river952•9d agoProlific Poster

That $80 rotary brush I bought for my Hearthstone liner turned out to be a waste

Everyone says you gotta use a power drill attachment to scrub creosote out of stainless liners, but I found a $12 wire cup brush on a 4-inch angle grinder cuts through the hard stuff in half the time. I tried it last month on a job in Dayton and the liner came out spotless, no scratches. Anyone else skip the fancy tools and just use what works?

3 comments

3 Comments

max2239d ago

I read a forum post where a guy said his angle grinder setup left a haze on his stainless liner, though he admitted he might have used too aggressive a grit. Wire cup brushes seem to work fine for most folks, but I'd watch out for the stainless version if your liner is thinner gauge. Better to test on a scrap piece first, since a grinder can chew through metal way faster than a drill attachment.

amy_craig289d ago

Test it on a scrap piece first" is the BEST advice ever, I learned that the hard way too. I tried a cheap wire cup brush from the hardware store on my thin 22 gauge liner and it left these tiny rust spots everywhere because it wasn't stainless grade. Now I only use the specific stainless brushes and it's been smooth sailing, that rainbow haze mess is such a pain to fix by hand.

reese_hayes719d ago

Test it on a scrap piece first like you said, absolutely. I grabbed a flap disc that was supposedly for stainless (you know, the one with the special coating) and it left this weird rainbow haze on a thin 22 gauge liner. Had to hit it with a scotch-brite pad by hand just to get it back to a uniform look, which was a pain. Wire cup brushes are my go-to now, but I stick to the stainless specific ones because the regular steel ones can leave little rust spots if you're not careful. The drill attachment is way gentler too, slower but much safer on thin metal.