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1st Jun 2013, 11:24 AM #1New Member
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Cast iron fireplace - Question for restoring using Penetrol & Liberon Iron Paste
Hello there,
I was wondering if anyone can give me some sage advice here.
I am looking to restore an old Victorian cast iron fireplace that currently has several coats of black paint over the many years i'm guessing.
My approach to finishing is to use some Liberon Iron Paste (from ebay, not easy to buy locally!). It is like a boot polish product that leaves a grey/black patina and can be polished to bring out the details of the cast iron (seen pics on the web and they look fantastic).
In preparing the fireplace I am having it sandblasted to the bare metal. I will probably also give it a metal brush on a drill and also give it a rub down with white spirits to clean any loose residue before applying the finish coats.
For the finish coats I am thinking; A coat of Penetrol to inhibit the rust. After drying, following this up with the Liberon Iron Paste. I have never used this stuff before and am wondering whether it will 'adhere' to the Penetrol coat? I am also not experienced with Penetrol and am unsure what it actually is? (tin doesn't say much).
Am I thinking in the right direction here for the finish coats or is there a better way to do this?
Thanks for reading.
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1st Jun 2013, 11:58 AM #2
I grew up in the north of Scotland. We had a cast iron cooking range. Not one of the enameled Rayburns - it was all exposed cast iron. Cleaning and polishing this was referred to as "Black Leading" and in our case was accomplished using a product called Zebo.
I've just done a web search for "black leading", here's a link which explains;
Zebrite, Zebo, Black Grate Polish, Black Lead - just Graphite ?
Hope this is of some help,
Findlay
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1st Jun 2013, 03:53 PM #3New Member
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Thanks Findlay. Yes 'black leading' is what I am looking for out of the Liberon Iron Paste. Back in the day I guess lead as a graphite was pretty popular in fireplaces, god knows about the fumes
Anyhow, the Liberon stuff is supposed to 'emulate' the black leading somewhat. I'm just not sure how it will go over penetrol and whether penetrol is good to use as a base.
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1st Jun 2013, 09:39 PM #4
Thanks for the heads up on Liberon. I had never heard of them and need something for our stoves. Some of the products available are very toxic.
I could not say whether using both products together would work or not however I would imagine that the Iron Paste would be using the surface of the metal to bind. Penatrol contains the oil base components of paint but without any colour. The rust inhibitor type would have "rust inhibitor" in it as well. I have some of this myself. There are a number of different types of Penetrol available.
Dean
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2nd Jun 2013, 06:38 PM #5New Member
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Thanks Dean, I have a feeling the Penetrol might not be great. (I checked the Penetrol website and they seem to have only one product of this type (besides water based and Hammer stuff).
Liberon sell a rust remover as a prepping (that will suit the Iron Paste), though I cannot source this locally. I'm not a salesman of this brand by any stretch, just having trouble with the limited product range in Australia
Can anyone recommend a suitable rust inhibitor prep? I'm also eyeing off just using phosphoric acid?
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2nd Jun 2013, 07:28 PM #6Most Valued Member
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Hi Mookschank,
This probably wont help with what you want but we use black Dubbin boot polish on the boilers at work applied to the hot outer surfaces. It works a lot better than the paints that are available on the market.
Phil
ps and a lot cheaper
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2nd Jun 2013, 07:38 PM #7
Most of the Rust rid products are phosphoric acid. I just happen to have heaps of this. We use it at work as part of the cleaning process for a centrifuge. It used to be bought in 200l drums and dispensed automatically with a pneumatic pump. The pump balked at getting the last couple of inches. I used to bring some of the drums home to use on the farm and emptied the acid into another container at home. My fire fighting tank consists of 2 of these drums strapped onto a barrel cradle suitably shortened and connected together with a manifold (poly pipe).
Phosphoric acid followed by a good wire brushing should do the trick but I would still suggest trying it in an inconspicuous spot.
Dean
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2nd Jun 2013, 09:58 PM #8New Member
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Thanks for the advice Phil. Nugget is probably a good option and similar to graphite. I like how you can polish the detailed surfaces where they come through as a silvery sheen. There's a few on ebay at the moment that have this treatment and are $350 a pop
Dean, thanks for the p. acid info. I looked up the MSDS for Rust Remover and it actually is p. acid with methanol. It seems likely I could use p. acid as a good prep.
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19th Jun 2013, 06:32 PM #9New Member
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Thought I should put some closure on this thread in case others come across it.
I used phosphoric acid on the fireplace, it went a greeny colour, not sure if bad or not but not rusting so hopefully provides a good seal. Gave it a rub down after a couple of days, was a bit dusty with green residue.
I chucked on the Iron Paste, consistency (and smell) just like boot polish. Used a boot polish brush, toothbrush and cloth to get good coverage. Used 1/3 of the tin, (they reckon you could get 7 fireplaces done with it - possible if you're good with it).
Anyhow, waited 5 hours to dry then gave it a wipe with a clean cloth. Results are exactly what I wanted! In areas it looks a grey sheen and for the raised details almost metallic like - looks fantastic. I took some pics, see below. (Half the pics are without the cloth rub to show the difference from the matt black look to the rubbed sheen).
Fireplace just with the p.acid coated and dry, ready for application.
Bootpolish it on
Top half rubbed, bottom hald rubbed to show contrast
Matt unrubbed
Rubbed
And the accessories done
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