# Removing rust



## akirk (7 Nov 2020)

I have been donated a pillar drill by a friend, which has been sitting in a garage and has some surface rust...
what is the best method of removing the rust, and in particular, what finish shoud I have on the table? I have hammerite paint which I can use to refresh the painted bits but am assuming that the table surface should just be metal?
And I am curious as to why the foot has a non-painted bit...
odd bits are the handle and the screw for the table height...
Alasdair


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## sploo (7 Nov 2020)

akirk said:


> I have been donated a pillar drill by a friend, which has been sitting in a garage and has some surface rust...
> what is the best method of removing the rust, and in particular, what finish shoud I have on the table? I have hammerite paint which I can use to refresh the painted bits but am assuming that the table surface should just be metal?
> And I am curious as to why the foot has a non-painted bit...
> odd bits are the handle and the screw for the table height...
> ...


For smaller bits that you can leave in a bucket, Evaporust is superb.

Don't put any finish on the table or foot - paint isn't a sufficiently flat and stable surface where accuracy is required. Just use a flat block with sandpaper; maybe lubricated with water or WD40, and sand the surface rust off.

Liberon's Lubricating Wax would be good for protecting the sanded bare metal, though there are plenty of alternatives (e.g. oil, Boeshield, microcrystalline wax). Probably not oil if you're planning on drilling wood though.

The foot surface is also unpainted as it can be used as a surface for really tall material (e.g. drilling the end of a table leg, with the upper table swung out of the way).


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## akirk (7 Nov 2020)

thank you, that all makes sense and is doable!
foot surface as another table - hadn‘t thought of that but yes, explains it...
thanks


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## TFrench (7 Nov 2020)

My current favourites for rust removal - 
small parts - mix citric acid with a bucket of warm water and chuck them in. Remove within 24hrs - I've had the citric crystallise if left longer. It's as good as evaporust and a fraction of the price.
large parts - wd40 and scotchbrite. Doesn't leave as bad scratch marks as sandpaper.


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## akirk (7 Nov 2020)

thank you, I have some citric acid, so can try that...


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## sploo (7 Nov 2020)

Vinegar also works, but as TFrench notes; remove within 24 hours. It's one of the reasons I like Evaporust - it doesn't risk damage to any sensitive parts as it only attacks the rust.


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## TFrench (7 Nov 2020)

Evaporust is great, but nearly £35 for 10 litres is crazy, especially when I'm doing some big chunks! I suspect they're heavily sponsoring people like keith rucker and abom79 who are throwing parts in entire vats of the stuff!


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## sploo (8 Nov 2020)

TFrench said:


> Evaporust is great, but nearly £35 for 10 litres is crazy, especially when I'm doing some big chunks! I suspect they're heavily sponsoring people like keith rucker and abom79 who are throwing parts in entire vats of the stuff!


It _really_ hurts when you screw up pouring a vat back into a container and empty it over the floor


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## Paul Narramore (8 Nov 2020)

There are some excellent, and slightly over-the-top, videos on YouTube which show pillar drills being refurbished. I bought an elderly Ajax pillar drill some years ago and refurbished mine. It’s all pretty much common sense really. For the rusty bits I used a wire cup brush in an angle grinder followed by steel wool and WD40. For the painted parts I bought some special ‘industrial’ paint online in light grey. Compared to old Japanese motorcycles I often work on, pillar drills are very basic devices.


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## kenledger (8 Nov 2020)

If there are bits that cant be soaked, base and table, Get some 0000 steel wool (Liberon Steel Wool)
and use with oil or WD40, it will not scratch the surfaces. Have used it for years on all manner of things.


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## akirk (8 Nov 2020)

Some great ideas - thank you...
The handles are currently soaking in citric acid and I will try wd40 and 0000 steel wool!


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## oldboffin (8 Nov 2020)

my problem is de-greasing prior to the de-rusting. What have people found to be effective, I'm not thinking large items, perhaps anything able to fit a 5L bucket


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## sploo (8 Nov 2020)

oldboffin said:


> my problem is de-greasing prior to the de-rusting. What have people found to be effective, I'm not thinking large items, perhaps anything able to fit a 5L bucket


White spirit and a toothbrush!


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## [email protected] (9 Nov 2020)

What ratio of citric acid to water do people suggest?


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## TFrench (9 Nov 2020)

For degreasing I use a pump spay with clutch cleaner, works well.

The ratio of citric acid I used was 1 bucket of water : 1 takeaway tub of acid powder. Worked a treat.


