Vinegar for derusting

[justwannano]

I've ben using vinegar for derusting for years.
I'd just wire brush what rusty crust would come off and soak it in vinegar.
Sometimes I'd pull the parts out of solution and wire brush some more. Rinse the loose rust and soak again.
It generally works pretty well. Problem with that method is the amount of vinegar needed to submerge parts.
Yesterday I went to a swap meet and bought a half dozen hide stretchers. When I got home and removed the duct tape the seller used to hold them in a bunch I noticed 1 was very rusty at the bottom. I started looking for a container to hold just enough vinegar to submerge the rusty spot and not waste vinegar with a too large container. Not finding anything close I decided to try something I've been wondering about for a while.
I saturated a old dish cloth with vinegar til dripping and wrapped it around the bottom of the stretcher. Then I wrapped the rag with plastic wrap.
Several hours later I unwrapped it to check on the progress if any. Well it loosened some of it but not all. A brisk steel brushing and a quick wipe to remove loose rust and I soaked the rag again and rewrapped it in plastic.
This morning I went out to check it and the rust easily brushed off.
The stretcher is deeply pitted but it will work OK.
So Anyone wanting to remove rust on anything there is another method to try.
BTW You will want to quickly coat the parts with something to prevent rust from reforming. You will notice you don't hardly have time to go take a piss before it starts turning red with fresh rust.


have a good 1
just

[roosterk0031]

Good idea, another way to do it would be lay piece of plastic on grass in level area(sand box would work great). Lay stretcher on plastic, push down & wiggle enought to bed it, then add vinager.

[justwannano]

Good Idea Rooster
I have some rat stretchers that really needed the tops derusted but I couldn't find the right container. I'm trying out Gadget's waxed stretcher method so I just cleaned as much rust off as I could and waxed them.
BTW a quart can of liquid floor wax is about $7.00. A little goes a long ways.

Have a good 1
just

[LLLTrapper]

isn't vinager acidic? I thought that might rust it itself. For stretchers I have had good luck with steel wool or emery cloth. I then rub it with a little lard and they are ready to use. Are these really rusted that bad?

[justwannano]

May 3, 2010 17:10:37 GMT -6 LLLTrapper said:

isn't vinager acidic? I thought that might rust it itself. For stretchers I have had good luck with steel wool or emery cloth. I then rub it with a little lard and they are ready to use. Are these really rusted that bad?

Yeah its acidic. Cleans the rust off down to bare metal if you give it a chance.
But bare non oxidized iron/steel oxidizes/rusts quickly.
Yeah that bad.
Have a good 1
just

[TexA]

The heavier the rust, the longer you leave them in the Vinegar.
I Use White Vinegar, straight out of the bottle.
The Power Washer or Car Wash works good to get the junk off.
Rinse/dunk them in a water/soda mixture to stop the acid
and then dye/wax/paint or what-ever to keep them in good shape.

[justwannano]

Did you guys ever notice that the vinegar you buy at the grocery store is diluted to5% acidity?

I don't know where you could buy the straight stuff.

Have a good 1
just

[jeremyt]

Here is a different way that I have found to take the rust off of metal.

First you need to get a few things.

The key ingredient is “Arm & Hammer WASHING Soda.” (Not baking soda)
This can be hard to find but I’m sure one of your local grocery stores will have it.



This is what you use to make your Electrolytic solution.

You will also need 2 pieces of scrap steel and some wire.
A plastic tub full of water.
A 12 volt car battery charger.

Mix ½ cup of washing soda to every 5 gallons of water in your plastic tank.

Connect the two pieces of scrap steel together with the wire. Use enough wire so they will be able to sit at opposite ends of the tank. (These will be your electrodes)
You will need to connect your battery charger’s POSITIVE clamp to the wire between the 2 electrodes.

Take the trap or traps that you want to de-rust and connect a wire to them. Place the traps in the middle of the tank of water. Connect the NEGATIVE clamp to this wire. ** Keep the clamps of the battery charger out of the water or they will corrode.***

Make sure that the wires or metal is NOT touching the electrodes or you will have a dead short.
Here’s what it should look like.




Now it’s time for the bubbling! Turn the battery charger on (I set mine on 10 amp).
This should take about 24 hrs to complete.



Here are some step by step pics that I took of an old #11 that I found on the river.
This trap was too far gone but I thought it would a good one to use in a pictorial.

Notice how bad the rust is.







Here are my scrap pieces of metal connected by wire.



Here is everything hooked up and ready to plug in.


This is after about an hour of bubbling. Notice the nasty rusty film on top of the water.



And after 1 ½ days here is how it came out.






Take a wire brush (or a power washer if you have one) and knock off the rust that is still there.
It will be really loose and takes no effort at all.

Here is our #11 after a couple of minutes of wire brushing.





This works great if you have a lot of steel to do. Much cheaper than vinegar.

[4fur]

Very cool Jeremy! Bill Nye "The science guy" lives!

[LLLTrapper]

That is B.A. Jeremyt. I think Bill Nye is very cool himself 4 fur. LLL

[justwannano]

After you get it all cleaned up

You're supposed to be able to electro coat that way.
Just make your electrodes zinc.
Trap probably needs to be lots cleaner than that though.

Have a good 1
just

[jeremyt]

That #11 was only in the tub for a little over 24 hours.


If you leave it longer they really come clean.
You should see some of the old cast iron skillets that i have rescued from auction junk boxes. They come out looking like you just bought them new.

[justwannano]

May 26, 2010 8:53:34 GMT -6 jeremyt said:

That #11 was only in the tub for a little over 24 hours.


If you leave it longer they really come clean.
You should see some of the old cast iron skillets that i have rescued from auction junk boxes. They come out looking like you just bought them new.

I'll have to tell my broher about that.
He collects cast skillets etc.
Thanks
have a good 1
just