Open Forum

Good Morning everyone! My name is Monica and I work in the Film Archive for Lucasfilm. We just discovered that a section of our shelving has rust & water damage. The facilities people here want to sand down and repaint the shelving but I'm hesitant to reuse damaged shelving. I'd love any suggestions from the AAM community, thanks in advance!

-------------------------------------------
Monica Chin-Perez
Lucasfilm Film Archive
San Rafael CA
-------------------------------------------

That depends on how deep the rust has gone, a little surface rust shouldn't hurt the structural integrity of the shelves. However, if the rust has started to scale it may be deep enough to start causing issues. I have used Eastwood's rust converter in the past on some rust on a box truck, but that was just on the box and not on anything structural. Also, how much weight is on the shelf? That can effect how much rust is a problem. The only other issue I could imagine would be interaction between iron oxide and whatever you are storing. Iron oxide can stain objects and can be difficult to remove. Also, it might react in some way with celluloid film, but I'm not a chemist!

Hope this helps!

-------------------------------------------
Steven Prokopchak
Associate Producer
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
Williamsburg VA
-------------------------------------------

There is a company called Ecolab that would likely have product to handle this.
They are a major supplier to the hospitality industry for all kinds of cleaning related products.
Hope that helps.
Art

-------------------------------------------
Arthur Manask
President
Manask & Associates
Burbank CA
-------------------------------------------

I'm going with Steven on this one.  If the rust is only on the surface and has not had the chance to progress very far, sanding and refinishing should be fine.  However, it will be important that all existing rust be removed before any new primers or paints are applied. 

I think it would be worth figuring out why the rust happened (aside from the plumbing or roof leak that supplied the water) in the first place.  The presence of rust indicates that water was able to permeate the surface coating.  That would suggest that the coating was compromised either by cutting/scraping (perhaps if hard, heavy objects have been slid on and off of them repeatedly) or by standing water migrating through the surface coating (which can happen if the coating is thin and is not a baked on enamel or powder coating).  If physical cutting/scraping has taken place, you may want to get some kind of protective material installed on top of the shelves, so that continued use doesn't end up compromising the surface again.  1/8 - inch nylon or acrylic sheet might make a good choice, as these are smooth and durable.  Of course, this modification should be weighed against the cost of replacement shelves. 

Good luck, and I hope that no archival film was damaged! 

    Michael



-------------------------------------------
Michael Holland
Principal/Owner
Michael Holland Productions
Bozeman MT
-------------------------------------------

Certainly it's possible to successfully refinish metalwork, but at what cost relative to replacement? Were these shelves painted or unpainted? What surfaces did they contact when in use? Was there something else that caused the rust?
-------------------------------------------
James Bryant
Curator of Natural History
Riverside Metropolitan Museum
Riverside CA
-------------------------------------------