A while back someone was asking about getting the rust off of an older tool. In the middle of the discussion someone else suggested electrolysis as a method of getting rid of the rust. My couriosity was piqued (always wanted to use that word) to say the least. So I found the website they had mentioned and looked at the process.
On the next trip to the grocery store I found a box of washing soda. Called my nephew to get my battery charger back that he had borrowed. And found a piece of old black pipe from a project for my Jeep. Hooked everything up and went in to my workshop to clean up the rest of the plane. I came out to check on the process a couple of times and found that there were indeed bubbled coming up off of the piece that I was ‘restoring.’ After two hours, I pulled the piece out of the now brown water and cleaned it up with a scrubby.
And I just thought I would share a couple of photos with you. Chip1 is the front of the cap iron after electrolysis and Chip1b is before. Chip2 is the back of the cap iron after electrolysis and Chip2b is before.
I tell you the hardest part about it was getting the battery charger back from my nephew, and all that was was to call him up and go get it.
Jay
Replies
I'm impressed.
Soak the rusted pieces in water with baking soda added. Hook up a battery charger to a black iron pipe; positive on one end, negative to what?. Wait a couple of hours. I'm guessing ...negative to metal pan or other end of pipe or? cool trick...
silver
Positive to a scrap piece of iron, the negative to the piece you are restoring. Keep about 2" between the two pieces. Sit and wait..... Pull out the piece you are restoring clean it up in soapy water with a scrubby, and give it a coat of wax. Done.
For more information click here.
Jay
Interesting! Can't wait to try it.
Thanks, silver
Washing soda works better than baking soda, but baking soda does work. An old stainless steel spoon or knife works well for the sacraficial anode, it will last longer. The process works line of sight from the stuff being cleaned to the anode, so position it accordingly.
Stephen Shepherd
Are you saying you can plate stainless onto other types of steel? Cast iron?
Interesting....
Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
No, the stainless steel is sacraficed in the process, it just last longer in the process.
You can only plate elements, gold, silver, tin, etc.
Stephen
Edited 10/18/2002 5:27:12 PM ET by Stephen
22 guage sheet steel will only last about 3 or 4 planes. If you only have one or two planes to do, cut out the bottoms of the larger coffee cans and solder two, or more, of them together, at the ends.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_KatyPlaneWood
Jay -
I do tool restoration, mostly planes. I have several large diameter, thick wall, plastic pipes into which I have inserted large diameter steel pipes to act as the sacrifacial anode. I suspend the planes inside the steel pipes in the baking soda solution. I have a high amperage Variac / Rectifer setup which lets me crank the amperage up to a max of 25 DC amps. The larger planes will take 15+ amps. Smaller ones take between 5 and 10 amps. (it depends on surface area). The water gets to 180+ degrees and will blast everything off of and out of the cast iron (paint included). I run everything 24 hours, minimum. It really works better to surround the object with the anode. If not, the object has to be turned several times as the chemimal actions works mostly where the object faces the anode.
After electrolysis and final cleanup, the planes have to be baked to remove the moisture. Cast iron is porous and will absorb water.
The electrolysis will neutralize and flush out the iron oxide on, and inside, the cast iron. I use rain water as the tap water here is darn near hard as the tools!
If your planning on doing this, then have an plan to deal with the mess! (and your own shop oven) The first time I used the wife's oven, she freaked out.
FWIW!
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy
PlaneWood
I have seen your website, beautiful work. I may be bothering you for a front knob for my Stanley #3 one of these days.
I used, am using a heavy duty battery charger. It has three selections for the amperage, trickle for overnight, 10 amps which I use, and 50 amps for help starting a vehicle. I found that after two hours or so on the cap iron most of the rust had turned black and the water got rusty colored. If I were to leave the tool in longer would more of the rust be converted? Or do you leave the tool in longer because it is cast iron?
I did flip the cap iron around a couple of times so that different sides faced the anode, but the pipe idea sounds cool. (Another trip the the hardware store. It is always fun to watch the face of the sales clerk when you are doing a project of this nature. :) )
I know about the mess, that water is nasty. But, I don't have to worry about the wife and her oven. Just me.
Jay
Jay -
The plastic pipe is 9" inside diameter and the steel pipe is 8.5" inside diameter. Not something you generally find in a hardware store. I got the steel pipe at a junk yard and the plastic pipe at a construction site. I hook all the small pieces together with a wire and drop them all in together. Everything gets 24 hrs or more. I have a timer that I set for 24 hrs.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_KatyPlaneWood
Mike and Jay,
You can also surround the object to be restored by a circle of steel pipes, all wired together as the sacrifical electrode. The current requirement depends not only on the surface to be cleaned, but the distance between the object and the (extended) electrode. If you get them real close, you don't need as much power and the process is faster. But if you get too close, you run the risk of a short. That's what makes using a commercial battery charger/replacement a good idea, because they generally have electronic circuitry (other than just a mechanical breaker) to prevent current overloads.
Rich
Good point Rich. I have a screw in type fuse in my setup.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_KatyPlaneWood
for curiosity sake, could a stick welder set to DC current work for this process?
Bill,
What's its voltage and current capability at DC?
Rich
if im looking at the specs right, the output is max of 80volts with 30-160amp output. Input is 230v
Bill,
1. Yes it would work. Extremely well.
2. It would be dangerous to use.
The methods described so far use 12 volts - relatively safe to be around. Not enough voltage to drive any current through the body should you come in contact with an electrode or the electrolyte solution.
But 80 volts is enough to drive significant current, and the supply is "stiff" enough to deliver massive current across a low resistance connection like a wet hand.
If you use it, be very careful. Wear insulating gloves, at least.
Rich
thanks, it was a more a inquiry then an actual use. Ill stick with using a welder for welding then a cleaning machine :)
since the duty cycle ratings might be exceeded on some machines i doubt prolonged use could occur without extensive cooling
I always have my units turned off when checking the tank. I even unplug the power cord. I never touch the tank, the water, or anything else with the units in operation. I got bit once. You need to realize that when going through a transformer, that it acts to isolate the ground line too. i.e. - the output ain't grounded till you touch it!
I have volt meters hooked up to my units. 20V DC is about the most I have ever run. The big planes will draw 15+ amps at lower voltage. For the smaller planes I will crank the voltage up to get the current I want.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_KatyPlaneWood
You can also surround the object to be restored by a circle of steel pipes
This would lead me to believe that one could take a piece of sheet metal bent 'round the piece to be restored and accomplish the same thing?
Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
Dennis,
I don't see why not. The object is to get the current field as uniform as possible around the object being restored. Sheet metal would probably develop holes in it as it is consumed. Since the electrolyte solution becomes very murky very quickly, it might be a good idea to stop the current from time to time and pull the sheet metal to check it.
Rich
FWIW, I have been using pieces of perforated stainless steel sheet with great results. Don't know if the perforations play any role, but the perforated material is what I happened to have on hand. Stainless seems to have a couple of major advantages over plain steel though: the water stays much cleaner (none of that nasty brown gunk), and the stainless seems to last forever. The sheet that I have been using is about 22-20GA, and it has lasted through maybe 10 uses without any sign of wear. I usually crank up the current to 10A, and it only takes 2-3 hours. This could be why I get better mileage compared to Mike's 15A 24-hour sessions. My aim is to leave the japanning intact, where Mike I believe tries to strip the piece completely.
Rick
That's pretty interesting, Rick. I've got several pieces of 16ga stainless coping scrounged as scrap stuff off a construction project. I've also got quite a few things (iron & steel) lying around that could use a new finish.
Another interesting project to explore!
Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
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