*Removing Rust The Easy Way*
I don't mind hard work but if there is an easier way I will use it. This Winter I had to rebuild my old 1953 Tractor, besides the repairs I decided to paint it while it was apart. There was a lot of rust to remove. The easy way was to plate the rust onto a waste piece of metal.
First you will need a nonconductive tank big enough for your parts to be derusted. I used a 55gal plastic barrel filled to about the 50 gal level with water. Next add 1 oz of washing soda from the grocery store for each gallon of water. I then place a piece of concrete reinforcement wire around the inside of the "tank" and suspended the part to be de-rusted from a stick over the top of the barrel. Attach the Neg (-) clamp from you battery charger to the good piece and the Pos (+) to the waste piece, Depend in the amount of rust it may take 8-24 hours to remove all of the rust. The rust will only be removed in a straight line between you part and the waste metal that is why I used a ring of wire instead of a rod, my parts had a complex shape and I did not want to have to move them around to get the many sides. When I remove the part I then pressure washed it to remove the rust film and washing soda. Let dry and prime, the you are ready to paint.
This process will not remove paint unless there is rust under the paint. Once you are done the solution can be dumped on your lawn or drive as it is non-toxic and even good for your grass. For particularly greasy parts you can use 1 oz of lye per gallon of water but then you have a disposal problem as the lye is toxic. Small parts can be put into a wire cage with the electrode attached to the cage. This will not remove pitting in the metal. This does not take a large power source; I used a 12volt 2 amp charger. Do this in a ventilated area as you will have a small amount of O2 and Hydrogen bubbles coming of the solution. This process may be a little slow for some things but it is particularly easy. Just remember (-) goes on the good part (+) goes on the waste metal, if you reverse this you will rust away your part.
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