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## [email protected] (9 Nov 2020)

Thanks. Are those metric or imperial units? - LOL


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## HamsterJam (9 Nov 2020)

I gather camellia oil can be used to protect the bare metal once you have it refurbished. Apparently it doesn’t mark wood. I found some which I used on my bandsaw table and also lathe bed at the weekend. Too early to tell how effective it is at keeping rust at bay but makes the mitre gauge, tool rest and tail stock slide nicely. Has anyone else used it?


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## Ollie78 (9 Nov 2020)

First a webrax pad in a drill or angle grinder followed by a the 3 grades of Gary block.
Should be enough but if not then go to wet and dry paper.

Ollie


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## Sideways (9 Nov 2020)

Read up about electrolytic rust removal. You need an old laptop power supply, plastic bucket, some wire and literally £1 worth of chemical from your local Tesco / whatever.
It's the best, cheapest and easiest way.
Your drill tables, I would scrape using a sandvik scraper or even just a stanley knife blade, then rub up with scotchbrite pad lubricated with gunk degreaser or a squirt of wd40. Wipe and repeat a time or two as needed.


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## akirk (10 Nov 2020)

Some slow progress...
handles have been in citric acid for a few hours and surface rust has come off - hurrah!
main drill table has been attacked with various things from wire wool to scotchbrite (both with WD40) and the dremel...
now looking much better:


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## ScaredyCat (10 Nov 2020)

I use Coca cola and tinfoil on my motorcycle. Takes the surface stuff off with next to zero effort.


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## clogs (10 Nov 2020)

I just use a scraper to knock off the big bits and then a rotary wire brush in an angle grinder....
clean off with an air line ....apply oil and years of use will polish it up nicely....
itching to try the electrolytic method of rust removeal tho.....


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## Arnold9801 (13 Nov 2020)

Where do you get the citric from?


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## Robbo3 (13 Nov 2020)

Arnold9801 said:


> Where do you get the citric from?


Ebay, eg £3.30 for 500g.
- CITRIC ACID 500g - Purest Food Grade Anhydrous Descaler Bath Bombs Home Brewing 5081951819984 | eBay


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## Dalboy (13 Nov 2020)

Robbo3 said:


> Ebay, eg £3.30 for 500g.
> - CITRIC ACID 500g - Purest Food Grade Anhydrous Descaler Bath Bombs Home Brewing 5081951819984 | eBay


Or try the chemist for smaller quantities as it is used in home brewing and drug making not that anyone here would go for the second option


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## The_Yellow_Ardvark (14 Nov 2020)

If you want to do other stuff as it de rusts.
Citric acid.
1tablespoon per Ltr.

Warm/hot water will speed the action up. But I don't bother. I just submerge and leave.

But faster is electrolysis. I use washing soda. One heeped table spoon per ltr.
Cheep battery charger and leave it.
With the anodes, leave the metal above the serface and wire them, so the cooper wire is not in contact with the fluid.


The above methods will need the metal dried out, fully. Or the rust will return.

You could bake it on with a blow torch and using wax and oil have a traditional finish.

For speed. Power tools.
Angle grinders with wire brushs, sanding discs, grinding discs and other pads.

Drills with burrs or wire brushes to get into nooks and difficult areas..

Hand tools will sometimes be needed as well.

Unless the fixings are difficult to find I bin them and fit new.

The best is to get a coat of paint, wax or oil on any freshly de rusted part or the rust will return.

I have done landrover chassis down to a jewerlers vice with the above methods.

I have had car parts blasted, even a lathe dipped in the past.

The best results are achived from the amount of effert yopu put in.


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## The_Yellow_Ardvark (14 Nov 2020)

Electrolysis in action. Tis was a retaining pin for a workshop door.






Citric acid in use.




The results.
Dried with a blow torch and waxed.


Power tools, used to clean up this vice.





To this.


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## Sandyn (23 Nov 2020)

I have used electrolysis before, but didn't have my power supply unit then, so tried it again.






This is a very old Chain block I need to use to lift a planer. It's been up in my loft since the last time I used it 15 years ago. I did two runs on the block, each 24 hours. 







I used an old float as one electrode, but had to put some wood in to make it sink  first power up, at 20V, it was maxing out the PSU at 5.5A, but this tapered off over 24hrs to about 0.7A. Second run was similar.






This was the float after two 24hr runs.








Result was very good on the pulley, but as I expected, the chain was more difficult to get consistent contact to the electrode, so some parts of the chain were cleaned, others were still rusty. I tried cleaning the chain manually, but it was endless, so I gave up! 
There weren't many parts of the chain which were still rusty, but if I bothered to do it again, I would thread the chain on a long loop of wire. I did have a square of wire mesh in the bottom of the bucket, but you need to get every link to make contact.


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## Chisteve (24 Nov 2020)

Interesting thread I have been using cilitbang for rust removal on hand tools works well and cheap also much cheaper than rust remover fluid


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