What is a soft wire wheel?

[Douglas Mosman]

Sorry for such a noob question but if ya don't ask, you don't learn.

I have some planes with rust to clean up and some people say to use a soft wire wheel on the bits and pieces. How can I tell if my wire wheel is "soft" wire?

Is a brass wire wheel a better alternative?

[Jim Koepke]

The softness of a brass wire wheel would be dependent on the size of the wire used in the wheel.

A search on > soft wire wheel < will turn up some that aren't even wire.

jtk

[Mike Henderson]

Your other choice is a deburring wheel. But there you probably want a harder deburring wheel for what you want to do.

The best way to get rust off of a plane is to soak it overnight in a derust solution such as EvapoRust. Take the knob and tote off before soaking.

Mike

[Stephen Rosenthal]

All brass wire wheels are not created equal - many are not even brass. I’ve been told that those at the big box stores are steel coated in brass, in other words very hard. True brass wheels and brushes are quite pricey.

[Stephen Rosenthal]

Forgot to add a hint a machinist gave me: take a small magnet with you when buying a “brass” wire wheel. Brass isn’t magnetic, steel is.

[Michael Fross]

I just yell at my wire wheel. If it starts to cry, then I know. :D

[steven c newman]

When I go shopping for the brass wheels...I do tend to READ the labels....I am also always looking for the "Fine" wire wheels, instead of the coarse wire wheels....

Considering that I never use any "soaking in a chemical bath"... unless maybe a few shots of PBblaster to loosen a stuck bolt....

Just read a label..not rocket science...

[Douglas Mosman]

Thank you all for your inputs. I think the confusing thing was that more than one person referred to "soft" steel wire wheel, without correlating that to any other label. And then would contrast "soft" to "knotted" wire wheels which, of course, was another totally undefined term to me :confused:

A further complication is that my wife is in multiple Covid risk groups ( and I'm in one or two myself). And with the Covid raging through here right now, we're pretty much avoiding stores and having to shop online. So its no longer simple to get clarity on little items like this. I can no long't just hike down to Home Depot and haul over a salesman to explain all, while I look and feel my way through their collection of wire brush materials like I would have in the past.

So this is very helpful. I shall look for brass, not steel, (and not brass-coated steel, thank you). And look for "fine" as equivalent to "soft", so not "coarse".

[Douglas Mosman]

Steve, where are you finding brass wheels for the grinder? Looking on Amazon, I only found one offering for 5/8 arbor, 6 in. wheels with solid brass wire and it was $80 - $100 depending on wire thickness

I did find components with a 1/4 in. shaft that were much cheaper. Is that what you're using? If so, how fast do you burn through them?

[steven c newman]

I usually go to either Menard's ( 1st option) and then to Lowes.....both come with inserts, to fit about any size grinder shaft.....the one now on my grinder is about...3 months old.

Knotted wire is for when you want to remove a lot of metal....plain wire seems to give a little bit better...

grinder I have is a 6" dual wheel.....have a cloth wheel on the other end of the shaft.

[Douglas Mosman]

I'm looking for brass crimped wire, right? It looks like to me the stuff at Menards and Lowes here is brass coated steel, but Im not sure?
.

[Douglas Mosman]

Maybe I'm over-working this. Going in to this it just seemed like the simple thing to do. Nail down which is the right product, order it, slap it on the grinder when it comes, done. But its not being simple and I don't have that many planes, and most of them don't have that much rust. So maybe I'll start out with the 1/4" drive solid brass cups and wheels and stuff and see how it goes, and maybe grab one of the brass-coated steel wheels and try it on a plane I don't care too much about. Oh, and see if I can fix the arbor on my drill press so it doesn't keep falling off :p

[David Bassett]

I'm going to echo Mike's suggestion for EvapoRust. I'm not a chemist, but it really does seem to attack only rust. Once you've tried that, if needed, I'd go with handheld brushes. They should be cheaper, not require mounting solutions, and will give you a little more control than a powered brush. They'll be slower, but that shouldn't matter much unless you have many very cruddy planes to do.



... The best way to get rust off of a plane is to soak it overnight in a derust solution such as EvapoRust. Take the knob and tote off before soaking. ...

