Cast iron keel touchup

[chris-s]

I use a bit of phosphoric acid when cleaning up rusty spots before applying a two pack primer. Does the job for me.

 

[MikeCC]

One thing I'm wondering about is what to do in the time between exposing bare metal and applying the epoxy. The humidity here is pretty low and so far nothing that I've exposed in the past few days is showing any signs of flash rust.

Would it be a good idea to wipe a bit of phosphoric acid over the newly exposed metal? Or would that interfere with the adhesion of the epoxy?

I didn't bother with mine. Just had the epoxy ready to go after a final rub over and a wipe with thinners. No problems after 5 years.