the best treatment for stoves is to get them hot and (with your gloves and eye protection on) wirebrush the exterior surface and remove all of the loose rust you can.The heat of the stove tends to convert the iron oxide from a red form that we're all familiar with (that you can't paint over) to a blue/black form that you can.
Once the stove has cooled it is then your choice whether to use a spray on or brush painted high temperature flat black paint or apply traditional stove blacking.
Once you have your stove painted or blacked you'll want to "burn it off" outside prior to installation in the house.The paint or blacking give off whitish smoke as it heats up for the first time.
If you plan on using your stove you may want to periodically reblacken it lightly as it gets a sort of grey look in time and exposure to heat.You can do this even after using paint for the first coat rather than build up layer upon layer of paint.
There are a couple of different types of blacking: the traditional is a kind of goop about the consistency of shoe polish and it comes in a tub or a tube.A newcomer is a liquid blacking which is about the consistency of water and comes in a plastic squeeze bottle that you have to shake first.Both are about the same on a previously blackened stove but if I were doing from scratch, I would try to stay with the traditional kind.
If you don't use your stove, you black it perhaps yearly to keep it looking fresh and prevent rust.The blacking dries like shoe polish and you buff it with a towel to make it shine.(Blacking day was always faced with some trepidation by the laundress of the family.Any true man knows instinctively a white towel works best here.)
Try to avoid using what is called "1200 degree muffler paint".This more expensive paint while satisfactory for objects that get to 1200 degrees, does not get hot enough to fully "fuse" or burn off on a woodstove.The paint looks good after it dries but you'll look like Al Jolsen after only a brief encounter with this kind of coating in this service.I use Rustoleum high temperature paint which runs $3.50 per spray can and it works just fine.
Have fun with your new restoration project.Home is where the hearth is!
Best regards,
Joe

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Re: Thought someone might know... carla May 12, 1998 at 15:58:40(0)

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