How do you remove rust? Electrolysis?

California

California

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And at the far end of the spectrum - how do you restore stuff that is covered with light rust?

I have tons (well, hundreds of pounds) of stuff here that Dad accumulated over 70 years that is almost, maybe barely, worth restoring for use. The tray of bolts below is typical - I occasionally put stuff like that on the grinder's wire brush wheel and clean it up to complete a project when that's simpler than driving 20 miles roundtrip for new fasteners. But that makes projects take forever.

I see articles about electrolysis. Is that practical for cleaning up multiple small objects? What about tumbling stuff in a cement mixer with sand, or walnut shells? I don't want to scatter nasty chemicals around so I haven't replaced the Naval Jelly etc that I started with.

Does anybody have a favorite method for this?
 

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California,

I'm afraid I still do items like hardware the old fashioned way using a bench grinder with wire wheel.

Rusty sheet metal and the use of rust converters (phosphoric acid) that neutralize oxidation and convert it to primers, (most) actually work quite well.

The electrolysis method is still in the thinking stages but it seems so simple and claims of great results have made me consider doing this in the near future. Here is a decent link that actually explains it in the simplest terms:

http://www.rickswoodshopcreations.com/Miscellaneous/Rust_Removal.htm

Your picture of the tray of rusty nuts and bolts looks to be a likely candidate for the above method...;)

Mark
 
Good detailed post on how to do electrolysis Mark. :thumb:

CA, interesting idea of sand in a concrete mixer. We know you could sand blast the rust, but would the concrete mixer clean them up enough for general purpose use? If you try it be sure to let us know.

The electrolysis method sounds a bit scary to me. Something about water and electricity. I also wonder if you would hurt your battery charger if it was on and you did not have a good connection? Something for me to think on for a bit, as I'm not ready to try the process.
 
How to with so many small parts...

California said:
And at the far end of the spectrum - how do you restore stuff that is covered with light rust?

I have tons (well, hundreds of pounds) of stuff here that Dad accumulated over 70 years that is almost, maybe barely, worth restoring for use. The tray of bolts below is typical - I occasionally put stuff like that on the grinder's wire brush wheel and clean it up to complete a project when that's simpler than driving 20 miles roundtrip for new fasteners. But that makes projects take forever.

I see articles about electrolysis. Is that practical for cleaning up multiple small objects? What about tumbling stuff in a cement mixer with sand, or walnut shells? I don't want to scatter nasty chemicals around so I haven't replaced the Naval Jelly etc that I started with.

Does anybody have a favorite method for this?
Click to expand...

With the electrolisys method, how do you attach the negative lead if you are doing a pile of rusty bolts or nuts, etc?

Put them in a box and attach to the box???????

I'm definetly gonna do this ....
 
I think they (the link) refers to a stainless steel lid (cooking pot style) and attach the (-) to the lid and the (+) to an anode.

Please keep us updated as I would like to do this too.

Mark
 
I thought the cement mixer idea was pretty neat. Has anyone ever tried that? A neighbor just gave me an old cement mixer last week. Now I have a new use for it.
 
Mark777 said:
rust converters (phosphoric acid) that neutralize oxidation and convert it to primers, (most) actually work quite well.

The electrolysis method ...Here is a decent link that actually explains it in the simplest terms:

http://www.rickswoodshopcreations.com/Miscellaneous/Rust_Removal.htm
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link! That's what I need to know to get started.

Since these fasteners are too small to put a clamp on, I was thinking a wire basket - either a kitchen sieve or a larger one for cooking french fries - could hold the parts and give them the polarity needed. And I would tumble them first to get off the loose rust.

I need to learn more about rust converters. That sounds interesting too.
 
I would have thought that those fasteners would be very weak from being rusty, and probably wouldn't fit very well.
Call me wasteful, but I would probably dump them.

The electrolysis idea is interesting though, definitely worth trying out anyway.
 
One quick way to remove rust on small items is with Muratic acid let soak in it then remove. be sure to wear gloves and safety glasses and if you try it on aluminum it gone in minutes. been there done that. rinse well and the coat with something to keep it from rusting again.
 
Mith said:
I would have thought that those fasteners would be very weak from being rusty, and probably wouldn't fit very well.
Call me wasteful, but I would probably dump them.
Click to expand...
Mith, this is my inheritance. I can't just dump this stuff!

