All is not Wood- Rusting Cabinet

Recently, I was asked if I wanted to come and get a filing cabinet which had been in a garage with a water leak.  The top of the cabinet had rusted, but the rest of the cabinet was in great shape (it is going to hold tools and books in my workshop).  I have been called the Patron Saint of Lost Causes on more than one occasion, but this project was not going to require the entire stripping of the cabinet.   I could definitely use the cabinet around the shop.  I brought the cabinet over to Don’s shop, and immediately surmised the top needed some heavy sanding.  The rust was mostly superficial on the top, but there were some spots that were deeply pitted, but did not go all the way through the steel.  This needed some serious power stripping in order to get the paint off of it, and then get all the rust out of the pits.

An angle grinder and some 3M sanding pads were just the thing to power off the paint and the rust.  It is a shame they still do not make the sanding pads I used, as they are the best when it comes to stripping paint off of metal.  They are like a scouring pad with some major league abrasives impregnated on the pads.   Inside of two hours, I had the paint and rust removed from all the surfaces requiring refinishing.  Another hour and I had the cabinet taped up, and the first coat of Rust-oleum rusty metal primer had been sprayed and was drying.  It was a HOT day.  Very unusually hot for October in Georgia.  95 degree temps really helped the paint to dry quickly.

After the primer dried, I shot two coats of Rust-oleum Gloss Black, and I had a cabinet that was ready to put in the shop!  I scratched a few spots moving the cabinet down to the shop, but hey I think I will spray the whole thing now with the gloss black.  I might have to remove some tape and stickers, but it will match the rest of the shop cabinets!  Maybe some day when it is not raining and the sun is out the cabinet will get entirely painted black, with maybe some red racing stripes…or flames….ok, maybe just plain old black.  I also plan to put some casters under it maybe.

The cabinet with the rust on the top-

rusted storage cabinet

View of the entire cabinet-

long view of rusted cabinet

The cabinet has been sanded, all that nasty rust is gone, and it is down to bare metal-

rust is removed from the cabinet

I taped off the rest of the cabinet, so as not to appear too messy (not that it really matters!).  I then shot some Rust-oleum rusty metal primer on the metal-

cabinet with primer

After the primer dried, I shot two coats of Rust-oleum gloss black-

cabinet with paint

I have to get back to wood…this metal stuff is for…well metal people, not woodworkers…..