Tool rust advice

[violins88]

Hurricane Florence brought 10 inches of water into my shop. Now I am trying to renew rusted tools. Must I grind All the pits of rust completely  away? Does treatment with alcohol help? No, I don’t mean treating ME with alcohol LOL.  

Next time the tools will be on higher ground.

 

john

[Guido]

If it's more than what you can brush off with a soft wire brush and steel wool, a bath over night in vinegar might help. I've done that with various rusty parts, but not with tools before.

[MANFIO]

From FINEWOODWORKING magazine:

https://www.finewoodworking.com/2014/06/05/salt-and-vinegar-natures-rust-remover

[arglebargle]

For rust spots I've used naval jelly, followed by sanding, followed by glidecote. This stuff seems to work well and supposedly won't get into the wood. So far so good.

Good luck!

[Thomas Coleman]

I've also used naval jelly with good results.  Sorry to hear that John.  Good luck.

[saintjohnbarleycorn]

bummer!

 

[Julian Cossmann Cooke]

3 hours ago, violins88 said:

Hurricane Florence brought 10 inches of water into my shop. Now I am trying to renew rusted tools. Must I grind All the pits of rust completely  away? Does treatment with alcohol help? No, I don’t mean treating ME with alcohol LOL.  

Next time the tools will be on higher ground.

 

john

Hope all else is well, John.  No doubt rusty tools was not the only ill-effect of the storm on your operation.  In the Light, Friend.

[violins88]

Guys, thanks to all

[Marijan Radaljac]

4 hours ago, violins88 said:

Hurricane Florence brought 10 inches of water into my shop. Now I am trying to renew rusted tools. Must I grind All the pits of rust completely  away? Does treatment with alcohol help? No, I don’t mean treating ME with alcohol LOL.  

Next time the tools will be on higher ground.

 

john

Apple cider vinegar is the way to go, better than white in my expirience. 24 hours bath should do the trick, since the most of the rust should still be just surface rust? 

I just finished the restoration of old Record No.3 and Stanley No.5 1/2, and cider vinegar woked as a charm in comparation with some expensive comercial removers. 

 Rinse the tools in water with brass wire brush and dry them out, Protect them with something like 3 in 1 oil or wd40 and leave it in dry place. Clean wel before use.

[MikeC]

steel will dissolve in vinegar if you leave it in there long enough

[James M. Jones]

Ouch , sorry John, in my experience with metal ,Vinegar works a wonder , but depending on how much rust there is sometimes only an hour or two is all it takes,it will eat into good metal if left longer than needed. most important is to neutralize in a solution of baking soda and water, or it will rust again , I dry my stuff in a oven set below the temper point as well 150f ish  Jim mentioned naval Jelly , works good maybe less aggressive on bare metal as well. One nice trick I learned with guns , a copper penny, softer than iron , harder than rust , a vigorous rubbing will float the rust off, leaving the steel un touched.particularly useful to help preserve whatever is left of precision surfaces like plane soles , straight edges , ect.   Stay away from sanding , on those surfaces that need to be straight and true. 

[Bill Yacey]

Electrolysis:Electrolysis

[edi malinaric]

Hi All - I have tabled this several times before - once more can't hurt.

TO PREVENT RUSTING

THE MIXTURE - a 50/50 mix of turpentine oil and linseed oil.

THE METHOD - apply liberally, rubbing it well over the part - making sure that all surfaces are wetted. Leave for about 10 minutes or so and then remove all traces of the mixture using paper towels. Wait about 24 hours or longer before using the "whatever".

I stumbled over this completely by accident. I had been taught how to finish gunstocks by a friend who'd served his apprenticeship at Holland & Holland. "That mixture" was the basis of a hand-rubbed London Oiled Finish.

One evening I was preparing a Webley revolver for hot blueing and was also working on a walnut rifle stock.

The call to supper intervened and I placed the revolver parts up on a shelf and the wooden stock in a corner.

Some days later I returned to the job and was horrified to find that my mirror finish on the cylinder of the revolver was now a delightful light brown coating of rust! All except for some perfectly still shiny fingerprints! Apparently my fingers had transferred some of the mixture onto the steel.

Since then I have using "the mixture" to protect all sorts of steel "whatevers" from rusting with total success. I can't tell you how long it's good for - a set of chisels is still as shiny as when I coated them some 40 - 45 years ago. Let's just call it a "test still in progress"

cheers edi

 

[MarkBouquet]

I've used a "fine" rotary wire brush for years to clean, and somewhat to polish out rust on tools. It's important to break the wheel in on scrap metal to dull it slightly before use on a fine tool. And commercial phosphoric acid spray rust remover works well for me.

And incidentally, here's an old Stanley "Everlasting" chisel that I acquired at an estate sale years ago. It was badly rusted. I flattened and polished the bottom, but wire brushed and then buffer polished the top surfaces, and this is the beautiful (I think) result. I wouldn't have it any other way.

[Bill Yacey]

The electrolysis is really the least  "invasive" method of cleaning up tools. Any  mechanical removal or acid etching is removing material unnecessarily.

[uguntde]

Vinegar will cause a disatser for some metals, please be vareful. Phoshoric acid works. I would get car rust remover.