I recently was gifted a bunch of old Craftsman sockets. They were in good shape but very greasy inside. Too cold out to pressure wash them clean. I used Oil Eater to degrease in hot water contained in and old plastic jar. Every few hours shake the jar to agitate the sockets. A few days later done rinsing and they turned out super clean. Due to a few rusty edges off to the Evaporust for final cleaning. Thanks for the great videos. Irish Mike.
I've used vinegar in the past, but I found that the metal tends to flash rust very quickly after rinsing. I haven't had that happen with the Evaporust. I like the Evaporust for intricate parts with areas that I can't get into to wire brush really well.
357magdad you nailed it on the head. If you don’t rinse with baking soda and water, and dry immediately, you will get flash rust. If you only rinse with water, you risk the rust coming back with a vengeance. Doesn’t happen with the evaporators and the blocker caps it off. Thanks!
Hey Magdad, will a fine wire wheel take the chrome off? Should I just de rust and polish by hand? I use a wire wheel on damn near everything that’s why I ask. Thanks.
When warranted, I use 30% (industrial strength) vinegar for faster rust removal. The suggestions on techniques to avoid flash rust are great. What grease do you recommend when reassembling the ratchets? In your experience, how long does a bucket of Evap-o-Rust remain effective?
The J H Williams is made in Buffalo NY they are owned by Snap On now. You need a special spanner wrench to take it apart l sold Williams and Vulcan tools in Buffalo
What about acetate handles? I have some screwdrivers I need to take a bit of rust off, but I'm worried the Evaporust will either mess up the handles, or just make it gross.
Great video. I think the Williams ratchet needs a spanner or similar tools to put into the two holes and spin it apart. The garage journal has several good posts with pictures of them apart.
Williams ratchets like that are easily disassembled. Clamp the body of the ratchet in a vise, drive side up. Insert a small pin punch in the hole and tap counterclockwise, and the cover should unscrew easily.
I brass wire wheel them, then put in "Evaporust" to get into the deep pits, then brass wheel again. Vinegar just does not work for me. If the finish is not too rough, I buff them, decrease them, and nickel plate them, easy simple, and safe unlike chrome plating. Buy all my tools from garage, yard, or auction sales, need more took box's.
I am interested in that adjustable wrench you had in the video but did nothing with. I have a hand me down one of those I would like to restore but have no info on brand, age, etc. Being a hand me down I am more interested in preserving than restoring but if you have a video with what you did with that, would love to see it.
I have a leatherman super tool soaking in evapo rust right now. I left it over night.. I've scrubbed it a couple times and rinsed it then put it back in the evapo rust. I don't have an air compressor or pressure washer so what do you think would be the best way to blow out all the wet loose rust in the joints?? Like between the different tools and in the joints of the pliers. Just run it under the tub focet or something since that water comes out faster? Any help is greatly appreciated
I was hoping your show some footage of the wood handle monkey wrench at the top. I have one like that, it belonged to my grandfather, to my dad and now I have it. I’m deathly a scared to even attempt a clean up on it for fear of ruining the wood. Any suggestions?
Heat up the Evapo-rust and the part you want to treat so they are warm to touch. It will remove the rust within 20 minutes and will leave the metal so it needs hardly any cleaning. I pour very hot water over the metal object to clean and leave it on a cloth. It will be dry and hot to touch within a minute. Spray with oil before it flash rusts. Doing it all from cold is nowhere near as good or as fast.
I have found Westleys Bleche-Wite tire cleaner to be an excellent degreaser, the PH of it is high so it helps neutralize the acid and clean , just spray and wire brush the tool after acid treatment. if the ratchet has old caked on grease or dirt, soak it in some solvent first, little bit of gasoline maybe, yea its not ideal but it works if you have nothing else. Solvent then bleche whit and wire brush is sometimes all I need on lightly rusted tools.
I know this is an old video but so glad I found your channel. Single female who doesn’t know that much about tools but always been interested. I inherited a barn full of old tools, mostly craftsman, covered in dirt and not used in years. Brought them all in my house to try to clean (along with giant brown spiders). Headed to Lowe’s now hoping to find the capo rust. Lots of craftsman power tools that had batteries. Have the chargers and tools look like they’re barely used. Is it worth looking for replacement batteries?
Probably depends on the age of the tools as far as the batteries go. They can sometimes be refurbished. Google up some rechargeable battery firms and get in touch with them. Sometimes it is worth the effort, sometimes not.
If you have rust under the paint you will lose some. You can always sand or wire wheel it and go back with Duplo black engine paint and bake it in. Wife love it when I bake a plane in the oven.