Massive rust removal in 24 hours for less than $1 (game changer)

I haven't tried it myself or run the chemical equations….but isn't this some type of electrolysis process? If it is then you probably need an iron wire (donor).

I dunno. Can someone with time to do it please answer for sure?
 
I haven't tried it myself or run the chemical equations….but isn't this some type of electrolysis process? If it is then you probably need an iron wire (donor).

I dunno. Can someone with time to do it please answer for sure?

It is electrolysis.

Does that mean a copper wire won't work?

I assume the wires inside the leads of my battery charger are copper, even the clamps may be...it seems like using copper to bring the current to the anode, which should be iron, should work, but I may be confused.
 
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Next target is going to be these really cool 7 foot long antique woodworking clamps that are stamped patent date 1927.

I think they are primarily used for making doors. They actually work perfectly but I want to make them look nicer.

I need to think of a way to get them in a container.

I was thinking about using a 6-in diameter PVC pipe but I see those are stupid expensive.

I may try to rig something up with some cardboard and plastic sheeting...not sure yet.
 

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Next target is going to be these really cool 7 foot long antique woodworking clamps that are stamped patent date 1927.

I think they are primarily used for making doors. They actually work perfectly but I want to make them look nicer.

I need to think of a way to get them in a container.

I was thinking about using a 6-in diameter PVC pipe but I see those are stupid expensive.

I may try to rig something up with some cardboard and plastic sheeting...not sure yet.
$7. Plastic.

 
Just seen a video the other day where a kid was trying to make an equivalent to evaporust and he also added powdered citric acid to his washing soda mixture and a little dish soap as a surfactant. Shit looked like it was working just as well if not better, but he also was able to process like 10x more material through the same volume of liquid before it stopped working, in comparison to evaporust. He was going on about the scientific significance of the Citric acid in the mixture and how it works against rust. But I don't have enough room in my brain for all that. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
Well, I finally got some time to throw one of the huge clamps into the mix.

Many pics to come.

This time, I used copper wire (Romex) to avoid the anode wire disintegrating. Copper wire to the anode worked fine...but, to my surprise, when I went to un-wrap it, a piece did actually break off. Crazy. At least it lasted through the process instead of disintegrating half way through.

I used a long section of gutter, like @KazooBR suggested. It was difficult, because it wanted to twist and bend. I ended up setting it on top of a ladder outside, and cable tying it to posts to keep it holding its shape. That worked, eventually.

The process worked perfectly again. I spent a (long) while with a wire brush and Simple Green after removing the black crap that accumulated during the process, and a short time with a wire wheel. Then I coated the entire thing with WD-40.

Pic 1: The basic setup. See battery charger protected from rain and long Romex cable. Gutter trough on left hand side, on top of ladder, cable-tied to fence so it won't twist and bend. Clamp cathode and rebar anode in gutter trough connected to the Romex wires, which are connected to the battery charger.

Pic 2: Close up of attachment. It was tight in there, it barely fit. I used a long piece of rebar as the anode and put some yellow plastic between it and the clamp so they wouldn't touch.

Pic 3: Massive fizzy action after less than 1 minute.

Pic 4: Massive sludge on top after 1 hour.

Pic 5: A literal 1/8" of solid rust that was left on the bottom of the container after I took the part out
 

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Here are some side-by-side pics with the untreated clamp (which is now being de-rusted).

Many markings were revealed. I have determined these are vintage "Hargrave" clamps, patent 1927.

They are about 7' long, with a 73" clamp ability. They are perhaps nearly 100 years old, work absolutely perfectly, look amazing, and will surely last another 100 years.

Heavy duty and extremely well built from a time when things were built to last.

I'm glad I didn't just chuck these, which was my original plan. I got them with the other clamps above in an auction essentially for free as they were part of a large package, and I really just wanted other stuff in the package.

I'll probably throw these up on craigslist or maybe ebay if I can find a way to ship them. They're awesome, but I don't really need them. I want to get them in the hands of someone who will actually use them.
 

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Here are some side-by-side pics with the untreated clamp (which is now being de-rusted).

