Got RUST? It's easy to remove, here's how.

[oldpaul]

My older brother had a succession of Fiat 124 Spiders, all with rust problems that stemmed from Fiat unwilling to put any finish at all on unexposed areas e.g. inside the door panels and posts. So there was bare metal where condensation or water could reach it. Poor quality control. My latest car restoration is a 1965 Fiat 1500 Cabriolet and even though it is about as rust free as Fiats get, it still has rust holes in the rocker panels just in front of both doors. Sorry for the car talk on the firearms forum. Tom

[TexasCheesehead]

I think a bit of clarification might be useful for beginners in rust removal. What follows is a gross simplification, from the point of view of a serious chemist or metallurgist, but it will serve for our efforts to restore rusted chunks of metalwork.

The surface known as "bluing" is a very thin layer of ferrous oxide, FeO, a black substance. The "blue" arises from light passing through the semi-translucent layer, which is very, very thin, and therefore fragile. Thicker layers are dead black.

Ferric oxide, Fe2O3, usually found in the hydrated form, Fe2O3.H2O, is the our common-or-garden RUST. This can also be written in rearranged form as Fe(O)OH, which indicates how it can be broken up.

Electrolytic rust removal is therefore doing this
Fe2O3.H2O ----- 2FE + O2 + H2
In other words, free oxygen and hydrogen are produced at the electrodes.
Obviously, if substantial quantities of the hydrogen and oxygen were to recombine – thanks to fire or an electrical spark for instance, the result could be explosive. Hence the general safety advice to keep your electrolytic cleaning bath at a low level – generating bubbles, but not boiling away! And in a well-ventilated area, of course.

The finish-friendliest way to remove rust off old gun parts is to use electrolytic cleaning. Accompanied by ultrasonic cleaning to remove loose particles, it will clean up corners that are in accessible by mechanical means. Search the forum for my contributions on "electrolytic cleaning" and "Anschutz" and you will find a good example of the use of this method.

I.M.H.O. mechanical methods (wire wool, wire brushes etc) should be regarded as a last resort.

I use the electrolysis method for removing rust from alot of different items. It removes rust from gun parts without removing the bluing. I've heard though that it causes hydrogen embrittlement and shouldn't be used on things like receivers and barrels. Supposedly you can solve that by baking the item in an oven for something like four hours, after rust removal.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

And for those in Britain:

Shield Technology - Guarding Against Corrosion

Claims to remove ONLY rust and also "cleans and brightens" brass and nickel plating.

Anyone up for a "consumer report"?

Found an ad for the stuff in the British "Woodworker and Woodturner" magazine. ( Good Woodworking Magazine and The Woodworker Magazine )

Now to find similar in the antipodes.................

[WarPig1976]

Now to find similar in the antipodes.................

Naval Jelly looks to be the best candidate.....

[browningautorifle]

Naval Jelly

It does work marvelously...

[bombdoc]

I have found that soft brass brushes sold for horology are good for removing surface rust and embedded crud without touching the blue..!

In UK these are obtainable from Meadows and Passmore in Brighton.. they look like large toothbrushes, and are made from pure brass - not to be confused with brass plated steel. You need to use them with a light scuffing motion - you must not scrub as this bends the bristles and knackers the brush..

[TexasCheesehead]

It does work marvelously...

Does that stuff remove the bluing as well? I've used Works bathroom cleaner to remove rust but it contains hydrochloric acid, so it removes the finish.

[browningautorifle]

I used it on things that were past having blue, so I can't measure by them. I think it'll strip to the white though.

[WarPig1976]

Does that stuff remove the bluing as well?

Yes, to the white..

[TexasCheesehead]

Yes, to the white..

Not sure if I'd like that. That shiny white might hurt my eyes.