Simple rust removal technique for hand tools and small metal items using a battery charger. Find lots more woodworking information from the world's leading woodworking magazine at www.woodmagazine.com/
You can make your own Washing Soda too. Washing Soda (Na2CO3) is just Baking Soda (NaHCO2) that has had it's Carbon Dioxide (co2) heated away. The reason cooks use Baking Soda in baking is that during the heating process the Soda releases it's co2 which helps give baked goods that light and fluffy texture. Anyway, you can spread your Baking Soda (sodium bicarbonate) out in a baking pan place it in a 400 degree oven for an hour and you'll have Washing Soda (sodium carbonate).
Thank you for such a clear explanation on how to restore vintage pieces. It's been many decades since learning this in high school chemistry class, so your details (none the least being safety) are much appreciated.
After watching the video advert i was still skeptical. But when i finally downloaded the plans ru-vid.comUgkxZF0EMnrujZvqHhGkxiz559uIABJWR9TG i was very impressed. The whole plan was just as you said in the video. Thank you very much. I now have a large and valuable collection for my woodworks. This is great!
One point on using rebar as an anode.It usually has a scale coating from manufacturing that needs to be wire-wheeled off to perform at it's best.Also,for that large of a tank and using 4 anodes,the 10 amp would work better.Lastly,put about a cup of regular baking soda in that large a tank will help alot,and a little TSP(trisodiumphosphate)helps make the black slime easier to remove from the parts.Hope this helps!
Definite 'like' as well as great appreciation. Zero click bait with fully detailed information. An unfortunate rarity. Thanks for getting to the point and sticking to it 👍!!
Suggestion: Put a couple notches (dados) on the bottom of the wood "plank" to catch the edges of the tub. Serves a couple purposes: Keeps the wood from getting knocked into the tub. Also helps reinforce the thin tub walls against the pressure from the water.
A few years ago I restored a full set of Bedrock planes. I carefully and relentlessly looked for Bedrock rusty junk parts until I had all the parts needed. I electrolysed everything, ensured the iron was fully dried (it IS porous), re japanned with the real japan (not paint) and replaced totes and knobs with new ones to exact dimensions made from rosewood. The only thing not made by Stanley, apart from totes and knobs, are the Hock cutters. The set (#602 through #608) is in regular bench use and are awesome. If you use this electrolysis process on cast iron I do recommend some time in a warm electric oven (not gas) to thoroughly dry the iron. You don’t want moisture trapped in the pores and then Japan over it. I used washing soda just like this video suggests and a 12 volt battery charger. I live in Houston and in the summer I laid a 12 volt computer cooling fan on top of the charger just to help the cooling along by sucking air up through the charger. Worked great. There is real satisfaction bringing a set of planes back to full productive life.
Thank you for your video, I didn't realise about the chromium leeching from stainless, didn't even consider it. you've helped me be a little more environmentally conscious and probably helped my health.
Great video! Most of the videos I have watched on this are fifteen or more minutes long and are filled with questionable information. There are some good ones, but this is the best by far. Thank you for clear and direct presentation and cautions. Earned a sub!!!
Just in case you are checking your site I thought you might like to know I copied your setup exactly. I even found the plastic tub at Home Depot and it is exactly like yours It works great. Thanks for the information.
Great video!! When i saw this technique about remove the rust from the metals, i tried in my home. I have and old water pump and was rusty so i tried to remove it from the water pump and i left to work out 12 hours until the next day! In the morning, i umpluged the electricity from the tank and see hows going the water pump! After that i brushed it with an metal brush and remove the last rust with bunch of water! The result was amazing! It cleans everything on that water pump and i painted first with anti rust paint and then i painted with black! Im really proud to find out a good technique that take the rust from the metal!! Im using this technique each time that i need it!!
I copied this setup to remove rust from a Revolutionary War era stirrup I found while metal detecting. Worked great! Thanks for the easy to follow instructions!
Thanks to this video, I successfully de-rusted many of my things. This works perfectly and includes excellent tips. BUT - I HAVE A TIP. This video shows the metal objects suspended in the water, but this is not necessary. The tub is plastic, thus non-conductive. I had some heavy components that I laid on the bottom. Just because, I laid them so they were not completely 'flat' on the bottom (I tipped them with a scrap piece of wood). Those components were wired. Then on top of the big pieces, I placed loads of rusty miscellaneous pieces, even rusty allen wrenches and drill bits. Because all of the pieces were touching each other, current flowed through all of the components and all of them were de-rusted. The only requirement is to make sure the center "pile" is below the water line and not touching any of the positive anodes. I would imagine that if one were to do this regularly, it would be possible to create a steel grid to lay on the bottom and have that wired, then lay objects on top of the grid. Note: I believe this works better than Evaporust. Evapo will score polished surfaces, whereas this process will not.
I believe suspending is more for easy removal of the piece? I haven't tried this yet so I'm just guessing. Pretty sure you're right about the wired grid, think I saw a video somewhere of a commercial set-up like that. You're "pile" method sounds like it works well for multiple items. Thanks for the tips.
If I'm doing a large piece that can't be fully submerged, is there any reason why the part couldn't be partially submerged and when completed, flipped and done again?
@@joshoooway I see no reason why not. Submerging area(s) common to two or more sessions should not have a negative result, but there might be the possibility of "water lines". If this idea helps, note that you can make your own tub using large sheet plastic with the sides supported by a frame or walls or objects of some type.
thank you so so much after about a year, I've finally gathered all the gear necessary to make my own eletrolisys tank and it work, solely because of your assembling guide you sir is a godsend
Easy way to remember is the part turns the same colour as the electrical point. Sacrificial anode (red) creates red rust. Cathode (black) turns conected part black (which is what you want).
