Noticed a big difference after switching from wire wheel to cup brush on rusty beams

I was out on a job in Gary last month, had this I-beam that was just caked in rust. Usually I go at it with a wire wheel on my angle grinder, but it was taking forever and barely touching the deep stuff. One of the older guys on site said try a cup brush instead, so I grabbed one from the truck. The difference was night and day, cut the job down from like 4 hours to maybe 2 and a half. The cup brush digs into the pits way better than the wheel does, doesn't just skim the surface. I still use the wheel for light surface stuff but for heavy buildup I'm team cup brush now. Anyone else find a tool swap that saved them time like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

young.spencer1mo ago

Gary sounds like a total mess for rust, no surprise there. It's funny how sometimes the old school tool nobody thinks about anymore ends up being the one that actually works. Makes you wonder what other simple tricks are out there just waiting to fix a day's worth of headaches.

daniel2141mo ago

...and my buddy Craig had the opposite thing happen with sandpaper. He was out in Michigan refinishing this old staircase, right? Been using 80 grit belts on his palm sander for the first pass, burning through belts like crazy. His dad's old timer buddy came over and handed him a roll of 40 grit hook and loop paper. Told him to cut a strip and just fold it over a sanding block by hand instead. Craig laughed at him at first, said it sounded like caveman stuff. But he tried it and it took off the old varnish twice as fast as the machine did. Now he keeps a roll in his truck for those heavy strip jobs and only breaks out the sander for the finish work. Funny how sometimes the old ways really do work better, isn't it?