I came into possesion of a gun that’s a few years old and hasn’t been stored well. It has some rust on the bluing that the gunsmith says I can clean off with steel wool and oil. Will the steel wool get ‘splinters’ (of metal) in my hands if I don’t wear protective gloves?
I’ve never had a problem with it, and have used it without gloves many times.
I find it irritates my (apparently more delicate and sensitive than OpalCat’s) skin if I use it (usually in the form of S.O.S. pads), but I don’t think I’ve ever gotten actual splinters from it. I’ve had some fairly painful abrasion, though. So I wear gloves now (some of those $3 re-usable dishwashing gloves from the grocery store, not surgical ones).
It will tear up your fingernails, if they’re soft like mine are. That’s the main reason I don’t use steel wool very often.
I do have soft fingernails but I am unconcerned about wrecking them. I’m more interested about restoring the gun… and dealing with particles of steel in my hands.
I don’t think that I’ve ever actually gotten splinters from using steel wool, but I do generally use gloves when I use steel wool for more than a couple of swipes across the bottom of a pot. I’d advise you to get and use some of those thin cheap stretchy gloves, and you can always use them for when you use solvents and such.
Alternatively, put a few sheets of paper towel between your hand and the steel wool, which I’ve done when I’m lazy.
I hate to resort to the “Google count” method of knowledge deduction, but the sixth hit for “steel wool splinters” at the moment is this thread – so it’s apparently not a well-known phenomenon.
I’m currently removing rust from my kitchen stoves drip pans with steel wool. No gloves needed. I got mine at the paint section of Home Depot.
I’m also using a small copper wire brush with my drill. I definitely wear eye protection. Bristles from the wire brush can easily break off and go flying.
Ok, thanks all. I had not used SW before so I did not know if I needed to worry. So it looks like gun cleaning day today!
I would think that you’ll be using something very fine, like 00 or even 000 steel wool, which shouldn’t cause you any problems. I’ve used it in woodworking without issue.