Reddit mentions: The best abrasive wheel power brushes

TL; DR: Don't even bother getting the paint stripper, if you insist on fresh brick it's easier to rip the painted brick out and put up fresh brick.

I think I ended up not being able to get SoyGel, which is commonly recommended so I used a Blue Bear solution and I think Ready-strip. I got one off Amazon, ran out and grabbed whatever they had at Home Depot for the second attempt. Both of them stink to high heaven, so you need a really good gas mask and ventilation. Nobody else should be in the house. Though save your time, money and brain cells, because it didn't work for me:

My brick was heavily caked from multiple layers of paint. The stripper actually did a good job on the first layer, and then there was this resilient horrible looking off-white underneath. I don't know if it was stubborn because it was a better paint (maybe oil?) or just because it was mechanically locked onto the brick surface whereas the previous coat was just on top of this one. Anyway, the gels didn't work, so I bought some wire bristle cups for my angle grinder to try to pull the paint off without destroying the surface of the brick.

My whole house shook from my fireplace laughing at the tickle from those things. So I stepped up to these. It was more effective, but slow. At some point my angle grinder burnt out, so I was back at Home Depot buying a new angle grinder, and upgraded from a 4 amp to a 7 amp. I also got some of these, which looked way too strong but I was getting desperate.

Between the stronger angle grinder and those wire discs it was actually chewing through the paint pretty good. Mind you, I had built a Dexter-quality tent of drop sheets around my fireplace with 2-3 layers on each side to try keep the brick and paint dust from going through my home. I had a purple respirator, eye glasses and full face shield and would have to stop because the tent would get so filled with red dust in the air you couldn't see anything. It took me weeks to scrub all the red dust off everything, I had to paint the ceiling and walls because the inside of the tent walls were so stained with red dust, and I'm sure I still have plenty of it in my lungs that will eventually kill me.

I ended up cleaning all the brick to 'good enough', since I was planning on white washing anyway. It'd be impossible to get it completely red again. Then I went through the process of repairing all the brick I chipped and cleaning out the mortar. Then I repointed the mortar and did my white wash. That was a mistake, then the mortar was all colored, so I removed the fresh mortar again, touched up my paint, then repointed the mortar a second time.

In the end I'd say it actually came out really nice. You couldn't convince me to do it again with a gun to my head. Oh, and I'm wrapping up a major remodel and we just decided that we're going to have the entire fireplace resurfaced because brick doesn't really fit our house anymore. Shoot me.

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It completely depends on your financial situation, but I would recommend just buying your own tools. You will get more than your moneys worth if you hang on to them for 5-10 years. Which is very easy with proper care.

Here are some cheaper yet not terrible options on Amazon. These should get most jobs done around the house.

• Orbit Sander $28
  
• Assorted Sanding Disks $20
  
  
  Total of $48
  
  
  
  If you want to go with another method outlined here you can use a regular drill. Tons of uses for a drill other than sanding down your skillet.
  
  
• Drill $30
  
• Coarse Wire Brush attatchment $9
  
• Fine Wire Brush attatchment $6
  
  Total of $45
  

What tools do you have?

For longevity target rust. Sand, grind, scrape it down and paint it with hightemp paint. You can replace the grates if you want just search cooking/grill grates on Amazon and you'll probably find something that fits. Personally I'd replace the handles. I hate a grill that feels like it wants to crush my hand when I'm taking a peek or sticking in a temperature probe.

IF I were cleaning it up I'd take this to it, inside and out, and repaint the whole thing. If you don't have an angle grinder a Drill version works (preferably with a cord, batteries don't last that long). I'd remove/replace all wood (handles particularly), hardware, screws, bolts, anything that comes off. Maybe something with the hinges, probably some PB Blaster to break up that rust then some WD40 to coat/lubricate whats left.

To use it, clean off the grates and smoke something, it's usable as is. Get it nice and hot then bring the temperature down and let it go. You may find that it is to big/small for you. People underestimate the charcoal and wood required to keep a smoker this big going. I personally couldn't use one this big, smoking 3 times what you eat sounds good til you throw away good brisket or ribs a week later. If you want to smoke as much as possible get the smoker that makes it easy, not the one that feeds your extended family once a year. For free, just use it and see before you invest time/money.

If you have the money I like using formula 420. It's only $8 at my local smoke shop, and will clean my bong at least 10 times. It always works great, and you don't need to use that much. I would also invest in a pipe brush, they work great for down stems / joints.

You got a link to that? Sounds funny lol I'm not 100% sure i'm doing it the "right" way but i'm trying to do as best I can.

It was a lot of work, getting in all the cracks and crevices on the frame was a pain. Eventually invested in one of [these] (https://www.amazon.com/Forney-72730-Crimped-2-Inch----008-Inch/dp/B001GM8POY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1475185920&sr=8-1&keywords=wire+drill) and it made life a lot easier

Looks great!

I've found that these bristle brushes are good at cleaning out the fuzzies that get left behind -

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0787ZPHKN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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They're cheaper on ebay/alibab/etc though.

Honestly, just use a drill and wire wheel. Anything else is overkill unless the calipers are incredibly pitted, in which case you’d almost certainly do better to just replace them.

One of these and one of these or go nuts and get one of these and save yourself some time. (Obviously you should order more than one wire wheel at $4/each)

Should be just fine. If it bothers you, and you really want to get it off, I've had good luck with one of these wheels mounted in a drill. It's basically a high-powered brush version of the green scotch-brite pad you'll find on a kitchen sponge. Removes a very small amount of material, but it's basically polishing. It'll leave a smoother surface than you currently have, and everything will wash right out.

Just use a wire brush to scrape the rust off.
You won't hurt any markings, it will be brand new.
The only way you'll remove the markings is if they were pitted/rusted.

Or use a wire wheel like this one, and chuck it into your drill press.

I don't recommend a bench grinder with a wire wheel, they can remove a lot more than you want.

You know with just an ounce or two of 91% alcohol and salt (I like coarse kosher salt) plus ~10 seconds of shaking and it is all done. I plug up the down stem hole with TP, and when I'm done, I use the left over alcohol with a paper towel to clean up the resin that gets in the sink from cleaning the bowl. I use a nylon pipe brush for the down stem, just drop the down stem in the bottle of alcohol and go to town with the brush. Entire process takes no more then 3-5 minutes.

I would not use steel wool on stainless cookware. Unless it was stainless steel wool, which it is usually not.

Using a steel tool in conjunction with a stainless part is iffy in some circumstances. For example, there exist stainless screwdrivers to use on stainless screws. Also stainless wire wheels for use with angle grinders on stainless steel work.

Note, some tools are stainless steel just to be rustproof or autoclavable, which is a different use case.

I'd try a wire wheel in a drill.

I don't have that kind of time either, so I use one of these on a 4" angle grinder