got one wheel together today and a set of bearings for another rear hub are on the way so it was time to clean up the rear drum. I buy sitters and barn bikes often as not watter has gotten in the rear hub. sometimes the shoes have fallen off the carriers usually there is rust on the surface of the drum most of the time they can be saved. Here's one low cost, fairly clean way to get r done.
I had a knife sharpening stone laying around, this is one of the man made porous types of stone, that's important, you don't want a natural stone for this job they are not porous enough and will clog with the rust you are trying to remove.
about like this one, prolly $5-10 at the local hardware.
http://www.amazon.com/INDUSTRIES-6050-Pocket-Sharpening-3-Inch/dp/B000BQL6UQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1460084128&sr=1-2&keywords=pocket+sharpening+stone
I cut an oil bottle to act as a catch basin but have the spokes off this can be done with the wheel assembled just as easy. The trick here is my "go to" mineral spirits. Keep the stone and inside of the drum soaked in spirits, dip the stone in some spirits and the rust will basically fall off the stone, opening the pores and exposing the cutting edges for another round of scrubbing. Have a roll of paper towel handy, keep wiping up the rust you remove so the stone doesn't "load up". I keep the stone at 90 degrees to the drum and work around the drum cleaning up about 3" segments. This fairly rusty drum was done in less than an hour. The edges of the stone will start to wear a bit and that is fine it kind of makes the stone fit the contour of the drum. You can use wet or dry sandpaper with solvent also but I kind of like how the stone keeps the drum surface flat and even works down the ridge on the outside where the shoes don't rub.
Last pics are the casting bridges removed from the fins before I got the rest of the fins cleaned up. So far the best way I have found to do this with typical home tools is a hacksaw blade in a sawzall, it made quick work, had this done in about 1/2 an hour.
Then various files sandpaper and roll lock disks to finish up and smooth them out.



The last pic is a hub that's done with polished fins and black paint between.
I'm all ears if anyone has other ideas and techniques that have worked for you.
I had a knife sharpening stone laying around, this is one of the man made porous types of stone, that's important, you don't want a natural stone for this job they are not porous enough and will clog with the rust you are trying to remove.
about like this one, prolly $5-10 at the local hardware.
http://www.amazon.com/INDUSTRIES-6050-Pocket-Sharpening-3-Inch/dp/B000BQL6UQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1460084128&sr=1-2&keywords=pocket+sharpening+stone
I cut an oil bottle to act as a catch basin but have the spokes off this can be done with the wheel assembled just as easy. The trick here is my "go to" mineral spirits. Keep the stone and inside of the drum soaked in spirits, dip the stone in some spirits and the rust will basically fall off the stone, opening the pores and exposing the cutting edges for another round of scrubbing. Have a roll of paper towel handy, keep wiping up the rust you remove so the stone doesn't "load up". I keep the stone at 90 degrees to the drum and work around the drum cleaning up about 3" segments. This fairly rusty drum was done in less than an hour. The edges of the stone will start to wear a bit and that is fine it kind of makes the stone fit the contour of the drum. You can use wet or dry sandpaper with solvent also but I kind of like how the stone keeps the drum surface flat and even works down the ridge on the outside where the shoes don't rub.
Last pics are the casting bridges removed from the fins before I got the rest of the fins cleaned up. So far the best way I have found to do this with typical home tools is a hacksaw blade in a sawzall, it made quick work, had this done in about 1/2 an hour.
Then various files sandpaper and roll lock disks to finish up and smooth them out.







The last pic is a hub that's done with polished fins and black paint between.
I'm all ears if anyone has other ideas and techniques that have worked for you.