Rust Removal Using Electrolysis

[George Penfold]

Hi all
Just finished setting up my equipment and tried it out on a rusty no6 iron cap. I didn't think it would be sooooooo good. Cap came out of the electrolytic bath like new. Was so in a hurry to see what it could do that I forgot to take photo's. Will post before and after for the next item and see what you guys think. Its amazingly simple and only uses washing soda, a stainless steel tub ( I used an old deep fat fryer pan ) and a battery charger. Photo's to follow.

[Dan Andrews]

I am glad to hear that electrolysis worked so well. I have been considering trying it. I have been using citric acid, but it seams that if I soak the rusty part long enough to soften the rust in the pits, that it has also made the entire surace dull grey. I have been using 600 wet or dry with kerosene to polish parts back to a shine.

Has the electrolysis left the surface shiney or dull?

[Lex Boegen]

I agree completely. I live in a very rust-prone area (SW Florida). I bought a cheap plastic tote, a short length of heavy angle iron, washing soda and a battery charger. Badly rusted items may take several days, but they come out rust-free and the good metal is undamaged (unlike some other rust removal procedures). Even after multiple uses and the washing soda solution looks nasty, it still works fine. I just add water when the level goes down due to evaporation.

BTW: do a little more Googling. Stainless steel is bad to use in this process--it contaminates the solution (http://www.antique-engines.com/stainless-steel-electrodes.htm). The only metal that should be used in any part of this process is iron/steel. I use a plastic tote and steel rebar or angle iron as the sacrifical anode so that I can just dump the solution in the grass when I'm done. It's actually good for the grass, but if you use stainless steel you get metals in the solution that shouldn't be dumped into the water table.

[George Penfold]

hi Dan

"Has the electrolysis left the surface shiney or dull? "

the finish is a smooth greyish, but has some shine. It does not matter to me as I intend to DIY nickel plate most of what I do. If I wanted a bright steel finish, I would advise using a cotton polishing wheel and polishing compound to get it to a mirror finish.

Hi Lex
Yes I have read several differing views on the subject of stainless v mild steel, I will have to do a bit more googling to decide which is best. As to contaminates, we have a recycling facility near us run by the local council that takes chemical and other waste to process so thats not a problem.

[raul segura]

I would definitely urge any one to use reg metal rather than S.S. Only dif. stainless keeps cleaner and iron needs a very light brushing. Do not clean other metals like, copper, brass, aluminum, etc. as they can create toxic gasses. Clean your rod /bar off once in a while for better contact and if you want better contact use a sheet of metal rather than a bar/or rod, more surface area. Don't enclose your bucket in room as the procedure creates (small) amounts of hydrogen (rocket fuel) very flammable! A weeks worth in the ceiling area and a spark MMMMM. It will congregate up high not low like the gas in your heater and no smell added.
Id also leave the recycling facilities to the stuff we cannot control, why overload a system with the unnecessary,""actually good for the grass"".
Most my info. was from a high end gunsmiths site with short and long term oil protect/ lubricants and a plethora of info...
I would also not leave high end collectables over 2-3 hrs with out rechecking.

Molasses will cut rust off very well if not better than electrolysis.
The vat lasts about 6 months may take 1-2, weeks or re-dipping dependent on circumstance. Very good results with pressure washing or light brushing.
1 pt. molasses
10 parts water
It will putrefy some, but will be good for 6 mths. completely harmless except perhaps the metal. PLEASE [ Don't drink the water !!! ]

[Brendan Dahl]

Another alternative anode is graphite rod. The build up it leaves behind seems to come off much easier than when I used rebar and and the rods don't need to be cleaned. You can buy graphite rod from mcmaster or a good welding shop should have "graphite gouging rods". Try to get ones without the copper foil, though you can peel the copper off it's a PITA.

As for the stainless steel debate, why use something that could be potentially dangerous when there are so many effective alternatives?

[Michael Ray Smith]

I'm new to this forum, and I apologize if I'm covering old ground. I've considered using electrolysis, but I've been happy enough with a product called Evapo Rust (well, happy with everything except its price) that I haven't had the incentive to get me over the energy barrier of setting up an electrolytic cell.

Evapo Rust is a chemical treatment based on chelation rather than the usual acid/base mechanism of most chemical treatments. Most of the old school rust removers like naval jelly are based on phosphoric acid, and the citric acid treatment is based on, um, citric acid, which has some chelation properties as well as being an acid. Darned if I know what the mechanism is for molasses. If you leave most tools in most acidic environments for too long, they will begin to pit just from chemical attack from the acid, so you have to worry about overtreatment. I've left tools soaking in Evapo Rust for as long as 3 days without seeing any sign of chemical attack of the base metal.

