Sometime ago I posted some pictures of a Delta 14 bandsaw that was handed down to me.
The progress has been slow but I have made some great discoveries that I would like to share.
Since this beauty has sat in a barn for all of it’s life, it has developed a very nice rusty brown patina. I’m fortunate that it has been in a relatively dry climate. Most of the screws came out without a problem. Some needed a little penetrating oil and persuasion. All of the threads that were not exposed were clean. Lucky me.:-)
I have read about removing rust electrically and considered it briefly. Seemed a little complicated and I would have to go out and buy some equipment. I have over the years used navel jelly, metal etch, and rust free. I personally don’t like the smell. Reminds of the cat box smell…:-( Of course I knew I could use steel wool/ sand paper and wire brushes.
After doing some searching on the internet. I came upon a product called Evapo-Rust. I read the testimonials and found it is used by the Navy. It is non toxic and water based. Strange having a rust remover that is water based. One draw back, it’s pricey. I found it for $17.50 a gallon, with a five gallon minimum. I bought it and here are some pictures of the results.
I did wire brush the rails first to knock of louse rust. The rails were soaked overnight and wiped clean with a towel. I think the results are pretty spectacular.
Enjoy
Replies
Len,
OH my God! That is amazing. I've been using the litter box smelling stuff with mediocre results. That stuff looks unbeliveable.
Mike
Len
Does one dare ask where you got the stuff?
Or are you thinking of selling the extra?
Jeff
Got a hit on internet search. evapo-rust.com. Lists distributors.
That's the web site that I found my distributor on.
Good luckHi, I'm Len and I'm a Toolaholic...
Hey, Len, it worked great!!! Well worth all the research, I bet.
I'll get in line for a gallon of the extra, LOL. Maybe 2, being in the Great Northwest. More than willing to pay for the stuff plus shipping.
You will keep us posted on the final restoration of the saw, right?
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
I found this distributor that sells Evapo-Rust in gallons and six packs of pint bottles...
http://www.allinternetsales.com/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=812&cat=&xid=bea169b3ba3ff0442f063894e8204cd0
FG,
This stuff is like the fountain of youth. Maybe Santa will bring you some.LOL...
The best part is I don't really have to do much to get the rust off. I just toss the parts in a bucket of Evaporust and check it later.
Here are the web sites I found.
http://www.orisonmarketing.com/corrosion/evaporust/evapo-rust.html
http://www.evapo-rust.com/
The company I bought it from is Dura-Chem. After talking to the people there I found out they license the formula and make it locally. It is non toxic so there is no problem shipping it.
One thing I've done is made up some containers that fit the parts so I wouldn't have to fill a 30 gallon trash can, just because the part was 20" long. I bought some 2" pvc pipe cut it to length and capped one end for the fence rails.
I've been using the same stuff in a beaker for bunch of parts. It does start to weaken after a time. It also it takes off gun blue finishes, doesn't affect paint, providing there is no rust under it.
Some of the parts with more stubborn rust required a little scrubbing with scotch brite and a second soak.
Yes, I'll keep everyone posted on the saw.Hi, I'm Len and I'm a Toolaholic...
"It also it takes off gun blue finishes, doesn't affect paint, providing there is no rust under it. " Wow! This is like a miracle! I have a drawer full of old planes that I've been ignoring for ....ahem.... years now, might have to drag 'em out and de-rust them.
Speaking of Santa, hope you haven't gone out and bought any Holiday Scroll Saw mags yet. Watch your mail next week!
Thanks for the links! De-rusting sounds like a good project for January or February, after the holiday rush is over here.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Oops, it does take off paint. I left the fence soaking overnight, softened the paint. It really isn't bad because I plan to repaint anyway. It didn't effect the japaning on the plane I soaked, but I won't leave that in overnight.
Santa, huh? Your not refering to old St. Nick....;-) I was...
Nothing says Merry Christmas more than a gallon of rust remover...LOLHi, I'm Len and I'm a Toolaholic...
