rust on propane tank

[junior]

I just cut the doors on my 250 gallon propane tank. Anyone got some suggestions on getting the rust off the outside before I do the painting? Thought about sand blasting, but that might cost too much, and take off too much metal! Any suggestions would help!
thanks

[JamesB]

Got a grinder? Grab ya a wire cup brush and get after it...

[OSD]

grinder and a wire cup brush is about the best way to get rust off and leave a smooth surface. Even if you use a chemical to get the rust off, you'll still end up using a grinder and a brush to slick up the surface. JWWFM--YMMV

[junior]

I had thought about using a propane torch and heating up and cleaning it like an old cast iron skillet.

[OSD]

Even if you heat it up, you're still going to have to wire brush it to get all the rust out of the pits in the surface of the metal before you can paint it. Seems like extra work to me. JWWFM-YMMV

[bwsdj]

Have it Sand Blasted, well worth it.

[DATsBBQ]

Rent a sand blaster for a day.

Back in the day, on the Rock in the S Pacific we used Naval Jelly. Stuff was like industrail zip-strip. Only thing left is metal. Stuff might be illegal these days, tree hugers and all.