[Douglas Mosman]

Well, irony. So after I gave up on a 6 inch brass wheel and I was deciding what brass/steel wheel to order, I noticed that I had been looking at a 2-pack! No wonder it cost so much. I checked and Amazon doesn't carry the singletons. So I did a google search and found a company selling it at a good price ... and they have a branch 20 minutes from my house!

[Mike Henderson]

No matter what wire wheel you choose, MAKE SURE you use eye protection. Those wire wheels often throw off a few wires and they can cause severe eye damage.

Mike

[Hilton Ralphs]

I've found this from Lee Valley (https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/workshop/tool-maintenance/65204-6-inch-extra-fine-wire-wheel?item=09A0176) to be excellent. You can even stack them together to get a broader wheel. Just have some bushes/spacers handy if you only get one.

445380

[Douglas Mosman]

Thank you for the warning Mike.

Well, hum. Do they throw off lots of wires? What do you think of as a safe distance for people and wood and tools that you don't want porcupined? And how do you get the wires out of your clothes?

[Ted Calver]

Do you have a Dremel? Lots of brass wheels (https://www.amazon.com/20pcs-Rotary-Brass-Wheel-Brush/dp/B01N55WLHG/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAkuP9BRCkARIsAKGLE8VJ2WCmrU561ZS044PR T0KbB9JFr-WZuSHvmD80APLgW7CbxeNIcsYaAn5nEALw_wcB&hvadid=282680790887&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9008585&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=8237013342901160485&hvtargid=kwd-489806944538&hydadcr=28601_10166538&keywords=brass+wire+wheel+for+dremel&qid=1605973229&sr=8-6&tag=googhydr-20) available for Dremel tools. It's not like you are removing rust from a large object.

[Andrew Seemann]

No matter what wire wheel you choose, MAKE SURE you use eye protection. Those wire wheels often throw off a few wires and they can cause severe eye damage.

Mike

Also keep in mind they like to grab and launch small parts like screws and yokes across the shop at a zillion miles an hour. The other thing to watch for is if you push a little too hard, they can grab and slam the part down against the tool rest. Make sure you don't get a finger caught in there.

Use a wire wheel gingerly until you get the hang of it, and then keep using it gingerly. Small parts are the hardest to do, like the screws from the frog. These might be best to do in a vise with a brass toothbrush rather than a powered wheel. Even I tend to go the safe route with those:)


Also, when wires get thrown off, they are going fast but don't have a lot of mass, so they don't tend to go far or stick in things, unless they hit just right. But as Mike said, you don't want that thing to be your eye, so definitely wear eye protection. Regular clothes usually are good enough protection. If one sticks in, it will be only for a little bit, and can easily be pulled out. They aren't going to impale themselves a half inch in something.

One last thing, don't wear loose or hanging sleeves that can get caught in the wheel. Actually that is a good rule around any power equipment:)

[steven c newman]

Small parts, like bolts and screws....are best held with a pair of Visegrips pliers.....because, once that small part goes airborne....theyusually head towards the nearest "Black Hole" in the shop, never to be seen again...

Once a wheel on the grinder starts throwing wires off....time to get a replacement, anyway.......Usually I might lose 3-4 wires per plane rehab....IF you wear a shop apron, it will catch most of the wires...instead of in your shirt.

[Douglas Mosman]

So life happened and I finally got back here. Once again thanks for all the good input. I now have a couple of Dremel brass brushes to try and also some 1/4 inch shank to try in the drill or drill press (once I get the new drill press installed). So eventually, I may actually get back to this project and have something to report!

But I do have a question. The Lee Valley wire brush that Hilton recommended is not pure brass. Its 0.005" brass-plated wire? Is that what people are using to clean up planes? Because its waay cheaper than pure brass wire wheels

[Alan Schwabacher]

I went through the same process a few years ago, and then got the Lee Valley brass-coated fine steel wire wheel. It works well, and has not damaged the planes I've cleaned with it -- to my standards. I prefer it to evaporust, though I still use that for little things that are hard to hold to the wheel, or those with tight clearance.

[Jay Moyer]

They also make a wheel that has .0025" wires. Its meant to go in a drill press. I use one to card converted rust off guns(and other steel parts for my projects) when I rust blue. After boiling the red rust turns black and you do it again(and again) till it reaches the level you want. The wheels are sold by brownells as carding wheels. They are so soft that it does no damage to skin at 200rpms or so..