Wire Brush - Long Handle

A wire brush on a long handle. The handle is what makes it usable: it keeps knuckles away from the work and gives the leverage to lean into a surface properly, which is the difference between removing scale and merely disturbing it. It is the tool used before and after welding - cleaning mill scale and rust off steel so the arc strikes cleanly and the weld takes, then knocking the slag off the finished bead. Beyond welding it strips flaking paint from gates, grilles and railings before repainting, cleans mortar off block and tools, and scrubs concrete and formwork. Cheap, and treated as a consumable: once the wires have splayed flat and lost their spring, the brush is polishing rather than cutting.