Before:


Oxalic Acid + water = Crazy easy rust  removal! No scrubbing @ all, just mix
and let soak!

Dan  Gorsline.

Use with caution, Oxalic acid is very toxic.
Andrew  Campbell.



I'm in the process of cleaning/restoring a Logan 825  lathe, Enco 6x26
knee mill, and many assorted tooling pieces that had been  sitting in the
previous owners garage. Somehow they "appeared" in my shop  back in January!

So far I'm using white vinegar and salt followed by  water/baking soda
rinse followed by HOT water rinse. Non-toxic and safely  dump on my
gravel driveway. Does a great job! In between the first two  steps some
light fast brass wire brushing, or even wiping with a towel,  knocks off
any rust that the vinegar hasn't taken off. I usually start a  batch of
parts one weekend. While they don't need a full week, life  happens and I
usually can't get back to them until the next weekend. No  parts have
suffered as far as I can tell from the extended soak.

I  do have some metal prep and etch from Home Depot which is essentially
phosphoric acid. I have not had to resort to that yet, but again it is
safe and easy. It too would be followed by water/baking soda rinse
followed by HOT water rinse.

I have also purchased two carbon rods  from McMaster to set up a reverse
electrolytic rust cleaning tank. Uses  simple washing soda. Again, safe
and easy to use and dispose of. Just  beware it will generate hydrogen so
open area away from ignition source is  required. If hydrogen
embrittlement of a part is a concern then a 30  minute bake in kitchen
oven at 400°F will resolve the concern.

In  all cases once rust has been removed by the one of the cleaners
above, the  "cleaner neutralized" in the baking soda rinse, and the part
hot water  rinsed/heat soaked/dried I follow up by coating parts/surfaces
to be bare  metal with automatic transmission fluid. I have wax available
for applying  to bare metal tooling surfaces as well. As weather warms
and I can get  outside I'll be priming/painting the surfaces that will
not remain bare,  none of which I have started to clean/strip yet.

In all cases I wear  rubber gloves, long sleeves, long pants, and side
shield safety glasses.  I'll use splash proof goggles when getting to the
phosphoric acid or  electrolytic rust removal.

I'm doing this cleaning/stripping/rust  removal all in basement, one
small half gallon or gallon tub of parts at a  time. So far no complaints
from my SO about odors so that is a plus as  well.

I do have a 20 gallon parts washer with mineral spirits in the garage
that I can use to preclean any really dirty/gunked up parts, along with
the garden hose and common detergents for dust/dirt removal, and a
vacuum cleaner for dust/debris clean up (along with mouse nests and
droppings in drawers!).

Bradly Chubb


Perhaps this is unfounded, but OA is an acid and acids do bad things to
aluminum.

The auto boys leave their aluminum wheel hubs out of the OA when getting
rust off of other wheel stuff.

Rich Goldman

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