de rusting really rusty iron

[derekcohen]

Bob ... as Bob says.

I just rub on a little machine oil.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Bob38S]

Thanks for the reply. My concern was that oiling etc may cause some contamination.

I have 2 sets of Bahco files, 1 I use only for metal which would be fine but the other set is used only for wood.

Regards,
Bob

[Dengue]

I can thoroughly recommend the electrolysis method. Just add washing soda to water in a plastic container, connect up +ve lead the battery charger to a piece of iron ( the sacrificial anode which replaces the rust), the -ve lead to the gear you want to treat, then let it run for a few hours. The rust is converted to some black stuff which easily washes/wipes/scrubs off. Then spray it with lanolin oil ( ever seen rust in a shearing shed?)

regards,
Jill

[NikA]

Soak the derusted items in a mixture of Whiting powder (calcium carbonate) in water for a day or two. This will restore the protective black oxide surface without the need for heat treatment. Rinse and dry. Carnauba wax will seal the surface and provide slip. Oils will just collect dust on wood tools and make them sticky.

[Woodlee]

G'day Derek, I have used vinegar to de-reust lightly rusted stuff before but had not thought of files.

Just some info, does vinegar work as well as the citric acid?

How do you overcome the "flash" rusting, which of course leads back to the original problem, after cleaning up the metals?

Do you coat the files with anything?

Regards,
Bob

I have use all three methods of rust removal mentioned here and all three work very well.
The best type of vinegar I have found is cleaning vinegar ,its higher in its acidity than normal white or brown vinegar .
It's available in the laundry area of the super market and is cheap around $1.75 for two litres.
I also use it for sharpening my metal working files.
After scrubbing with hot water and soap ,I then spray with CRC the crc will run any remaining water off the file.

Kev.

[Bob38S]

Thanks for the extra info Kev.

Regards,
Bob