Rusty roller

Hello all,

Unfortunatly due to lack of attention, I discovered recently that my
roller has a nasty layer of rust on the mills. We live by the sea,
so naturally the sea air has had a go at it. The last time I cleaned
it, I left a heavily oiled rag between the mills, under the
impression that it would stop the rust, on the contrary it trapped
the moisture and created my problem.

I have sanded it down manually, however there are small areas where
the rust has eaten into the mill by approx. 0.1mm, luckily I caught
it just in time before it got any worse. My question to you is, is
there anything else I can do myself to remove these pits, before
resorting to professional help? Any help and ideas would be greatly
appreciated, as we all well know that this is a very expensive piece
of equipment, and the worst of it is, that is is still brand new.

Many thanks, eagerly awaiting replys
Claire Drysdale
Cape Town, South Africa

roller has a nasty layer of rust on the mills. We live by the sea, 

I don’t know what to tell you about fixing things before having it
reconditioned (or the rollers replaced), but I would recommend
putting a thin layer of vaseline (petrolium jelly) over you steel
tools (rollers, hammers, stakes, etc), just wipe it off with a paper
towel, then re apply when done using the piece. As you already
learned, an oily rag won’t do it.

K. David Woolley
Fredericton, NB
Diversiform Metal Art & Jewellery