The Old Lawnmower Club
Collection, Preservation and Display of Old Lawn Mowers
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The power of rust!

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wristpin Mon, 11/02/2013

I've never notice this before - rust has "grown" between the bottom blade and the sole plate forcing the two apart between the screws!

 

 

 

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hillsider Tue, 12/02/2013

I suspect that there was an air gap between the bottom blade and the sole plate. It only takes a minute amount of moisture and air to start the corrosion process going then the result is plain as day.

 When a bolt head is exposed to seaspray the corosion will cause a large build up of scale that to form on the nut increasing its size considerably - until you knock it off you then see the degree of wastage that has occurred.   

When I was inspecting cranes, steel quayside ladders or bridge structures where corrosion is often found an allowance of 10% wastage was the guide for assessing the structural integrity of component parts.