evapo rust and paint

[mike johnston]

I found an old 1172 delta tenoning jig that has some rust I'd like to remove from the unpainted surfaces. The paint is pretty good and I don't want to mess it up. Will evapo rust hurt the paint?

Thanks Mike

[Doug Trembath]

Mike, I have read here that paint isn't affected, but who knows what can happen in this day of chemicals with the broad base paints are derived from. Someone more experienced will chime in I'm sure.

I will say, however, it sure does work on rust, just like everyone says. It's AMAZING what the iron and steel looks like when the rust is gone, and I do mean gone. I just tried it for the first time this weekend. What a difference it makes.

Back to your question, however, it doesn't seem to affect japanning at all, so...

Doug Trembath

[Ian Scofield]

Didn't mess with the paint on my grizzly tools or the paint on my table saw. Try in an inconspicuous place first and if it doesn't mess with it then proceed with the rest of the project.

[Eric Brown]

Evapo-Rust typically will not effect paint. However, if the rust is under the paint it will lift it off. Same thing for plating. Also, if you leave parts in it for too long (several days) it will start to eat away at the steel somewhat. In addition, when you are done with a project, store the evapo-rust in a sealed container. It will last much longer. After removing a part from evapo-rust, rinse it off with clean water, dry it completely, clean of the blackish residue (I use 3M scratch pads, wire brushes, etc.) and immediately protect the metal with either paint or some other protector (like oil, wax, etc.). The painted areas should be sanded down where any exposed steel is (feather the edges) so fresh paint goes on smoother.

[Michael Ray Smith]

Evapo-Rust typically will not effect paint. . . . . After removing a part from evapo-rust, rinse it off with clean water, dry it completely, clean of the blackish residue (I use 3M scratch pads, wire brushes, etc.) . . .

Use caution with the paint on Millers Falls frogs. I've used both Evapo Rust and citric acid solutions to remove rust, and I had never had any problem with either one of them touching paint until I took some of the paint off the frog of a Millers Falls plane with citric acid. Don't know if the same thing would have happened with Evapo Rust or not -- it's chemically very different from citric acid, so it may be fine, but I made a mental note to myself not to use citric acid on those planes and to test Evapo Rust before I used it. I've just never had another reason to try.

For removing the black residue left behind by rust removers (and for removing rust, too, for that mattter) I really like Sandflex sanding blocks. They have abrasive embeddd in a block of some sort of rubber that's about like a pencil eraser. And like a pencil eraser, the rubber comes off as you use it, exposing fresh abrasive. All that "eraser dust" does make a mess, but they work really well without damaging the metal. They sell coarse, medium, and fine versions. For this application, it probably doesn't make much difference which one you use; it'll go faster with coarse, but any of them will work okay.