Using citric acid to remove rust vs Evaporust

[ARC-170]

Evaporust is $15 a gallon on Amazon.

I don't have Prime, so there's shipping. Besides, I like to shop local. I also don't care Amazon for personal reasons and they don't police for fakes, so I try to use them only when I have to.
Citric acid is $3.50 for 7.5 oz at Target (not exactly a small, local company, I realize...). That's about 45 teaspoons. I was told to mix about 1 tsp per gallon, so I'd get 45 gallons, which is about $0.08 per gallon.

 

[DavidR8]

Can you post a picture of the part to be de-rusted @ARC-170?

 

[Gaffer]

I'm a fan of Evaporust. I bought a 1 gallon container to begin restoring a Wilton vise I bought. It was too large to accommodate the body. The inside area was rusted. I soaked paper towels and then wrapped it in saran wrap to soak. It worked well. I've since bought the 5 gallon version from Zoro. Free shipping. It's a little expensive , but worth it for me on my present projects.

 

[Jonno_G]

I've used citric acid plenty of times, and it does a great job. It's dirt cheap too, which helps.

I don't know how it goes with a finely finished surface such as the post of a drill press though, as I haven't tried anything quite like that yet.

I've always used it at much higher concentrations than one teaspoon per gallon of water though. More like one tablespoon per gallon, or even stronger.

I've also left stuff in there for several days at a time, too, with no significant ill effects.

Cheers,... Jon.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

[ARC-170]

WD-40 and some fine Scotchbrite will usually get the rust off the column. Try that first; bet it will work fine.

I tried this and it did nothing. I used steel wool, so not sure if that matters.

 

[ARC-170]

Can you post a picture of the part to be de-rusted @ARC-170?

Here you go. The shiny part at the top, just under the head, is where I moved the head up.


A close-up for your viewing pleasure.


It's really cosmetic; the column is still pretty smooth.

 

[DavidR8]

For that I’d get a maroon Scotchbrite belt for a 3x21 belt sander.
It would make quick work of it.

 

[mikey]

I tried this and it did nothing. I used steel wool, so not sure if that matters.

I used it quite successfully on my drill press and milling machine column. Not sure why it didn't work for you.

 

[ARC-170]

I used it quite successfully on my drill press and milling machine column. Not sure why it didn't work for you.

Hmmm. I wonder what I did wrong? Maybe let it sit for awhile?

 

[Jim F]

Steel wool does not work as well as Scotch-brite.
Try using a penetrating oil, also.