was raking around a tree in my yard when my rake hooked on something. I got a shovel and dug it out and it was an old heavy duty chain with a hook on one end. It was about 8 ft. Long and very heavily rusted. I know it had been in the ground for at least 15 years because that is how long we have owned this property. But it could have been in the ground for 20 or 30 years for all I know.
So I had an idea. I took my Dad’s concrete mixer, dumped some gravel in it along with the rusted chain and let it run for 30 minutes. Results were great. I would say that 75% of the rust came off the chain. I then took some rusty wrenches that belonged to my grandfather and dumped them in the mixer for about 20 minutes. Results were also very impressive. This process was much quicker and cheaper than electrolysis which I had previously used on some prior tools. It would have probably worked even better with blasting media. I think this will be my primary method to remove rust in the future.
So I had an idea. I took my Dad’s concrete mixer, dumped some gravel in it along with the rusted chain and let it run for 30 minutes. Results were great. I would say that 75% of the rust came off the chain. I then took some rusty wrenches that belonged to my grandfather and dumped them in the mixer for about 20 minutes. Results were also very impressive. This process was much quicker and cheaper than electrolysis which I had previously used on some prior tools. It would have probably worked even better with blasting media. I think this will be my primary method to remove rust in the future.