Thread: Steel/Copper wool for rust

Copper on stain less would be worse,any fragments left behind will form a chemical cell which causes electrolysis.

Originally Posted by Marty Henry

Copper on stain less would be worse,any fragments left behind will form a chemical cell which causes electrolysis.

No not really... copper on aluminium is a problem, especially in the presence of an electrolyte... sea water, lemon juice, salts, bleaches and perspiration etc

Copper on stainless will cause the copper to corrode not the stainless, but only just and over a long time.... there are some copper alloys, bronzes or copper nickel alloys that could cause corrosion marks on stainless in time.... and also as some one pointed out ... there is a huge range of stainless grades, some less noble than others.

On the chart above, the further apart the metals (Left and right) the more likely you will have galvanic corrosion if they are in contact... and a metal to the right (less noble) will always sacrifice to a metal to the left. (more noble)

For a nice matt finish on stainless... I just use green scotch brite pads,... bit of CRC.... I am not sure what scotch brite will do to blueing.

An interesting aside for the Nautical minded, Galvanized steel bolts cause less corrosion to Aluminium than a stainless bolt will (There are compounds to help... no not copper coat) .... and this principal is the reason you never leave lead sinkers in the bilge of your tinny.