Recently I found an old wood burning heater at an antique shop and bought it for the backyard patio so we’d have some comfort on cool evenings, a means of making Smores, etc. It’s nothing fancy and for $200 I don’t have big designs on it being anything other than a functional, utilitarian piece. Originally I figured I’d just leave it as is. However, we’re in a region where it rains a fair bit and I see that even under the covered patio rust is going to be an ongoing issue. So I’d like to do enough of a restoration to it that it’ll at least be stable and if that includes prettying it up a bit then so be it.
While I’m fairly handy with most garage projects, I don’t have much experience with something like this. Therefore, my questions are:
- Do I soak the pieces in something to get the rust removal started?
- Is there something available that’ll help unfreeze whatever connections are locked by rust?
- Should I use some grade of steel wool to physically aid the process and can that be made to fit a cordless drill?
- Should a preservative besides paint be used?
- What kind of paint is best, considering the high temps that it’ll be subject to?
- Any other tips, gotchas or the like?
Thanks in advance for any assistance with this restore project! If I finish it quickly enough I’ll include a picture of the finished project.