Rust removal potions

[metalguy]

Can anybody render an opinion on some of the commercially available rust removal concoctions that are now available, particularly Rusteco, Evaporust, and Safestrustremover.com. Thank you for sharing your experiences.

[bhhodges]

i always use naval jelly



bill

[dadkar2]

Naval jelly is great. I find however that 15 minutes in Pickle 2 does an awesome job. Just rinse and neutralize and rinse or the HCl doesn't know it's supposed to stop.

Kind regards,
Ken

[vemoo]

I give, what's "Pickle 2"?

[dadkar2]

Pickle 2 is 1 part HCl and 2 parts distilled water. This terminology is out of the Caswell manual. The HCl is simply the grade commonly avaliable from Home Depot as Muriatic Acid. I believe it is a 31.45% mix as purchased.

Kind regards,
Ken

[vemoo]

Thanx for the explain. I've had good success with oxalic as a less aggressive acid which provides some brightening.

[dadkar2]

Thanks for the tip. I'll give it a try.

Ken

[sswee]

Just a note, Oxalic acid is the main ingrediant in carburetor cleaners. I usually get it in 5gal cans.

[dadkar2]

It's also found in wood bleach; can be bought by the pound.

Ken

[dadkar2]

Permatex makes a nice naval jelly #81756 that can be used to remove rust in the presence of plating. The plating is relatively undisturbed and the rust is removed. I use this when a customer wants a part cleaned up but does not want to pay for replating. I buff with white compound afterwards to remove the slight tan staining that the formula leaves on the plated area of the part. The results are quite impressive...although obviously you still have an area left unplated.

I've also done this followed by replating. Since it's much gentler than hydrochloric acid, the rest of the plating stays intact and the amount of prep work is minimal. Again, the results are somewhat of a compromise vs. stripping and restoration, but sometimes this is all that is requested.

Ken