I tried a product a few years ago that I found on the web, called Rustzolve. It is/was a water based non toxic product that was purchased as a liquid or in powder form that you mixed with water. It worked great, was expensive and is not to be found anymore. It also disolved corrosion, like inside your car radiator, without affecting the metal.
This one sounds great. I have tried the electrolysis method and that does work, but is somewhat of a chore, messy, and does not get inside hollow areas very well.
Hey yall,
Since it is on the topic.... I used a spray on rust remover, I think it was called Crud Kutter or Rust Cutter, and it actually apears to have removed metal from my saw table! After spraying it on I left it for 10 minutes and it does some sort of chemical reaction that produces a tar like scale. Then I scraped the scale off with a plastic scraper. I am certian that it removed metal. The table only had very little rust spots from were the Top Cote failed (that stuff sucks). Whats up with that?
Mikeplease excuse my spelling.
mike,
Sounds like you used a acid based cleaner. If it was Rust Cutter then it's active ingredient is phospheric acid. Most rust removers, navel jelly, Rust Free, and metal etch use phosperic acid. I believe that the product was meant for un-freezing rusty bolts.
Hi, I'm Len and I'm a Toolaholic...
Hey, Mike, I was zzzzzz'ing at 11:56 last night, LOL. It does sound like you had the acid-based yucky stuff. I won't let it anywhere near any of my tools. Was lucky enough to try it out on an old hand saw and learned my lesson that way.
When I got my Lee Valley/Veritas router table top, used, it was not exactly rusty, but had some kind of discoloration on it. I used WD40 and the random orbit sander with wet/dry paper to clean it up.
Len's stuff look great though, doesn't it?!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
FG,
Yea, that sounds about right. I didn't realize it was removing metal until about the 3rd application. Again the table had only light hazy rust in small spots, but I have tried several times to remove it and it seems to always come back. So I went nuts. I worry about sanding the table out of true; that is why I prefer to use chemicals. Prevention is obviously the best cure. I am now using good ol' paste wax. Works great.
Mikeplease excuse my spelling.
Wow! I'm getting some of that! I hope it works on restoring planes, saws, and other tools. Nice job on the rails, how did it work on the table?
I did the table earlier. The old fashioned way. Navel jelly and a brass scrub brush. I'm sure it will work on planes. I was also handed down a number of old planes as well so I will be testing it on them too.
One neat thing that happened. I was soaking the adjusting knob for the fence. When I pulled it out it was chrome. I couldn't even tell before.Hi, I'm Len and I'm a Toolaholic...
Here 'tis in 1 Gallon quantities, Les.
http://www.woodtechtooling.com/Evaporust/evaporust.html
Cheers,
eddie
(wondering what's in this stuff)
eddie,
Thanks. I found that site. I'm glad I got the five gallons now. But if if didn't work as well I would have been really sore... ;-)
Today, I'm going to try it on an old plane body.
I'll post pictures.
Enjoy your day.
Hi, I'm Len and I'm a Toolaholic...
Hey Len,
I bought a gallon of the Evapo-Rust and tried it out this past weekend. Wow! I soaked a plane iron and chip breaker that I just couldn't get clean and an old set of calipers that were encrusted with rust. The calipers came out looking brand new, the plane iron shiny and bright.
Good find, thanks for the heads up.
Has anybody else tried this stuff since Len's post?
B.O.B.
Glad you found it worked as well as I did. Makes you want to soak everything that's rusty....;o) And it doesn't smell.
One thing I have observed is as the iron/rust builds up in the Evapo-rust it settles to the bottom. The section that is in the muck doesn't clean as well. now I wire the part so it is an inch or so from the bottom of the container. Seem to work.
Hi, I'm Len and I'm a Toolaholic...
Thats a good idea. My next cleaning will be on some Atkins and Disston saw blades. I can see how you would want to keep those off the bottom of the tub.