This 11 acres is worth a lot of money but I only inherited a half share, with an agreement I would pay cash to buy the other half out of Dad's estate. It took me 20 years to save up for that (along with saving for 2 kids college) and now I'm cheapskating everything just like Dad did since he inherited it in similar condition 40 years ago. He never expected to live so long, so he did minimal maintenance the last several years.

Everything here - house, outbuildings, tools, even the utility systems, is so worn out (and cheaply built 90 years ago) that Dad just grinned and advised me to tear it all down and start over when he was gone. Someday this will all be yours! he would grin as he waved at a pile of his yard sale acquisitions that had composted down to a lump. I've been hauling stuff out for seven years and still take a load when I go back to my house in the city. I can't afford to bulldoze everything into dumpsters and start from bare land - and anything short of that would be a waste of time.

That rusty tray of bolts is a direct consequence of the barn roof that leaked everywhere. I re-roofed the house, but patched the barn frequently for several years until I gave up that losing battle and had it done this year. Now I'm trying to salvage what I can.

Here's a suitable application for a rusty nut and bolt from that tray. Who needs the modern ones with a nylon insert, when this took 20-30 ft lbs torque to thread them together. This chain loops around the lower 3-point pin and prevents the pto pump from revolving. I will eventually put on a longer bolt and double-nut it for security, but this application of the available, stiff-threading nut/bolt works fine - it got me running when otherwise I would have had to go to town for new fasteners.

P1120072rPtoPump400.jpg​
 
Boggie said:
One quick way to remove rust on small items is with Muratic acid let soak in it then remove. be sure to wear gloves and safety glasses and if you try it on aluminum it gone in minutes. been there done that. rinse well and the coat with something to keep it from rusting again.
Click to expand...

Good tip Boggie. I missed this when it was 1st posted.


CA, heck yeah that is a perfect use for the old bolt and nut.

Has anyone tried the electrolysis method of removing rust?
 
Mostly I have sandblasted what I needed to get rust off of. And have used the navel jelly before. But the electrolysis bit sounds interesting. And did CA's idea of tumbling stuff in a cement mixer.
 
I like the cement mixer idea,tho w/ nuts and bolts I don't think sand would be necessary. Them rubbing against each other would be enough and I would only tumble them long enough to clean them. I would think after too long the bolt threads would be almost useless. I'd also use diesel w/ them so they'd already have an oil coat when clean.
JMHO,
Mike
 
Update.

P1160556rBolts,Cleaned.jpg

I got a HF Tumbler. It cost too much but I had a 15% coupon that was burning a hole in my pocket. :)

This is going to work fine.

About 5 minutes tumbling cleans the crud off. Now I can distinguish usable stuff, mostly stuff where the cad plating is still intact, from stuff that needs a moment on the wire wheel, and real rusted junk that I'll toss back in the next run to see if I can salvage it.

A word of advice for anyone trying this: I should have put the material in that screen tray and scrubbed it with a scrub brush in running water before tumbling. And added a little water to control dust. Tumbling as-is and dry makes too much noxious dust.

5 lbs done, 995 lbs to go ....
 
California,

NOw that you have tumbled some, Could you acheive the same results spinning an old car tire or something or how about that cement mixer aproach for bulk cleaning
 
shinnlinger said:
Could you acheive the same results spinning an old car tire or something or how about that cement mixer aproach for bulk cleaning
Click to expand...
Watching this run, its obvious that the high frequency vibration has the objects hammering against one another. I think a cement mixer would be the same but slower. If you loaded sharp stones with the bolts that might help some.

I think a slow tumbler like a mounted tire would take forever to attain the same number of impacts that this machine provides.

The manual lists abrasive-coated plastic beads for fast cutting, and abrasive coated sponges for a fine polish. For what I'm doing, I think the hex shaped nuts jumping around are all it needs. I might try cutting up some sanding sponges if I ever want to polish something.

Walnut shells are another listed abrasive. I tried them with a single tool that had an oxidized, galvanized finish. That accomplished nothing after 20 minutes running.

This is going to take a little experimentation to find the best results.
 
Many years ago before navel jelly and electrolysis and sonic cleaning were popular most of us old folks only method available was to soak things like your nuts and bolts in coco-cola for a day or to!! WORKS!
 
California, you started a good thread........lot's of good information here. Good job!
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Nica
 
Thanks! I have run several more batches now. I like how the tumbler works. It is the right solution.
 
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