Dies with some rust

[Espire]

So perhaps a silly question.
I picked up a lot sale of a bunch of reloading supplies. One of the die sets has some grime and rust on the outside, but insides are still good.
I want to clean them up. Can I treat them like my stainless tools and give them a CLR bath, or should I approach it differently?

Thanks!

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[Stomper]

CLR won't hurt a thing to remove the grime, just don't be "modifying" the machined insides with aggressive abrasives.

 

[Espire]

CLR won't hurt a thing to remove the grime, just don't be "modifying" the machined insides with aggressive abrasives.

I use a nylon brush to clean up grime and stuff. Soft cloth to dry after.

Just wasnt sure about CLR doing more harm then good.

 

[Stomper]

As long as you don't "remove" material from the machined part of the die, thereby changing the precision dimensions of the geometry you'll be fine. If the internals were knackered it'd be "cheaper" and safer to just buy a new die.

 

[Member 5605]

Clean em with it. I'd clean with brush then run some spray lube inside and outside and call it a day.

 

[Espire]

So CLR ended up destroying my dies (rust stayed and turned my dies black). Thankful they were a spare set, but in the end, I would not recommend a CLR bath for any dies.

 

[Ura-Ki]

Steel Wool always worked for me! I have sets of dies I haven't seen for 30 years that had a pretty good build up of rust on the outside and a little elbo grease and some tranny fluid and steel wool cleaned them up pretty good. The Insides were greased before put in storage and they cleaned out just fine with a bit of thinner! Good luck to ya!

 

[Espire]

the CLR bath pretty much killed them, inside and out. Not sure the steel wool can bring them back to life.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

That sucks, man!

 

[Certaindeaf]

Did the CLR eat some rubber O rings in them or something?

 

[Member 5605]

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Lol

Did you just blue your dies? Oh well, keep using them they are unique.

 

[Certaindeaf]

I swear there was a thread just like this where some guy somehow "blued"/blacked his dies and thought it was the end of the world.
If the rust still remains, hit them with steel wool and light oil, rub em with a rag and re-oil.. it should help with any pitting or whatever.
The discoloration as you have described doesn't matter.. lest it's gummed up O ring crap. If so, just steel wool with lacquer thinner to remove the goo then oil them.

 

[Wayne]

Throw them in a tumbler with some walnut media for a couple of hours, works like a charm.

 

[AMProducts]

So yea, I wouldn't recommend using CLR on reloading dies. CLR contains hydrosulfamic acid, which can be hard on steel, brass and other metals, just like it is on lime-scale.

Best way to clean dies is with a bunch of WD-40, or Hoppes #9, some stiff rags, and some bore brushes. If you need to polish them out, using lead laps and very fine abrasives (like barkeepers friend) do work, but it takes a skilled hand to get the most out of them.

 

[Espire]

Was able to get the dies somewhat cleaned up with about 8 hours in the tumbler. Inside shows some rust though, so not sure what to do on that one.

 

[etrain16]

My remedy for removing rust from metal/gun parts has long been to use 0000 steel wool and some gun lubricant. Works well and shouldn't harm/alter anything. In addition, it helps to protect the metal against further rust later. I didn't see this thread previously or I would have advised staying away from CLR in these types of cases. For the inside of the dies, try a soft toothbrush and some gun oil and see if that helps.

 

[Certaindeaf]

It just dawned on me that I thought the OP had been talking CLP and not CLR. yea, I'd think don't do that.
lol
There are many chemical rust removers.. from mild household pantry recipes to industrial suit up type stuff if you want to "just" remove rust.

 

[etrain16]

It just dawned on me that I thought the OP had been talking CLP and not CLR. yea, I'd think don't do that.
lol
There are many chemical rust removers.. from mild household pantry recipes to industrial suit up type stuff if you want to "just" remove rust.

I thought the same thing - CLP would be fine, but yeah, I'd avoid CLR. I don't remember for certain, but I think CLR contains bleach as part of that formula, which will react with some metals to discolor them, though I ain't no smart scientist type

 

[Kristina]

I've used Loctite Naval Jelly on quite a few different things (tools, a vise, my truck bed, a tool box) with good effect. It 'killed' the rust and didn't create any pitting, or exacerbate any that was already there. It's a gel that you'd apply with a sponge or brush. Phosphoric acid is its active agent so I wouldn't leave it on anything any longer than recommended.

 

[Velzey]

What brand are the dies? Rcbs, Redding, and a few other will take care of them for free. Just give them a call. Most of the time rcbs just gives you a whole new set.
Even for rust