I love using old machine parts for my projects; often their workmanship surpasses that of anything new, and you can get them cheap or even free. Find a junkyard full of ancient, rusty industrial equipment, and you can build almost anything — or at least be inspired to, which is half the battle!
But many older machine parts, especially cheap ones, have rust, paint, or other coverings that make them ugly and difficult to work with. Over the years, my salvage habit has turned me into something of an expert in amateur metal restoration. I am by no means a metalsmith, but I have collected a library of easy techniques that can enable any moderately equipped hobbyist to clean metal to make it into shiny, working components again.
Rust, the oxidation of iron, takes up far more volume than the metal it grows from, so the parts underneath look surprisingly undamaged after treatment. The same goes for old paint, which protects the surfaces underneath it.
There are 3 basic ways to remove oxidation or paint from metal in a home shop: mechanical, chemical, and electrochemical. (Thermal methods, and exotic techniques like dry ice blasting, molten salt dips, and bacterial siderophores, require specialized equipment.) Here I describe some home methods, and how to construct one of the most effective rust-removal tools of all: an electrolytic conversion tank.
I have a battery charger that I recently bought that is apparently too smart for this task as it only charges when it detects a battery on the other end. What brand/model should I look at to build the electrolysis bath setup. I was able to get this working by running leads off a dead battery and then attaching the charger to the battery but I really don’t like this approach as I think it’s a bit unsafe.
The best thing to do is get an old battery charger and remove the printed circuit board from the circuit and just run off the two diodes. There will be three leads from the transformer. The center tap, or ground lead will be going to the negative, the other two go to the diodes and the heat sink plate in the rear of the charger will be the positive. Or you can just find an old transformer from a battery charger, two 50 amp diodes and heat sink them and make a simple battery charger from scratch. Simplest thing to do is find an old charger before the day of the days of automatic voltage sensing. Anyway, it really works fantastic to use baking soda or washing soda that is the best. About a cup of the washing soda in a 5 gallon pail of clean water, mix it good, put two # 6 copper rods ( primary wire found at local power co’s scrap pile ) three feet will get you going. Make hooks to hang your part in the bucket off the rods and make sure you connect the NEGATIVE to the part and POSITIVE to a stainless steel ( from the scrap yard ) 14 X 16 inch plate with hole drilled in it to hang it in bucket. Curve the 16″ wide part to fit the bucket. Steel can be used and is less polluting but won’t work as well, and make sure you dispose of the solution properly ( not next to any drinking water well ) After you solve the battery charger issue you will really be happy with the results of ” reverse electrolysis ” on old parts. Got big parts, just up size the container………..it really works well. Good luck, and, you can go to my web for some more info on other things that I have found to work well, just Google BRUCE’S PROJECTS
Bruce
What if I can’t remove the hardware from the wooden trunk that they’re attached to? I have this beautiful old trunk that I’m resurfacing, but the handles, hinges, and latch are all attached in such a way that removing them would damage both them and the trunk. But they’re in really bad shape. I have no idea what kind of metal they’re even made of — they’re just black, mostly.
I have no idea how to get these things cleaned up. Do you have any recommendations?
Hi. Thanks for your tips, they are really helpful. I need a little precise help and hope you can help. I have some lovely vintage biscuit tins. Sadly, they have been neglected and now have many rusty spots. Any abrasive or chemical methods will remove the painting along with the rust. What can you suggest please? Thanks!
Brasso…works wonders on surface rust spots and won’t remove the paint if you are careful. Just put a small amount on a hand towel or paper towel, wrap around your first two fingers to make it taut, and then rub in small circular motion.
I haven’t antique and meat scale from my great grandfather. I can’t submerge (it weighs 200lbs) and there are glass windows enclosing the mechanics. Any tips on best removal of rust?
I have a metal table set that was painted over, and I guess lightly rusted. I have been sanding it with sand paper and a dremel tool. What is a good wire brush to use for my dremel tool. And over all easier way to get to the nooks and crankies. And is it bad to paint over it with rustolem paint if not all the the paint and rust is completely off.
This is incomprehensible. It does not make any sense. Do you have an editor?
I have a rusty steel I-Beam
What would you say is the best wire brush wheel to use with?
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