Many markings were revealed. I have determined these are vintage "Hargrave" clamps, patent 1927.

They are about 7' long, with a 73" clamp ability. They are perhaps nearly 100 years old, work absolutely perfectly, look amazing, and will surely last another 100 years.

Heavy duty and extremely well built from a time when things were built to last.

I'm glad I didn't just chuck these, which was my original plan. I got them with the other clamps above in an auction essentially for free as they were part of a large package, and I really just wanted other stuff in the package.

I'll probably throw these up on craigslist or maybe ebay if I can find a way to ship them. They're awesome, but I don't really need them. I want to get them in the hands of someone who will actually use them.
It's such a basic thing to do - remove rust - but these pics are incredible. So cool you can bring stuff back to looking so new. Congrats on the success.
 
Took the other clamp out of the cooker today and cleaned it up.

Pretty amazing transformation with minimal effort, here are the finished pair.

Above you can see what this clamp looked like yesterday.
 

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I sold the long clamps to a professional cabinet maker today.

He was super happy to get them.

He paid twice what I paid for the entire auction lot.

He said a single similar length clamp of decent quality would cost about $100, and would break eventually, but these will last forever.

Feels good to get the tools into the hands of someone who will use them.

Glad I didn't just throw these away, which was my first thought. I bought the auction lot for a bunch of other stuff in it.
 
I would live to try this out. I just finished cleaning up a 1940s fan and must have used a bottle of rust remover and still couldn't get it all. This sounds way less aggravating.
 
If you don't have a battery charger any DC power source should work. You could use a computer power supply, a car battery directly, etc.

My understanding is that something in the 6V range is best but I expect anything in the 6v to 12v range would work.
It seems for some reason if you put too much washing soda in the mix, that 6V may be better. I suspect it doesn't really matter much.

I use the 12 volt 2 Amp setting on mine and actually measured about 6 volts across the terminals as the process was happening.

It could be that newer battery chargers will actually not work because they are too smart to realize there isn't an actual battery there and may shut off. Mine is ancient.
 
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I sold the long clamps to a professional cabinet maker today.

He was super happy to get them.

He paid twice what I paid for the entire auction lot.

He said a single similar length clamp of decent quality would cost about $100, and would break eventually, but these will last forever.

Feels good to get the tools into the hands of someone who will use them.

Glad I didn't just throw these away, which was my first thought. I bought the auction lot for a bunch of other stuff in it.
This makes me happier than a 3 legged cocksucker with a sack full of dad's knee pads.
 
I miss this kinda Phetty posting SO much. :LOL:
 
I sold the weird clamps today to a woodworker who uses them to restore antique clock cases at the Spinney Clockmakers guild of Port Jefferson, N.Y.

He said:

"...in case you are wondering I use this type of clamp to glue up Old Wooden School House Clock faces, Many of them were made with Eight pieces of wood which form an Octagon. When the glue joints get wet or get a lot of moisture from the air they let go, so the only thing i can do is take them all apart ,cut new wooden splines and glue them back together. This type of clamp is the only one that will allow you to pull them tight. Eight clamps are my total goal !!!!!"

Sure feels good to have gotten all (4) of these antique clamps back into the hands of folks who will actually use them.

Nice to have made a bit of money on otherwise-trash also, but in this case, I'm more pleased that the tools are back in service.

I know people love to whine about eBay, but I never would have found this guy without it. Happy to pay the fee.
 
So I finally found the box of coin door parts that I tried to de-rust with vinegar about a year and a half ago. They are now absolutely covered in rust. I had soaked these for weeks in vinegar, rinsed them off and then put them in a clean vinegar bath again for another few days. My wife was cleaning for a grad party and dumped out the vinegar and basically hid the parts in a stack of other boxes. I kind of forgot about the parts for a while. I started cleaning the garage this week and stumbled across them but now they are so fucking rusted that rust is actually falling off of them when I move them. I'm wondering if this method will work and what I need to do right afterward to make sure this doesn't happen again. WD-40? Clearcoat? Or does someone have a link to a yellow zinc plating kit?
 
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