How To Remove Surface Rust.

Bob Korves said:
Acids are one of the worst things you can have in your shop. If the container leaks, all your tools and machines will be damaged by rust and corrosion. Store it somewhere else, and use it somewhere else. I store mine in my shop, but they are in a heavy clear vinyl bag, tightly closed and in another clear vinyl, well closed bag, and then put in a strong five gallon plastic bucket with a tight fitting lid. Once a year or so I take the bucket outside, open it, and look for any leaks inside the vinyl bags. If none, I close it and return it to storage...

I have seen the results of shop acid leaks, and they are not pretty. There are lots of products you might not think about -- soldering flux, drain cleaners, lead acid batteries, and others, all potentially problems.
Click to expand...

In my case it was those silicone caulking tubes that were stored too close to some files. The accelerated rusting was discovered in time to save the files. But now I store the caulking tubes in a heavy zip lock bag away from any metals.
 
Silicone leaches acetic acid. I did something similar with solder flux.
R
 
And another one.....Aspirin, or products containing Aspirin such as Goody's Headache Powder or BC Powder. Keep them out of your toolbox. Acetylsalicylic acid will permeate the toolbox and corrode any unprotected ferrous metal objects. Plus it will rust the toolbox, and the paint will not protect it.
 
It turns out that tubalcain (mrpete222) has a video out this morning on using molasses for removing rust. I have not tried molasses, but here is a well respected guy who has systematically tried them all, except Evaporust (so far), testing it.

 
If you plan on using lots of molasses, get it from the feed store. Ag grade is much cheaper than grocery grade. And be patient, it's a very slow process, and if memory serves, works with the natural phosphoric acid present in molasses.
 
Some people say that molasses works by chelation, some by acid, and some have other ideas as well. I have no idea, and it may be a combination of different things in what is usually a food product. I have not seen any comprehensive testing of how it works against rust. Perhaps it works by FM (f'ing magic).
 
bob I didn't know you are a rust expert your post are very good I am a rust expert too I can make stainless steel rust in my metal shop building not the same type of expert though ha ha that bridge above your head rusts real well bill
 
I can attest the molasses work well, But one thing, when it starts to ferment it does get a little ripe around the thing. Hot summer in south Texas. A vat of Molasses and water mix, filled with rusty metal and a back tarp over it. A week later no rust (where I got the grease off at least). But wife had something to say about the smell. Other thing was it seemed to be starting to rust just by me washing the stuff of or it and trying to dry it off. Flash Rust Of course I did it in what seemed like 90 degree temp with 90 percent humidity.
 
I use apple cider vinegar (my attempts at making cidr), I have recovered tools that I considered to far gone, and therefore no loss if they were ruined, including some nice old sets of feeler guages and thread guages, which worked so well that all the engraving became perfectly legible again. I think you will be hard pushed to measure any loss of diameter with a micrometer, try it and let us know.
Phil
 
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