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How to clean up a crusty ruler

Susquatch

Susquatch

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I found this old ME600 Starrett Tempered Ruler in with some kijiji finds. It's stained and discoloured but apparently not rusted. I'm not sure how best to clean it up. I wouldn't want to lose the black lettering.

20250325_145639.jpg

I'm thinking about buffing it.

Any suggestions?
 
I just cleaned one up that looked a bit worse & came out pretty good. I used 800# -1000# wet/dry paper backed by a hard flat sanding block. You could start with 1500# to be safe. The key is the block has to be quite flat. MDF is what I always have laying around. I just carefully started 'sanding' in until the micro hill tops slowly got taken down to pretty uniform shiny metal. The engraving was sufficiently deep & the steel sufficiently hardened, it left all the black lines & numbers intact. A bit of fluid spritz would help but I'd avoid any chemicals that might soften the black coloring. Any deep scratches, divots or cavities filled with rust of course are not going to get exposed this way. But it looked a lot better than it started.
 
PeterT said:
I just cleaned one up that looked a bit worse & came out pretty good. I used 800# -1000# wet/dry paper backed by a hard flat sanding block. You could start with 1500# to be safe. The key is the block has to be quite flat.
Click to expand...

I'm gunna try the white scotch bright first. But 1500 grit sheet metal sand paper on a backing board with water seems like a very reasonable approach too.

Thanks Peter!
 
Just realize... scuff pads are conformable. So by applying pressure, there is a possibility that abrasive fibers could get into the inked engravings & mine out some of the all important black stuff. We want to take off the hill tops but leave the valleys. And yes using water with wet/dry paper is what I meant too.
 
I have done similar stain removal using adhesive backed rolls of sand paper I have left over from my body and paint days.
Good quality paper has very uniform adhesive, so peel it in stick right onto a granite surface plate, grits go from 36 to 3000.
Lots of flat surfaces can be dressed this way, I wouldn't use this technique on truly precision edges but certainly carpenter squares, rulers or just for aesthetics.
 
ChazzC said:
What another couple of months and I'll do item #10 on My List.
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Surely you don't need a good shoulder for that task. Please move it up the priorities!

I also have a Starrett drill guide that seems to follow your issue more closely. It looks like it was plated or treated and the plating has worn off. I assume it needs a different approach.
 
David said:
My rule of thumb when cleaning is to start with the most benign option, usually water and move up from there.
I'd start with isopropyl alcohol and a white Scotchbrite pad and see what happens.
Click to expand...
The same principle is taught in museum conservation. Distilled water, 'enzymatic cleaning' (spit, helps break down some protein chains etc.), gradually moving through more aggressive solvents as necessary. While going nuclear is fast, it's not very nuanced. :)
 
Susquatch said:
Surely you don't need a good shoulder for that task. Please move it up the priorities!

I also have a Starrett drill guide that seems to follow your issue more closely. It looks like it was plated or treated and the plating has worn off. I assume it needs a different approach.
Click to expand...
Remember (or maybe I haven’t gone into these details before), I was in a sling for 10 weeks before the surgery, then another 4 weeks before starting PT, so the left arm (& hand to a degree) hadn’t moved for 3 months; it wasn’t until late January before I had enough flexibility to use my left hand for much of anything, including opening a jar/bottle/tin of cleaner/polish and holding something so I could work on that something with my right hand.

My rule is one of the thin flexible 9” ones (yes, designed that length, not cut down from 22”) about 105 years old and quite worn so I need to use care.
 
PeterT said:
I just cleaned one up that looked a bit worse & came out pretty good. I used 800# -1000# wet/dry paper backed by a hard flat sanding block. You could start with 1500# to be safe.
Click to expand...

I tried the scotch bright without any joy. So I switched to 1000grit wet sandpaper on a block. Rather instant joy.

It seems counter intuitive to start with a high grit and go low, but the 1000 did the trick.

Before

20250325_145639.jpg

After

20250329_163344.jpg

It isn't perfect, but I was not expecting that. It's pretty darn good!

Thanks all!

Nice Starrett Ruler even if does seem to be metric first. Who ever heard of an 11-3/4 ruler anyway!
 
JustaDB said:
It's not 11-3/4". It's 30 cm. We are a metric country, after all... :p
Click to expand...

Ya, I previously said the ruler was metric. Had to be since its 30cm.

But I'm actually quite metrologically bilingual. I was born and schooled through university in Imperial. But my employer and the entire N. American Auto Industry went metric. So I had to learn to speak metric. I just don't like it.
 
Susquatch said:
I tried the scotch bright without any joy. So I switched to 1000grit wet sandpaper on a block. Rather instant joy.

It seems counter intuitive to start with a high grit and go low, but the 1000 did the trick.

Before

View attachment 62386

After

View attachment 62387

It isn't perfect, but I was not expecting that. It's pretty darn good!

Thanks all!

Nice Starrett Ruler even if does seem to be metric first. Who ever heard of an 11-3/4 ruler anyway!
Click to expand...
The results are impressive. I was going to suggest blue scotchbrite disks and a die grinder but I think your way produced a better outcome.
 
Upnorth said:
The results are impressive. I was going to suggest blue scotchbrite disks and a die grinder but I think your way produced a better outcome.
Click to expand...

Wasn't my way, it was @PeterT who first suggested it along with great rationale. I'm glad I didn't totally listen. If I had totally listened, I would not have learned that scotch bright isn't as good.

Very happy with the ruler. I've done a few more old things that way now too and they worked out great too.
 
Susquatch said:
I tried the scotch bright without any joy. So I switched to 1000grit wet sandpaper on a block. Rather instant joy.

It seems counter intuitive to start with a high grit and go low, but the 1000 did the trick.

Before

View attachment 62386

After

View attachment 62387

It isn't perfect, but I was not expecting that. It's pretty darn good!

Thanks all!

Nice Starrett Ruler even if does seem to be metric first. Who ever heard of an 11-3/4 ruler anyway!
Click to expand...
I’ll add ~1000 grit film to my comparison tests.
 
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