Power tool for removing surface rust

BrianD3

I've a car here which has some surface rust and flaking paint on the underside that I want to remove and treat. I have done this before and it worked well but I rubbed the rust down to clean metal by hand which was a tedious job. So this time i want to get a power tool. I think an angle grinder (even a small one) is overkill and too awkward for some of the areas I want to clean. So I'm thinking of a "Dremel" style multitool with a wire brush wheel. Or a drill with a wire brush wheel. Which would be better? IIRC the dremel has a much higher RPM than a drill so would appear to be better.

For safety I will use perspex face protection, dust mask and heavy duty gloves. Anything else that I'd need for using one of these tools safely under a car which is up on axle stands.

Spit62500

The replacement wire brushes for the Dremel type tools are very expensive to buy. I usually use a wire wheel/brush on a drill. If you can get twisted brushes then they'll last longer and you won't have to keep reversing the rotation of the drill as the wires start to lie in the one direction. The wheel type attachments are not as handy to use as the brush shaped attachments but it all depends on the access to the area that you're cleaning. Don't forget to use a rust converter afterwards, even if the metal is nice and shiny.

maidhc

A 9" Angle grinder with a wire brush is much more effective at removing rust. A cheap grinder in Argos is, i dunno, €50, the brush is about €40. The are dangerous enough, and have a strong kickback, but are extremely effective.

As for safety, if you feel safer with dust masks go for it, personally I just make sure I have goggles and tight fitting clothes... it isnt funny to get a rotating wire brush caught in your wooly jumper, and I have been there. I hate working with gloves.

BrianD3

Thanks lads.

I had a look at some tools today - a Black & Decker multitool and a 115 mm angle grinder. The "bits" for the multitool seem to be very small and only suitable for very small areas. I had thought that I might get wire brush about 4 cm across but the ones I saw were much smaller than that. OTOH I saw a 65 mm twisted wire brush cup for the angle grinder which I reckon would do a great job on surface rust. I'd still have to do some inaccessible parts by hand but I think I'll consider the angle grinder now. I'll also consider a drill as I saw a decent selction of wire wheels/cups for drills.

Re: safety - thanks for the tip about tight fitting clothes! Would a 115 mm angle grinder be less dangerous than one of the larger ones. I will definitely be erring on the side of caution when it comes to safety anyway.

kyote00

i usually use an angle grinder with a flap disc attached....

once the grit on the flaps is fairly light, it works great....