Home made rust remover...or was i dreaming

[silverfox]

Found a pair of mole grips that went missing several years ago inthe garden

IIRC i read somewhere that Coca Cola and autobox fluid will clean anything up

Is this an old wives tal as i have just spent 3.00 on some fizz, which i have no intention of drinking!! and is there a ratio to use? and how long shoulds i let them soak?

TIA

Ron


i

[JonL]

Cola is Phosphoric acid, albeit quite weak. Not sure about the autobox fluid.

A quick google says 60mg of acid per 100ml of cola. Rust remover is usually 30% dilution. Quite how we integrate those two facts I don't really know. I don't think they are compatible figures.

[uuu]

HP sauce is my favourite.

Wilf

[mbrown]

I would use the cola neat and leave the rusty metal in it for at least a week. By then you will know if it is likely to work or not.

At worst your molegrips will be sticky with the residual sugar (or is it Diet Coke?!).

Nothing ventured.... all in the spirit of experimental engineering!

Malcolm

[silverfox]

Malcolm

It is sugar free win win!!

[SteveW]

Guys,
Think I read somewhere that a good brew of tea provides the chemistry to convert rust back into a version of iron.

My favourite means of rust removal is the electrolytic method using an old fashioned 12 volt battery charger, a bucket of water with a hand full or two of sugar soap and an electrode. The other electrode is your rusty bit. Get the polarity right and let it rip over night.

Then, next morning simply brush the now soft residue off.

This method will get the rust out off all the crooks and nannies and get you back to nearly bright metal with minimal effort and minimal damage to the rescued piece.

[ettingtonliam]

I have read that molasses is an effective rust remover, but have never been able to find any real molasses here in the UK to try it. I did try black treacle once, thinking it must be like molasses but no, no good at all. And it attracted every wasp for miles around.

[springcrocus]

This is a picture of Alan Stepney's rust removal method.



Regards, Steve

[92220]

We see lots of rust removers that advocate washing off the solution with water, after de-rusting. Bad move!!Water is what causes rust, so washing with water can initiate 'flash rusting', which, on a hot day, can start within minutes!! To prevent 'flash rusting, after washing off whatever de-rusting solution is used, dunk the parts in a tin of I.P.A. (Isopropyl Alcohol). It combines with water and absorbs it off the surface, which can then just be wiped dry with a cloth.

I learned about flash rusting very early on in my loco build. My frames assembly was sandblasted at the place I worked at that time, around about 1973/4, on a day when it had been raining. I was very concerned that within about half an hour, the surface was showing signs for yellowing, with a very fine layer of rust. I didn't want to re-sandblast it so, looking through one of my motor sport magazines, I came across an advert for a rust stabilising primer, guaranteed to work. I bought a can and sprayed a thin coat all over the frame assembly, then the final paint coat. I re-sprayed the frames in around 1995 because I had got the paint colour scheme wrong, but to date, there has been absolutely no trace of rust, anywhere, on any of the steel pieces I have treated this way, since that first time I came across flash rusting. The fact that the Corroless was sprayed over the rust, helped the paint adhesion. The rust is in the surface crystals of the steel, and the Corroless (or possibly some other rust stabilising primer), converts the unstable ferrous oxide (rust) to stable ferric oxide, which is a black crystaline coating that the rust converts to. Rust will generate it's own oxygen, which is essential for rust to form, even when sealed under a layer of paint. Ferric oxide is stable and once formed, doesn't produce oxygen, so doesn't continue corroding the steel. It is also very adherant to the steel surface, so is a good surface to take paint.

Bob.

Bob.

[delaplume]

Soda blasting is good and non-destructive}------- www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rld36m4azk4

[jon38r80]

A solution of salt and vinegar
Oxalic Acid solution (not only cleans rust stains off Oak and similar woods)

[cplmickey]

+1 for the vinegar (but needs to be proper vinegar not non-brewed condiment). Ian

[92220]

Jun 3, 2021 14:50:30 GMT jon38r80 said:

A solution of salt and vinegar
Oxalic Acid solution (not only cleans rust stains off Oak and similar woods)

I used to use oxalic acid in a formula of graffiti remover I made when I had the paint business. The main problem with oxalic acid is that it is classed as a poison. That's why I never proceeded with producing it.

Bob. 

[Jim]

A person I knew who specialised in restoring antiques used cold black tea to remove rust from steel. I tried it and it works.

The tannin in the tea turns the rust to a soft black sludge that you then wash off. I left the items, in this case two spanners and a tap valve seat cutter soaking in the

strong black tea solution over night.

Jim.

[norfolkandgood]

Jun 5, 2021 7:43:47 GMT 92220 said:

Jun 3, 2021 14:50:30 GMT jon38r80 said:

A solution of salt and vinegar
Oxalic Acid solution (not only cleans rust stains off Oak and similar woods)

I used to use oxalic acid in a formula of graffiti remover I made when I had the paint business. The main problem with oxalic acid is that it is classed as a poison. That's why I never proceeded with producing it.

Bob. 

Rhubarb leaves are crammed full of oxalic acid (rendering them poisonous) I wonder if they would yield enough of the stuff to de-rust corroded items?
Guy

[92220]

That's a good point Guy. I hadn't thought of that source of oxalic.

Bob.

[norfolkandgood]

Jun 6, 2021 8:24:36 GMT 92220 said:

That's a good point Guy. I hadn't thought of that source of oxalic.

Bob.

It is high season for rhubarb at the moment, I might experiment with the leaves at the next 'pulling'.
Guy

[don9f]

I don’t know if this is still the case, but back in my days at the loco depot I worked at, Oxalic Acid was used in the washing plant to get the brake block dust / grime off the bodywork. (Can’t remember what the other stuff was for fetching the oil off).

Cheers Don

[waggy]

X mover and Jizer favourites at Reddish.

Waggy.

[Gary L]

Jun 6, 2021 17:08:51 GMT norfolkandgood said:

Jun 6, 2021 8:24:36 GMT 92220 said:

That's a good point Guy. I hadn't thought of that source of oxalic.

Bob.

It is high season for rhubarb at the moment, I might experiment with the leaves at the next 'pulling'.
Guy

Hardly seems worth the faff... I got my oxalic from eBay for not much money. It is poisonous, though not quite in the Novichok league. I actually got it for removing black stains in wood, and found it fairly useless... (though I’m still alive!) Some black stains in wood come from iron salts (especially in oak) but most are fungal, so it wasn’t much help for what I needed. Must try it as a rust remover though sometime, otherwise it is just adding to the workshop clutter !

Gary