Article By: Gary Mauer
Originally Published In The November 2013 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine
As you all know, March is Bike Week in Daytona. As a bike builder, it’s always a mad thrash to finish up the new bikes and get all the gear gathered for the trip. After the 24-hour trip to get to Daytona, 10 days vending, and another 24-hour return trip (through an ice storm) home, only to hit the road again three days later to head out to another bike show, you can imagine my email box was pretty full. When some of the dust finally settled, I started to open my emails, and bam, I got hit with a computer virus! I managed to get it shut down with no damage. But to be safe, I marked every email that I didn’t recognize as junk. Of course, I then receive a call from this guy asking why I didn’t answer his email. I explained to him that since it was tagged with a subject line of “Workshop Hero™ and Frank Fritz,” that it smelled like a scam. I come to find out the email was real, and the email sender — Bob Patten — was a member of the marketing team of Workshop Hero™ makers of Metal Rescue™ Rust Remover Bath (he lives less than a mile from our shop). What Bob wanted was some bikes and bikers for a photo shoot with the Workshop Hero™’s new team member Frank Fritz from History’s American Pickers fame.
I had recently seen that Bryan Fuller was also a spokesperson for the company and had even made a note that the next time I saw him I was going to ask if this stuff really works. Just in case you don’t know, Metal Rescue™ is a water-based rust remover bath that is safe and easy to use. It is not an acid and it is not toxic, flammable or caustic. I’m always on the lookout for new products that speed up the day and eliminate work so I don’t have to. They sent me some samples so I could try it for myself. Overall, I can tell you that it works great! I called some friends and asked them to bring their bikes over to my place. The Metal Rescue™ team then proceeded to rifle my shop, going through all my personal antiques to use as props. At the photo shoot, the discussion arose about which Workshop Hero™ product was better: Metal Rescue™ or Dry Coat™ (their rust preventative). Ron Finch likes Metal Rescue™, Bryan Fuller prefers Dry Coat™, and Frank Fritz likes both. My vote was still out since I hadn’t tried the Dry Coat™ yet. When the Workshop Hero™ team was in my shop, they kept taking pictures of every one of the bikes that we had on jigs while pointing out the rust. Every time you weld on metal, it will rust next to the weld within a day or so. We live in Michigan with humidity levels over 90 percent, so it rusts fast. The other big problem is everyone has to touch something when they come in (yes, I will smack you for that). The oils from your skin will make parts rust overnight. Knowing all this, I think they’re on to something with Dry Coat™. To try it out, I welded up a frame, let it cool down, sprayed on Dry Coat™ and even two weeks later — no rust!
It gets better. Dry Coat™ is waterbased and it will protect bare metal on anything stored indoors for up to one year. It replaces solvent and oil-based corrosion inhibiters. Once you apply the clear coating, it will dry-to-touch within 30 minutes. It washes off with soap and water and is non-hazardous. We now use Dry Coat™ on every bare metal part in our shop. When we went to Sturgis this year, I used Dry Coat™ to spray down my lathes, mills, jig tables, frames, and fenders. For the first time, not one thing was rusted when we returned to the shop; this stuff really works! If you visit the Metal Rescue™ Rust Remover Bath Facebook page, you will see some photos from our photo shoot with them. You can also enter to win a trip to go picking with Frank Fritz yourself. Just think, I marked their email as junk! Had the guys from Workshop Hero™ not called to follow up with me, none of this would have taken place except for the rust! Be sure to go to the Workshop Hero™ Website and check out their products for yourself; you won’t be disappointed! www.workshophero.com
