Normally I use electrolysis to remove rust from old planes which have more rust than I’m willing to scrub off with wd-40 and a scotchbrite pad. I ran across this website yesterday, where this fellow uses citric acid to do the same job, and (from the pictures) it seems to work pretty well. I searched the forums and found nothing, so I thought I’d ask. Has anyone tried the method?
http://www.oldtoolsshop.com/inTheShop/reTools/planeCleaning/index.asp
Replies
Looks interesting, I have never heard of it before. I wonder if the citric acid is anything special or just a bottle of lemon juice?
I found a pound of "citric acid" crystals on ebay for four bucks. Says they're for removing rust from cans. Might have to give this a shot.
If you do, post back with how it works1 - measure the board twice, 2 - cut it once, 3 - measure the space where it is supposed to go 4 - get a new board and go back to step 1
Another source is your local drugstore- This stuff (citric acid) works by turning the iron ion in rust into a complex water soluble ion. We use it in boilermaking to powerwash new and old boiler tubes prior to repairs-cleans the iron oxide & scale right now!
In the "Storage Bin" section on this site he has a FAQ section on citric acid.
-Chuck
For the help of anyone else as dense as me, and is possibly searching Knots and the old knots, the FAQ on the citric acid is here:
http://www.oldtoolsshop.com/zpdf/citricAcid/RemovingRust-CitricAcid-ne.pdf
I'll give this a whirl, but it'll take a few weeks before I have any results. Thanks for the help everyone.
Bepperb,
I apologize. I should have worded my reply differently.
I put a rusty razor blade inside my acrylic pyramid back in 1983 and its still rusty.........:>(
Turn it 90 degrees every week for 1 month, then 45 degrees every two weeks. It'll still be rusty but it won't look the same.I thought they were supposed to sit on top of the pyramid.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
turn the pyramid or the razor..? and it won't stay on the top,...it kept falling off
.
.I don't think the pyramid is aligned, I put a rotten apple in there once and it gave birth to some flies
Got any gum?
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
:)
There are a few methods, the electrolsis you use, molasis, citric acid, and neat vinegar. I've used vinegar to do pretty much the same as in the link. To those who are wondering, I'm told citric acid is in most supermakets down the cooking stuff aisle (I know it's not with the beer or I would have seen it).
With the vinegar method keep an eye on the parts & start with someting that doesn't matter to get a feel for the time required to remove a given amount of rust. Start with a few hours for light corrosion to overnight for heavier. I use a preseving jar for smaller peices, a bucket for larger & I attach the parts to a wire hooked over the rim to enable easy checking of the process. After the vinegar cycle rinse with water & buff with stainless steel or acrylic scourer & dry without delay (either hair dryer or heat gun). I usually then wipe down the pieces with CRC 5.56.
Cap the vinegar & leave for the next job. (The vinegar doesn't go off but the rust residue will collect at the bottom gradually reducing the capacity of the container).
It doesn't tend to affect painted or japaned surfaces but I wouldn't drop a favourite old bedrock in it for a week:-).
I found a company in Richardson Texas ( Hombrew Headquarters) that has the Citric Acid in powder form for 3.95 a lb. I used 1 cup of citric acid to a gallon of hot water in a plastic bucket. I had some pretty rusty irons and a plane that had a lot of rust on them and I let them soak for about 45 minutes. When they were in the solution for about 20 minutes I took scotchbrite and did a light scrubbing on them. I was happy with the results, most of the rust was removed but I will still do a little bit more with a scotchbrite wheel to get off some of the stubborn rust the next time and I will let it stay longer in the solution. It did not affect the paint any and it was an easy process that I will do again.
Mike
Here's another option, called EvapoRust.
Their web site is horrible, so I won't even waste your time. Here's a company that sells bottles, gallons and wipes. I think they now make a clean-up solution for aluminum also.
I think you can find Evapo-Rust in AutoZone stores now if you want to try a smaller quantity.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Well I got the citric acid, and it works ~ish. It's not quite as fast as electrolysis. I put one whole pound of the powder into about four gallons of water. Maybe I could have used more, but this much took a few hours to dissolve.
It did remove the rust, and did nothing to the japanning. It would seem to me, though, that I'd have to leave most stuff in this solution overnight at least, compared to 30-60 minutes with the battery charger. (I tend to find things that are really rusty, and I tend to completely overload my charger to the point I can hear it humm upstairs) I'm sure I'll use it on at least one more plane before I write the experiment off completely. Maybe another use will pop up for this stuff, not sure.
Thanks all for your help, or at least your lighthearted take on another lame attempt at avoiding scrubbing rust off something really old.
I used about 1/4 lb in 1/2 gal of warm water and it did a pretty nice job, so I think your solution may be diluted too much. Since I was using citric acid for the first time, I wanted to see how fast it worked and overnight, it took a little effort and Scotch Brite for metal and some of the parts looked very new. I just picked up another #7 (low knob) and a #6C that had been painted black very recently (paint is still soft) and am in the process of stripping the totes and knobs, as I type this. The #7 japanning is pretty rough and the frog isn't original, but I think it'll turn out nicely. The #6C is going to be stripped of the paint and I'll see how the japanning is before I proceed further. Unfortunately, whoever had these assembled them from various parts and there are mixed frogs, irons and chipbreakers, missing frog adjuster screws, etc. OTOH, I went into this antique store for the first time today and after looking at the planes, I noticed the sign on the shelf that said everything in the booth was 50% off. I had to buy them.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
I'm curious as to how fast the electrolysis would work if you use the citric acid instead of the usual washing soda. Would you give it a try with some scrap steel and let us know?
Not sure it would work with the citric acid- the baking or washing soda/water is a basic solution and this affects the conductivity and electrolytic action, which is different from a normal chemical reaction (citric acid/iron oxide). If you try it, I think outside would be better than inside- the citric acid smells bad enough just from removing rust and I can't imagine it would be any better with current running through it. Wear a face shield and old clothes in case it does something dangerous.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled