Evapo Rust, or other?

[Shane Jimerfield]

My neighbor is starting to work the wood. He has a couple of old Stanley Bailey planes, a 4 and a 5. They were his grandfather's. And they are in bad shape, but he wants to get em going. I've restored a few, but not this rusty.

First step is to soak em in something other than brake cleaner...which is what I used on my restored planes, but they just needed a good cleaning. So, what say all ya all...what nasty bit of solution do we start with?

[TerryMcK]

I've never used Evaporust but I remember a recent thread (may have been deleted as I can't find it) where somebody used it to remove rust from a #5

 

I have used naval jelly to remove rust in the past to great effect - Loctite make it. 

[Gary]

I have used Evapo-Rust with great results to restore planes. You can reuse this stuff, so don't just toss it when you are done. Strain it through a coffee filter back into the container. I picked mine up at an auto parts store, I believe.

[Gilgaron]

It helps if it isn't crusted in rust, so maybe hit it with a brass bristle toothbrush first, but yes, Evaporust is great.  There are cheaper solutions people I know have had success with, but the Evaporust is idiot proof, you can forget the stuff is in there and leave it 'too long' and it won't hurt it like using acid or so on would. 

[Tpt life]

I used vinegar, which is a mild acid. Evaporust is safer but I set up during a snow storm last year so I used what I had on hand. If there is pitting in critical surfaces you are going to need to do some surface treatment anyway so the liquids just keep you from breathing the rust dust.

[DaveT]

I've used evapo-rust to clean some severely caked plane irons and it is really good. I've also used wire wool and ceramic hob cleaner but that does need a lot of elbow grease. As Gilgaron said - get as much rust off as you can before soaking and also try to remove any oil (it can slow the process quite a lot). What I really liked was that there was no danger of leaving something in there too long.

 

I've got an old saw blade that I want to have a go at but I'm going to try Black Treacle (Molasses for you furriners) and water on that just to see how it does. If it screws it up no biggie, I got three for 50p the other week and I they are for me to practice re-cutting teeth on.

[Tom Cancelleri]

I use evaporust. Let it soak in a bucket for a day or 2 or 3 depending on how bad the rust is. Here's my evaporust plane restore. I soaked it for a day and a half, then hit it with a maroon scotchbrite pad to clean off the carbon staining left behind by the rust. I sanded the finish off the handles and then coated with BLO and shellac.

 

 

[Tom Cancelleri]

After everything is clean and rinsed off with water I warm the parts by putting them on top of my toaster oven to get them hot enough that they are moisture free, then I rub them with WD40. Sharpen the blade and put a little camellia oil on the blade edge

[Bill Tarbell]

I also had great results from using Evapo-Rust.  I suppose you could save the solution and pour it back into the jug when you're done but after i was done soaking a jointer plane the liquid was pitch black and smelled disgusting, so it went down the drain.  

 

To lessen the amount of liquid you need, do a double-pot system.. Fill a big bucket full of water.  Put the disassembled plane into a plastic bag.  Put the plastic bag into the bucket of water, then fill the bag with the evapo-rust until the level is above the top of the plane.  The water displaces all of the air so that you only need a small amount of evapo-rust to completely cover the plane.

[Trip]

I used to use Navel Jelly, Rust Free, etc. I switched to Evapo because it's a more 'deliberate' approach. You just pour a couple of gals in a bucket and soak the plane... I then just check it every few hours/days depending... When done, rinse with water, dry, CRC 336... done... Remaining Evapo, strain through fine-mesh paint filter into a second container and reuse until it stops working...

[Shane Jimerfield]

Thx. Sounds like it works well. I'll advise him.

Cheers.

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[Rick A McQuay]

Or if you are impatient like me, shell out a dollar for Works toilet bowl cleaner and have the job done in 15 minutes.

[Shane Jimerfield]

interesting, McQ. Works works?

[wtnhighlander]

Never tried it, but I've heard the toilet bowl cleaners need to be neutralized with a rinse of baking soda & water to stop the acid from continuing to etch the metal. Maybe an old wive's tale.

Hhmmmm....

Why do old wive's have so many tales, anyway?

[Rick A McQuay]

Yep it's fairly strong acid, best to neutralize any acid rust remover like vinegar, citric acid, naval jelly, etc.

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