Evapo Rust has no smell, and the only thing that escapes from the solution into the air is water (which can supposedly be added back if too much of it evaporates, although I've never had to do it). It's relatively neutral -- starting out life at pH 6 and ending at pH 7 when it is spent -- and it's supposed to be safe for the environment. It's supposed to remove light rust is as little as 5-30 minutes, but my experience is that it takes a little longer than that, even for light rust. In fairness, the rate of removal is temperature dependent, and I usually use it in my basement where it is fairly cool. Since I've never seen any indication of any negative effects of over-treatment, so I generally just put the rusty pieces in the solution and leave it for at least 24 hours. In addition to temperature, you can speed up the process by going over the parts with a soft wire brush a time or two during the treatment to physically remove the loosened rust. It leaves a black residue, especially after the solution has been used for a while, that you'll want to remove, again using a soft wire brush.

As I mentioned, the downside is the price. . . around $30 a gallon. . . but it can be reused for quite a while before it loses its capacity to remove rust. It's not available many places. . . Harbor Freight is the only place I've been able to find it where I live.

Even though I've been happy with it so far, I've been proceeding cautiously, and I'd be glad to hear any thoughts others have on Evapo Rust and its merits relative to electrolysis.

[raul segura]

Well Michael, goggled Evapo Rust and found it for 24-26 $. Life of this stuff looks short, but I don't know personally.
I'm familiar with ionizing silver into distilled water interesting stuff. It works much the same way as cleaning metal. I would defiantly experiment with the charger system at the price of 30.00 vs. One time purchase of a charger 40-50.00 + yes the electric bill. You may find it works for you and very simple to due. I am cleaning things I would otherwise not as the scrubbing and sanding is minimal.
My search began because I did a bad thing,
I left a bucket of Muriatic acid open for a week inclosed in my garage it evaporated and as it is extra humid here I have lots of metal parts exposed to this environment lots of NOW!!! very rusty parts. In the old days they used to make lead white paint by exposing evaporated acid to lead, as it chemically oxidized they would remove the white flakes from lead for pigment adding flax seed oil etc. Unfortunately I'm not making any earth colors with my rust.

Ive goggled a bit and haven't found any thing with very great examples before / after.
At some time Id like to post a good sample page with pictures on results for this method of cleaning.

[Brendan Dahl]

I mentioned above that I use electrolysis, but I also use evapo rust. Evapo rust works pretty well, I really like it for lots of small parts. Its also is much more convenient and less hazard prone then electrolysis. The one good/bad thing about electrolysis is it will strip off japanning if you leave the item in long enough.
For me if I can fit the item so its submerged in evapo rust I use that over electrolysis mainly because I don't have a garage or any outdoor outlets so its a pain to set up outside and it rains most of the year in Portland.

[Mel Miller]

I used the electrolysis method for a while, but when Evaporust came along I found I liked it much better. You can get it several places, including on Ebay. The only time I'm likely to use electrolysis again would be for large items, say bigger than a #8 plane which will fit in the Evaporust bath.

Mel

[Peter Scoma]

I'm another fan of evaporust. With some HF coupons its relatively cheap and works quite well.

PJS

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I'm a fan of Evaporust; it's worked great for me. I keep telling myself that my tool till is almost full and I won't be buying anymore junkers, so it's a better bet than investing in an electrolysis setup. If you google "Evaporust blockplane", on the Google Image Search, you'll find a couple of threads on other forums showing some folks luck. It lasts better if you knock off most of the loose rust, (if for no other reason than the chemical last longer because you're not giving it any more rust to react with than you need to) but I've put some pieces in there that looked like archaelogical finds - plane blades and breakers welded togther, where you knew there was a chipbreaker screw in there but god if you could find it, and have had it chew it's way through there, and come out with a usuable thing in the end.

No HF in my area, but I've found the best price locally is Tractor Supply Co.

[Mark Wyatt]

I've used Evaporust and found it to work well. However, I've swithed to citric acid because it is cheaper and seems to have nearly the same properties. You can get 1lb. of citirc acid powder for about $5 and use it to make 5 gallons (strong) to 10 gallons (weak) of rust remover. Google "home brewing supplies" and search the site for citric acid and you will find it. Others use vinegar as a remover, but I like the citric acid powder as it is easy to store and does not have any particular odor.

[raul segura]

Ill have to try the evapo. stuff
Will it effect brass, and other metals ??

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

It won't damage them; but it won't remove corrosion from them either. In my experience, it does clean them a bit, as there's some sort of a detergent in there.

[Christopher McKim]

I inherited some old chisels and planes this winter when my grandfather passed on his workshop to me, and decided a lot of the 'neat old hand tools' needed some love... 6 months later I have become a full fledged junkie and can't get seem to get enough. Today, after reading this thread and a few other sites, I decided to try removing rust with electrolysis.

So I dug down into an old carpenter's chest I recently purchased and found some old, rusted over calipers that I figured would make a fine guinea pig. And hour later, they came out of the tub looking beautiful. Great working order and fantastic patina. The best part? I could make out the manufacturer's name, look it up, and discover that this little guinea pig is actually an incredibly rare collector's item that is commanding a higher price on ebay right now than I spent on the entire chest of tools.

Thought I'd share.

Oh and yeah, electrolysis is phenomenal. Nothing compares to the quality it yields and ease in which it is done.

[Mel Miller]

And what is this incredibly rare caliper?