The Banjo Ukulele Forum

RUST!
Rust is evil and nothing short of it.  On any musical instrument it can eat it's way underneath plating, right through parts like screws, nuts and bolts, strings, tuning machines, hardware and accessories.  The reason it's so evil is that it almost never stops.  Add 5 or 10 years to a tiny bit of rust and you will have a lot of rust.  Rust, corrosion, is Iron Oxide and is fed by the moisture in the air, made even worse if that moisture contains salt. The moisture finds the iron in steel and oxidizes it.  Basements are moist damp places, perfect to put an instrument in and rust it to death.  Not to mention ruin the wood and finish.
If you care about your instruments, and want to pass them on to family or friends someday, do them a favor and keep the rust in check.

this ub3 ring was covered in rust and cleaned up without replating

 You can remove rust from nickel plated parts with an S.O.S. pad, gently rubbing the pad over the rust until it's gone then rinsing and drying the part well.  Many nickel parts can be restored to a new looking condition this way. For some reason, the rust forms and sits on top of nickel plating, and can be effectively  removed.  It wont scratch the nickel if you are gentle with it.
Now, for the real pest, rusted steel parts.  If you look closely on any banjo uke, at the hooks, tuner screws, resonator screws, bridges, bracket bolts and washers etc. your going to find some rust.  It might be minimal or it might be deep corrosive rust that is eating it's way deeper into the steel.  This is the kind to be concerned about.  It can weaken parts or completely ruin them.
I've mentioned in the blog, there are several ways to remove rust and nothing works for every type of rust. It can be wire brushed, sanded, sand blasted, etched off with acid, removed with electricity and baking soda, dissolved with penetrating oils and on and on..........

Various dremel brush styles

  Pictured above, are the main dremel metal brushes.  The left two are steel and great for removing gunge, minor rust and polishing.  These will not produce a mirror shine on nickel but are safe to use if used at a low r.p.m. and with a light touch.  The middle brush (well worn) is high carbon steel and can cut through almost any rust and even steel.  This will remove nickel plating and should never be used when the plating is still in fine condition.  The brass brushes on the right are the safest to use for cleaning but will not really remove rust unless it is very minor.  Brass won't harm plating but should be used carefully like all of these brushes.  Always use safety glasses and a low r.p.m. with these brushes.  A high r.p.m. causes all of these brushes to release the wires and the middle brush suffered from this.  The steel brushes do not really hurt the fingers if well used like the one on the left when holding parts. Keep the brush moving too, because heat build up will lift plating and it will flake away.  New brushes can cut skin though so be careful.  I don't wear gloves and probably should when using the dremel.
   The thing is, often, even the most rusty items can be brought back to life with some elbow grease and persistence.   Banjo hooks are often extremely deeply corroded underneath the rust.  You can sand them with wet/dry paper in consecutive grades to reach down and remove the pits in the metal.  This is timely work but if you want to restore an instrument with it's original parts it's vital work.  The steel can be polished up to a mirror shine and then plated to look like new, or just left un-plated.  Nickel will keep the parts from rusting quickly since raw steel is the most vulnerable to corrosion.
  Very very heavily rusted parts can be dipped in acid and then polished up.  They will not look shiny until the corroded areas are resurfaced.
Rust is the ugliest of corrosion.  Tarnished brass, copper, bronze get's a patina that is desirable.  Other metals just turn dull slowly.  Rust looks great when it's intended, like modern sculpture and fancy modern restaurant interiors.  Rust, EVIL....