Vinegar & Citric Acid Rust Removal Questions ?

[Prashun Patel]

I've used citric acid in as strong a solution as 25%. Etching becomes an issue with prolonged soaking. If take the piece out every 20 mins or so and scrub it, you'll know when you can stop.

The other great way to remove rust is mechanically: I chuck a fine wire cup brush in my drill press (or lathe) and then buff the oxidation and residual rust off. This works great on screws. Just wear heavy gloves.

[Jim Koepke]

The other great way to remove rust is mechanically: I chuck a fine wire cup brush in my drill press (or lathe) and then buff the oxidation and residual rust off. This works great on screws. Just wear heavy gloves.

And don't forget the eye protection.

jtk

[Jacob Nothstine]

I just stared using Simple Green and like it a lot. It's safe and works great. Here is a good web link.
http://www.wkfinetools.com/contrib/C...awPlate-01.asp

[Mark Wyatt]

Over the last few years I've had reason to take the rust off many old tools. For heavy rust, I prefer citric acid as a chemical remover. The primary reasons are cost and flexibility. Citric acid powder can be purchased very cheaply from any homebrew supply location. A Google search for homebrew supplies will lead you to multiple websites where the powder can be purchased for $4-$5 per pound. That will easily make 10 gallons of solution. The powder is easy to store. The powder allows one to make different concentration of solution based on need. The acid is very gentle on paint, although a long enough soak (like a week) will begin to remove the paint. One advantage of this approach over mechanical removal is that it will get into hard to reach places.

The acid does leave a residue which must be cleaned off. On the large surface of a full saw plate, this cleaning does take some time. Also, the raw metal will need to be quickly covered with a protective coat of some fashion or will quickly rust. Some other disadvantages of the acid learned from experience: items left to soak multiple days will begin to form crystal deposits from the citric acid which are harmful and difficult to clean. Solution left exposed for 4-5 days will begin to mold.

[Roy Griggs]

I use C/A almost exclusively for derusting. Several yrs. experience boiled down to cheapest/easiest least problems (for me) YMMV. I found that I can buy my C/A from a local industrial chemical supplier (Brainerd Chemical) in 8# tubs for about $25. With that amount I can make at least 16 gallons of derusting solution. Yes, I agree electro zapping is cheaper....but I find my C/A setup easier to use. C/A will clean the rust off a saw and a quick buff with a scotchbrite (I use green pads) will remove the gray residue, but it will not remove the stains which darken the saws.
I think that Wiktor still has a link on wkfinetools to my plane cleaning 101 for a short tutorial on doin' planes with C/A.

[Bill Houghton]

I use white vinegar (easy to find, easy to dispose of). For me, in order of your questions:

24 hours or so (not rigid, depends somewhat on the level of rust).
Pretty well.
No.

Immediately after removing the tools/tool parts from the vinegar, I rinse them thoroughly in running water to remove/neutralize the vinegar, then hit them hard with WD-40 to neutralize the water. Leaving out either of these steps sets the tool up for new rust, in my experience.

I've found long sheetrock mud pans (cheap plastic ones at any big boxy store) will accommodate planes up to jack plane length. If I had a No. 6, 7 or 8, I'd look at wallpaper soaking trays. I also made a vertical soaker from ABS pipe - pipe, with a cap glued on the end - for soaking long, thin stuff like bench rules. For small stuff, like block planes, I cut the top off one of the clumping kitty litter jugs that we had lots of when our kitties were the dominant life form in the house, although the mud pan works fine for that, too; I'm just cheap and look for containers that will hold the tool with no excess space that I have to fill with vinegar.

Vinegar's not terribly good at removing dead spiders and grease, so do that kind of cleanup first. Also, remove flaky rust physically - wire brush, single-edge razor - let the vinegar get down to the base faster.

Like all rust removal techniques, this cleans up a tool - it won't magically restore metal that's gone. But you probably know that already.

• how long to soak ?
• how well does it work ?
• any before & after pics ?

[ray hampton]

vinegar will dissolve some water-based paint which got no business being on steel tools any way

[Jason Aldridge]

I tried soaking some 10" saw blades today for a few hours. Scrubbed with a brass brush rinsed the residue off and realized all of the labeling had come right off. It's a Forrest WoodWorker I, an older one but still surprised me.

[Christian Castillo]

+1 for electrolysis, after the initial set up, its cheap, easy, and very clean.

[Phil Mueller]

I use electrolysis also for larger items. I tend to leave it over night.

However, in the future I'll check it more often and pull it when it appears that most rust is gone.
Overnight will leave the piece absolutely rust free, but pretty black which then needs a Scotchbrite or even more aggressive steel wool to remove the black and make it shine.

Small nuts/bolts, etc, I soak over night in apple cider vinegar, then clean with a brass brush and shine with a Scotchbrite pad.

[steven c newman]

Just tried the Vinegar Soak, for about half a day. All I had to soak stuff in was a cut down 1 gallon milk jug, meant I had to "rotate" stuff now and then. The "before"
bits.jpg
Mainly those drill bits, also had a couple pliers, and a few files. If a part stuck above the surface, it got a WD40 bath. After awhile, poured the mess out onto some weeds I wanted to kill. Dusted things with some baking soda....MEH, just clumped up
Took the treasures down to the shop, and had a wire wheel in the drill press....
IMAG0121.jpg
Drills and files and a couple clamps after the wire wheel got rid of the black crud left behind, as for the pliers
IMAG0122.jpg
Not too bad. This was my first time with Vinegar Soak. Need a better tub to soak stuff in. had a tub from a hospital stay......the dog is using it as a water bowl.....drat.

Not really set up for the electro stuff. Can't really afford a gallon of evaporust. Vinegar around here is cheap. May try it again, next time I have a bunch of stuff to clean...

[Phil Mueller]

Steven, if you do want to try electrolysis someday, it really only requires a tub, a 6-12 volt battery charger, a box of Arm & Hammer washing soda and a piece of scrap metal. The "waste" solution can be reused, or even tossed in the lawn.
The down side is each piece you want to de-rust needs to be connected to the negative lead...so in your case with lots of small parts, the vinegar soak is really an easier way to go.
Where it made sense was an old Wilton vise I had. Threw the whole thing in the bath...took the rust out of most every nook and cranny and loosed up some pretty stubborn nuts and bolts.

[Stanley Covington]

Anyone used toilet bowl cleaner before? Chris Schwarz wrote a blurb in Popular Woodworking about using it for rust removal on hardware in Jan 2013. A chemist friend warned me that it is based on hydrochloric acid, a chemical that binds with iron and cannot be neutralised and will continue to cause rust unless the metal it infests is entirely removed. Is it true?

Stan

[Jonathan Martell]

I haven't tried the toilet bowl cleaner. Walmart sells citric acid powder in the canning section for those that are interested. I haven't tried electrolysis yet, but it seems like a good way to go for most larger items.

[Pat Barry]

I have had good success using a cleaner called Iron Out. Its a powder that you add to water. It did a nice job of removing rust staining from porcelain surfaces (sink, toilet) but it needs time to work so submerging the parts should be easy in a small bucket. I don't know what the ingredients are