Did you ever try it on a plane body? I'm afraid to soak one because of the japanning, thought I might just scrub the sole and sides with the solution.
B.O.B.
No, not yet.
You have to soak the part, applying it to the side won't do anything since it would evaporate before it had a chance to work.
If you keep an eye on it. Pull it out of the solution and scrub it with scotch brite. You should be fine. I did that with the painted parts and it worked fine. The bandsaw BTW, was from the 1930's, so I assuming just plain old paint rather than powder coating.
Take a look at this page.
http://www.evapo-rust.com/EvapoRustFAQs.html
Enjoy.Hi, I'm Len and I'm a Toolaholic...
I await hearing the results, particularly with respect to the Logo, etc, etched on the blade. Please don't keep us waiting, LOL.
Ed,
I'm sorry, you are going to have to wait for the saw blade cleaning. I won't have time to do it until next week. I'm pretty anxious myself, I've already refinished the handles, and I thought I had the blades cleaned as much as I was going to, but I think the Evapo-Rust will take them to another level of clean. Two of my saws have etchings on the blades. I'll let everyone know how it works.
B.O.B.
Ok it looks too good to be true! Did the metal come out shiny or did it come out black and you had to scrub it after??
Contacted the makers, they sell it at Home Hardware here in Canada, and of course there are no home hardware around here in the Montreal area, at least 45 minute drive to get to the nearest distributor, oh well, they said Wally Mart will have it soon
The metal came out a dull gray steel color for the most part. I think that was because it had been that way before the rust formed on it. Smooth shiny surfaces came out shiny. I did have to scrub some areas but very little. I put a knob in that was completely rust and it was chrome underneath. I did have to polish a bit but I don't think it would have look that way if I had used navel jelly. One part came out black. I rubbed it in a towel and the black came off. Don't know why.Good luck finding it. I know that within the U.S. there is no problem shipping it. Don't know if you can ship across the border.Hi, I'm Len and I'm a Toolaholic...
Check out all these packaging varieties!
http://www.jnjcd.com/chemistries.htmlforestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
The 55 gallon drum is exciting. I could clean the entire bandsaw in one dip.
I wonder how the wipes work. Everything I have read so far is you need to soak the parts. Hi, I'm Len and I'm a Toolaholic...
I clicked on the Product Literature link for the PDF file. "Wipes remove light surface and flash rust. Liquid removes deep rust."http://www.jnjcd.com/PDF/EvapoRust.pdf
Here's "How it Works":
Cool! Len, I think you will be inducted into the Knots Hall of Fame for finding this product and letting us all know about it!!!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
I just attended the M-WTCA (Mid West Tool Collectors Association) meeting in St. Charles IL. and a vendor was there with a product called Rustbeeter. I think it is made from a by-product of beets. I have not used it but the use samples were very impressive. I purchased the five gallon size for $46.00. It is in powder form and you mix it with water. The web site is http://www.rustbeeter.com. The Evapo-rust product looks like a good product also. It will be some time before I have an opprotunity to use the Rustbeeter but I will try to post the results.
I'm picking up 5 gallons of EvapoRust on Monday. We should do comparative testing, no? I have lots of rusty garden tools and such to try it out on! EvapoRust has mostly been used in industrial applications. They're getting much more in tune with the smaller market now, and AutoZone will be carrying quarts in their stores.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Sounds like this stuff is used primarily to "soak" parts in rather than apply it with a rag and rub it off; am I correct on this?
I asked the same question, or intended to do that for my planes, but was told it doesn't work that way, the items being cleaned must be immersed in the solution. Some of the items I have cleaned come out with a black color film on them, but a quick scrub with a scotchbrite took that right off.
I've cleaned a lot of old tools using different methods and solutions, even contemplated electrolysis, but after using this product I don't think I am going back to the old methods. I am real eager to see how it performs on planes and saw blades, that will have to wait, I leave today for Amsterdam! Yeehah!
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