Removing Rust
I used to live in a dry climate. Having a home shop wasn't a big hassle. Things didn't rust. Then I moved to a wet climate and the fun began. Things rusted, so I oiled them. Then they rusted anyway. I asked around and found out in addition to the humidity (often 85%) there's also high salt content, so even normal protectants are less effective.
So far the best one I've encountered is Boeshield T9. No advertising, just a happy customer. I had a few cast iron tools that I moved when I came here, and sprayed them liberally before packing them up. Years later, some of them are still largely rust free, including a vintage machine tool I've been restoring over the years. Good stuff. But it's not a cure-all. It's a dry film lube, so it does tend to gum stuff up over time if you spray it on the ways or leadscrews. Great where it's great, not so great where it's not. Even with Boeshield I still fight rust.
A while back I saw a neat web site:
Electrolytic Rust Removal
Hey, a way to remove rust through electrolysis! Great! I even have the requisite battery charger and sheets of stainless lying around. But... It sounds like a hassle. And I can always use the old methods... For some reason I never got around to it, even after repeated rusting problems on my toolmaker's vise, a precision tool I rely on almost daily.
Recently another machinist I know was pawing through his toolbox and came up with a whole drawer full of rusted tools he knew he'd never use again. Knowing I do machining as a profession and as a hobby, he offered them to me. Interested? You bet! Most of them were high quality, almost all made by the L.S. Starrett Company. But he wasn't kidding: they were rusted, and until they were restored they weren't going to be of much use.
Cleaning a vise of rust using emery and elbow grease is one thing. Cleaning a whole set of dividers, not to mention squares, scales, and scads of other tools? You have to be kidding. So with desperation in mind I went back and started reading up on electrolytic rust removal.
It's pretty simple. Get a plastic bucket and dissolve a tablespoon of washing soda or baking soda in a gallon of water. Stick in an expendable steel anode and your part. Don't let them touch! Connect the positive (red) lead from a battery charger to the anode and the negative (black) lead to the part. Remember, don't let the part and the anode touch! Plug in the charger and watch the bubbles form.
In a couple of hours the rust has been dislodged from the surface. It won't fix pitting or damage to the underlying metal, but it'll take rust off without further damage. And it works! One by one I'm going through the tools and restoring them as best I can. And since every single one of them is an ideal candidate for Boeshield, you can guess what I'm doing to them once they're completely restored.
I've had offers of free tools over the years. Some have been worse than curses, some have been break-even in terms of the time I spent making them whole and hale again. By far this has to be the best of them all. I gained a number of high quality tools, and the elbow grease quotient has been almsot non-existent. You can't beat that.
-- Pencil
So far the best one I've encountered is Boeshield T9. No advertising, just a happy customer. I had a few cast iron tools that I moved when I came here, and sprayed them liberally before packing them up. Years later, some of them are still largely rust free, including a vintage machine tool I've been restoring over the years. Good stuff. But it's not a cure-all. It's a dry film lube, so it does tend to gum stuff up over time if you spray it on the ways or leadscrews. Great where it's great, not so great where it's not. Even with Boeshield I still fight rust.
A while back I saw a neat web site:
Electrolytic Rust Removal
Hey, a way to remove rust through electrolysis! Great! I even have the requisite battery charger and sheets of stainless lying around. But... It sounds like a hassle. And I can always use the old methods... For some reason I never got around to it, even after repeated rusting problems on my toolmaker's vise, a precision tool I rely on almost daily.
Recently another machinist I know was pawing through his toolbox and came up with a whole drawer full of rusted tools he knew he'd never use again. Knowing I do machining as a profession and as a hobby, he offered them to me. Interested? You bet! Most of them were high quality, almost all made by the L.S. Starrett Company. But he wasn't kidding: they were rusted, and until they were restored they weren't going to be of much use.
Cleaning a vise of rust using emery and elbow grease is one thing. Cleaning a whole set of dividers, not to mention squares, scales, and scads of other tools? You have to be kidding. So with desperation in mind I went back and started reading up on electrolytic rust removal.
It's pretty simple. Get a plastic bucket and dissolve a tablespoon of washing soda or baking soda in a gallon of water. Stick in an expendable steel anode and your part. Don't let them touch! Connect the positive (red) lead from a battery charger to the anode and the negative (black) lead to the part. Remember, don't let the part and the anode touch! Plug in the charger and watch the bubbles form.
In a couple of hours the rust has been dislodged from the surface. It won't fix pitting or damage to the underlying metal, but it'll take rust off without further damage. And it works! One by one I'm going through the tools and restoring them as best I can. And since every single one of them is an ideal candidate for Boeshield, you can guess what I'm doing to them once they're completely restored.
I've had offers of free tools over the years. Some have been worse than curses, some have been break-even in terms of the time I spent making them whole and hale again. By far this has to be the best of them all. I gained a number of high quality tools, and the elbow grease quotient has been almsot non-existent. You can't beat that.
-- Pencil
posted by pencil at 9:24 PM
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