finishing/cleaning cast iron?!?

[PurpLev]

I've been working on a project involving cast iron recently and this stuff is just messy messy messy. dust blackens everything it touches, but with some proper setup that's not too bad.

the problem is that the finished product is still the same cast iron, and some of it isn't machined -left in the rough, and when you touch it it blackens your hands. Is there a way to clean the cast iron surface to take off that surface dust? or finish it somehow to prevent it from blackening things that come in contact with it, or is that just the nature of the beast and without chroming it or using some other coating on it it'll just be messy?

thanks in advance!

 

[Ray C]

Not sure what you're working on but surface grinding (if possible) seals it up pretty well. Have a look below. Anyhow, it seems to be the nature of the beast. It's messy to work with. I've actually washed some finished things down with hot water and soap then gave them a spray w/oil. Helps a little.

Look at the bright side, you won't need to take a multi-vitamin with any Fe (Iron) in it (no joke either).

I've been working on a project involving cast iron recently and this stuff is just messy messy messy. dust blackens everything it touches, but with some proper setup that's not too bad.

the problem is that the finished product is still the same cast iron, and some of it isn't machined -left in the rough, and when you touch it it blackens your hands. Is there a way to clean the cast iron surface to take off that surface dust? or finish it somehow to prevent it from blackening things that come in contact with it, or is that just the nature of the beast and without chroming it or using some other coating on it it'll just be messy?

thanks in advance!

 

[TDHofstetter]

You can wash it with acetone, but - especially since you're in Mass - you'd better be working with a vapor-reclamation hood to catch all the vapor & recondense it back to liquid. Soapy (dish detergent) water will also do the job, but not as well... and requires you to dry the HECK out of your workpieces after they're cleaned.

 

[PurpLev]

Thanks guys,

I tried wiping it with WD40 which I believe helped a tad. I'll try the soapy water with a followup application of WD40 to...well.. displace the water out and clean it some more.