As the video says, this process has the same danger as charging a lead acid battery in a closed environment. The explosion can be quite spectacular, as a friend found out to his cost when he got acid sprayed all over his face. Great point about the hexavalent chromium, also.
Modern battery chargers require a 12-volt battery turn on. A cart or car battery is placed in parallel with the charger. Also a product like Pickles 20 used after the electrolysis tank will remove any fine rust and provide a coating to prevent flash rusting.
Thanks for the video. made it just like your instructions. Did a great job of removing very thick rust. the only thing I wasn't sure of was the water temp. I used warm water since i was working out side and it was pretty chilly.
Thank you for another great video! I do try to watch a couple different videos before I try a un familiar build. Sometimes using different methods to work with what I have/need. These differences are usually obvious to me. Since I'm no scientist I hoped you could help me save trial-and-error time and tell me what solution to use since I have seen the tank filled with a part distilled Malt vinegar, salt and then mostly water. Why vinegar? why salt? Or why not? Which is most effective? I know salt will help to cunduct electricity but that is about the extent of of what I get. I like 100% of this build & will just scaled-down & go with what you have done. What do I fill it with to get the job done best? Thanks for your help & to all who help by commenting on my question.
Thanks for this video! I made one almost exactly like yours and it works great! Been using it to refurbish a very old, very rusty bench vice. It also removes paint with the rust which is great for my application. What I found with this setup is that the cathodes (iron bars) builds up a layer of gunk that decreases the conductivity. Every 8 hours or so I have to use a metal brush to clean the cathodes. My power supply pulls 5A at 12V for big items. Drops to 1A with gunk build up.
Hi. Great informal video. Also wondered how it was done and you make it look so simple.. Probably a dumb question... will this also work on pitted spanners and sockets?... im not sure if the shiny appearance to these tools are a coating or not and therefore will it affect the solution etc etc. Apologies for my ignorance. Thanks
Thanks to this video I am in the process of restoring not one but two cast iron dutch ovens with lids. It will no doubt take awhile since the rust is thick as they have been in the weather for years. I found this video to "demystify" the electrolysis process and the tank construction easy to follow. My 32 gal tank with 24 gallons of water is working and bubbling as I write. The toughest part is the wait for the results. I like the idea of multiple anodes.
Hey sir, what a great job you have done showing us how to build an electrolysis tank. I do have one question for you though the only wire that I could find to hang my project from inside the tank is galvanized steel picture hanging wire. Is there any problem with doing this? Many regards, Rusty Walker.
Hi Russell, I'm currently trying to do this 2 years later and ran into the same question (still can't find the answer), did you ever get an answer about what wire to use and where to buy it?
Thanks for the information. does the wire go all the way around on the iron rods , or go on like a u shape?. and the channel that sent me here . he said that you use a lot of amp's you use only 2 amps?. I'm going to try this as soon as i can . thanks.
That’s amazing. I looked this up to remove rust from the exact hand plane you have in the video. There’s no markings on mine. Can you tell me the model of your plane? Paul
Can the wire used to suspend the object be galvanized wire? Will it give off any toxins or cause the object being derusted to be coated with a thin coat of zinc?
Very well presented the other video's do not talk about the test lead connections I forgot which lead you attached to your rusted object. very nice job Dave
It's perfectly safe to use Stainless steel in this set up... so long as the SS is connected to the Cathode (negative) side. Hexavalent Chromium is basically an oxidized form of Chromium. What's happening in that electrolysis bath is that the Anode is attracting the oxidation while you are getting a reduction at the Cathode. If you have the SS as the anode then you are oxidizing it, creating HexChrome.... but It's impossible to create HexChrome through reduction on SS at the Cathode side. So just make sure you don't use Stainless for the Anode and you are safe.
Thanks for that info about the Stainless! I looked at several other videos about this process, but None of them warned about SS hexa-whatever leaching out, much less about the cathod vs. annode sides! In fact, one site actually said that he was using SS wire in his process! I had begun my rust removal, using SS wire on both sides, and then to confirm I was doing it right..., I stumbled onto this video advising against using SS, one hour after beginning it. I stopped the process immediately and washed all of the parts, and restrung them with baleing wire..., and washed my hands quickly. I wish I had had the brains to take chemistry, way back in school! My math skills weren't up to the task! Thank you both again!
Also wanted to know, since I realize now that galvanized steel would start to break down when submerged, what kind of cathode wire did you use? The only non-galvanized steel options I've found online to buy have been annealed steel and high carbon steel. Is there any specific type of steel you would recommend that would be able to be submerged a bit when holding nuts and bolts?
It should. A buddy just got into motorcycle parts salvaging and he swears by this method. Until I saw this video I'd forgotten about it. I now recall him saying it was super easy with great results. :-)
I had an old timer tell me this process once and couldn't write fast enough as he described it in a Deep South no teeth accent- but he was a wealth of information.
hi..thanks for your video. I learned something new today. .. you're awesome (in case no one told you today.) have a blessed day and much loves. a salaam peace سلام
Ahhh, big box store employees. Know-it-alls who know jackshit and love to share their lack of knowledge with anybody who they think will pay attention. If they had actually had any experience based knowledge, they wouldn't be working for minimum wage in a big box store.
Great video! Many thanks. I have some chromed parts which are rusty, can I use this method? I don't need a high quality finish, I just want to get rid of most of the rust. Will this process remove the chrome from the chromed areas?
After a bit of research, it seems that NOTHING WHICH POTENTIALLY HAS ANY CHROMIUM IN IT WHATSOEVER SHOULD EVER GO NEAR AN ELECTROLYSIS TANK - this includes chromium plate, stainless steel, etc. The reason is that this creates incredibly toxic and dangerous chromium salts. Creating these substances is actually illegal in many places.
