Heavy Metal. Rust Removal and plating

[Signal]

The Citric Acid is a garden supply item so try old style garden places or farm supply stores. I don't know if it comes in different strengths.
The parts were in the bath for about 30mins at 45 degrees C . The bath heats up from the ultrasonic energy as well as the heater element.
A wire brush is good for the stubborn rust spots or more time in the acid.

 

[bosco659]

The Citric Acid is a garden supply item so try old style garden places or farm supply stores. I don't know if it comes in different strengths.
The parts were in the bath for about 30mins at 45 degrees C . The bath heats up from the ultrasonic energy as well as the heater element.
A wire brush is good for the stubborn rust spots or more time in the acid.

Thx. I’ll order from Amazon for convenience.

 

[bosco659]

More options and info

 

[bosco659]

I have a lot of plating to do. In the past I have bead blasted the parts and this is tedious. Today I thought I would try using citric acid.
I mixed a solution of 40mg of citric acid to 1 L of water. I put this in a glass jar and put in some pretty rusty small parts. I then put the jar in a ultrasonic bath with water in the bath to transfer the energy, he bath also warms the solution.
I was stunned at the results only the very worst parts will be bead blasted from now on.
Taking a punt I also bought some Caswell brightner ( their new formula) to try, as polishing the parts post plating is time consuming. I have a home brew solution in my bath and the new solution did not work like the old stuff did.
I think it is helping the parts only need a light rub with 0000 steel wool to come up shiny.
I have a couple of sets of spokes and nipples plus a whole bike load of fastners to do so you can see why I want to streamline things.

I don’t have a scale to measure 40mg. Approx how many tablespoons would that be?

 

[jetmechmarty]

It wasn't very scientific, I admit, but I did experiment with several different methods of rust removal. That would include electrolysis, Metal Rescue, and a couple of different acids. I will admit that I didn't find one method universally best. My own conclusion is that I prefer to use phosphoric acid more often than not. It's cheap and easy to find at the hardware or big box home improvement stores. I did a thread on it a while back.

 

[DogBunny]

I too have tried just about every method there is for rust removal. I do 99% of my rust removal with a bench mounted wire wheel, like the pic, but with a long arbor for better accessibility.

 

[jetmechmarty]

View attachment 256534
I too have tried just about every method there is for rust removal. I do 99% of my rust removal with a bench mounted wire wheel, like the pic, but with a long arbor for better accessibility.

Yeah, that. I agree.

 

[bosco659]

Yeah, that. I agree.

I agree. Removal of the bulk of the rust on the wire wheel dramatically reduces the time to remove the rest by other means. I’d like to get a wire wheel for my polishing motor but it’s a 7/8” shaft.

 

[Grimly]

I don’t have a scale to measure 40mg. Approx how many tablespoons would that be?

A heaped teaspoon is normally about 5grams*, so about 8 of those.
Trouble is, teaspoons, tablespoons, etc have differing capacities all over the civilised world.

*grams, not milligrams - mg is milligrams, and you aren't going to get much rust removal action with 40mg of stuff.

 

[bosco659]

A heaped teaspoon is normally about 5grams*, so about 8 of those.
Trouble is, teaspoons, tablespoons, etc have differing capacities all over the civilised world.

*grams, not milligrams - mg is milligrams, and you aren't going to get much rust removal action with 40mg of stuff.

Ok thanks. I thought 40 mg didn’t sound like much. I think I can measure 40 gms on our kitchen scale.

 

[Signal]

Sorry for the confusion my mistake you are correct it is grams. I deal with mg and ml every day at work and didn't even notice the error. I will edit the origional post.

 

[bosco659]

Tried it, liked it and by mistake left a partially rusty part in the bath overnight (cold, not plugged in) and to my surprise came out squeaky clean!

 

[gggGary]

 

[bosco659]

Great vid. Thanks for sharing. I’m going to look for some EDTA.

 

[tmikeyb]

Just watched the first video you posted in it’s entirety Jim, seems to me that to remove all rust from the inside of a tank I want to be using either Evaporust or Electrolysis?

Would it be a good idea to drop some small nuts/ball bearings into the tank and give them a good shake around prior to any treatment?

For years, I have used a handful of drywall screws along with my cleaner, or with my stripper if trying to remove sealer too. I've tried lots of things but the drywall screws are pretty effective