Start with these-
http://www.bhi.co.uk/hints/rust.htm
http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/ru..._derusting.htm
http://www3.telus.net/public/aschoep...lyticrust.html
http://www.davidbradley.net/ERR.html
http://www.instructables.com/id/E17U...2A5Z/?ALLSTEPS

That's more than enough to get you started. Some theory, some nice pictures.

I took a plastic 5 gallon plastic bucket and hot glued closed the hole in bottom .

I cut two pieces of rebar about 4 inches longer than the bucket is deep and drilled a hole through one end of each.
Filed, wire brushed, sanded, green padded the rust that would come off of them - 2 minutes max. total.

Spot hot glued them to the bucket at top and near bottom inside the bucket, hole up, one on each side of bucket.

Took a piece of 14 gauge house wiring, ran it through the rebar holes, 2" insulation stripped where it passed through the rebar holes. Looped a wrap tightly around rebar, ran wire under the bucket lip and around to the the other rebar, through the hole and a wrap around the second rebar, and under the lip and back to the first one. Spot hot glued the wire to the bucket every few inches so it would stay under the lip and out of the way. It's not as pretty as some in the pictures, but technically sound.

Tied a string around the two rebars to connect them and act as a 'clothesline'.

Made an S hook out of a couple inches of leftover wire and hung it on the string, with another short length of string attached to hold what I'm derusting.

Had not found the recommended sodium carbonate in store during last visit, so I threw in a handful of of sodium bicarb (1/4 of a small box ?), and filled the bucket with water. My water is pretty conductive anyway - your mileage may vary. You just need an electrolyte - but minimize the chloride. No table salt. Acids will damage the item you are derusing, and will also eat the rebar.

Hung parts in liquid off the S hook, about 1' exposed to hook power to, and keep clip out of water. Hooked small battery charger positive to rebar and negative to parts - my test case was some spring steel radial arm saw part hold downs, about 9x1x1/16 inch, heavily rusted.

Turned power on, drew about 1 amp at 12v . Instant bubbling seen and water went from clear to muddy in two minutes.

10 minutes later I wiped the scum off the parts and stuck them back in, other end up. 10 more minutes in the bath, then a clean water rinse (you have to get the electrolyte off of them), wipe dry, and light oil (parts will flash rust if not treated upon removal). Looked new, with a couple of small pits.

Now I keep searching for things to put in, and it's running most of the time as I experiment. Some things take a few minutes, others longer. I'll need to come up with a sturdier hanger for larger items - probably a 1x1 with holes drilled to slide over the rebar stubs.

Hope this helps.

----------------------------------------------------





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From: jo4hn
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
Subject: Refurbishing old hand tools - follow up
Date: Mon, 06 Nov 2006 19:44:47 -0800
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Dick Keats wrote:
Would you be kind enough to share the result of the Google search?
Thanks,
Dick
wrote in message
...

I recently asked about whether old hand tools should be refurbished, and if
so, using which techniques.
Electrolytic rust removal was suggested, and it works great.
15 minutes research on Google, 30 minutes for my boy and me to construct
the apparatus (he's a young teenager and actually had fun doing it!), and
we had some test pieces cleaned in 30 minutes.
Now, on to the real stuff.
Thanks Group.



DAGS on "electrolytic rust removal". Got 122000 hits.
j4


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From: "Dick Keats"
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References:
Subject: Refurbishing old hand tools - follow up
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Would you be kind enough to share the result of the Google search?
Thanks,
Dick
wrote in message
...
I recently asked about whether old hand tools should be refurbished, and if
so, using which techniques.
Electrolytic rust removal was suggested, and it works great.
15 minutes research on Google, 30 minutes for my boy and me to construct
the apparatus (he's a young teenager and actually had fun doing it!), and
we had some test pieces cleaned in 30 minutes.
Now, on to the real stuff.
Thanks Group.







**********End Of Post*************

lid wrote:
Start with these-
http://www.bhi.co.uk/hints/rust.htm
http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/ru..._derusting.htm
http://www3.telus.net/public/aschoep...lyticrust.html
http://www.davidbradley.net/ERR.html
http://www.instructables.com/id/E17U...2A5Z/?ALLSTEPS


....

I cut two pieces of rebar about 4 inches longer than the bucket is deep and drilled a hole through one end of each.
Filed, wire brushed, sanded, green padded the rust that would come off of them - 2 minutes max. total.

The rebar gets corroded by the derusting process anyhow
so you can skip that step. You can also use the electrolytic
process itself to derust your sacrificial electrodes if you want.

...

Had not found the recommended sodium carbonate
in store during last visit,

It is ususally in with the laundry detergents.

....
10 minutes later I wiped the scum off the parts and stuck them back in, other end up. 10 more minutes in the bath, then a clean water rinse (you have to get the electrolyte off of them), wipe dry, and light oil (parts will flash rust if not treated upon removal). Looked new, with a couple of small pits.

I typically scrub the parts with a brass pot brush
(found in the housewares section of the supermarket
under running water and a little soap helps too.

Then I pop it into the oven at about 150 F or hit it with a hair drier.
That post-derusting heating is essential for handsaws and other
steel in the same hardness range. The electrolytic process drives
hydrogen into the metal (hydrogen embrittlement) so the part
will be prone to stress cracking unles sit is driven back out.

Then I typically slather Johnson's paste wax on it while it
is still warm.


Now I keep searching for things to put in, ..

No kidding.

Good thing I don't have a swimming pool, I might
be tempted to drive a rusty old van into it and dim
the neightborhood lights.

--

FF

wrote:

Good thing I don't have a swimming pool, I might
be tempted to drive a rusty old van into it and dim
the neightborhood lights.

A). It doesn't have to be your pool.
B). Make a video if you do it.

R