Agreed steel wool is not a good removal tool causing excessive cleaning of the surface and a shiny white metal surface.

An old copper penny used to rub the surface with oil or WD40 will clean off the dirt without damaging or overcleaning the metal.
It results in a grey patina after cleaning instead of a polished surface.
This Sharps barrel had the entire surface encrusted with a thick active red rust layer which was cleaned with a penny.

Leaving red rust material on the surface will continue with  rusting and pitting of the metal surface

rkba2nd wrote on Apr 7^th, 2022 at 7:53pm:


"Old" blades work a little better sometimes because the edge has been turned just a bit. This only takes a few minutes. So when you rest a bit or leave the work for a little while observe which side is "up" and don't turn it over when you resume, else you'll start scratching the work, which would be fatal. This is really by far the best approach for a fine blued surface which is showing rust.