Every Thing You Always Wanted to Know About Electrolytic Rust Removal

Every Thing You Always Wanted to Know About Electrolytic Rust Removal* But Were Afraid to Ask

Since it seems to come up very frequently, I thought I'd take a shot at writing a FAQ / How-To guide for using electrolysis to remove rust. Comments, corrections, additions are of course more than welcome.

What is Electrolytic Rust Removal?

Electrolytic Rust Removal (AKA Electrolysis) is a process that uses a low voltage DC current to remove rust from any ferrous metal item. The process affects only the rust and does no harm to any un-rusted underlying metals. It's one of the safest and gentlest processes for rust removal, which is why it is about the only method used by museums for preservation and restoration of iron and steel artifacts.

Can I do this in the comfort of my own shop/garage?

Absolutely! Electrolysis is simple to setup and quite safe as long as you follow a few common sense guidelines. A complete electrolysis setup can be made for $25-30, but you probably already have almost everything you need in your garage, shop and basement.

Am I going to blow myself up, get electrocuted, get poisoned, ruin my great great grandfather's vise?

No, no, no, and definitely no.

There are a few things to keep in mind before you get started. You will be using a battery charger or other low voltage DC power supply that plugs into 110V AC house current. You'll also have a big bucket or tank of water nearby, so use your head and make sure that you locate your charger someplace that it's not going to fall into your tank. Also take care to keep cords and plugs in a safe place. Use a GFCI protected outlet. Wear rubber gloves, wear eye protection, wear a condom. The 12V DC side of things is safe enough.. I've forgotten to unplug mine and reached into the tank to move an anode a couple of times, but it's best to unplug things whenever you're working on things.


The electrolyte itself is simply water and some Sodium Carbonate. (More on that later). Sodium Carbonate is safe, though you should wear gloves and avoid breathing it or getting it on your skin or in your eyes. If you do, just flush with plenty of water and you'll probably live. (If you don't, can I have your stuff?)

As for grandpa's old tools, electrolysis will not harm them. As long as you always hook up the negative side of your circuit to your tool, it will be unharmed. Only iron oxide is removed and neither the electric current nor the sodium carbonate solution will affect the good metal underneath, even if you leave it in there for a month. Care should be taken with non-ferrous metals and other non-metalic parts to avoid having them in the solution. Wood is usually ruined. The sodium carbonate solution turns most wood black, so handles etc should be removed if possible.

If your part is painted or plated, paint or plating that's intact and securely attached won't be harmed. Loose paint will usually come off in big sheets. Cast iron pieces like machinery parts usually end up stripped of their paint.


OK, I'm ready to do this. How to I start?

You'll need to gather a few things before you begin.

- A low voltage DC power supply. A battery charger works great for this and since you're here at GJ, you probably already own one. Older or cheap ones sometimes work better than newer fancier units since some of them have intelligent charging functions and they won't provide current if they think your “battery” isn't charging. If you find that you're putting out close to 0 amps, you might have this problem. If that's the case, just pickup a crummy old battery charger from a yard sale for $3.00 or get yourself an old power supply from an unwanted computer. (You can do a Google search on “Converting an ATX power supply to a bench power supply for all the gory details of what to do.. takes about 5 minutes) You can use any DC power supply that you have handy. I don't recommend anything more than 24v DC for safety. Also, too much current will waste energy heating up your electrolyte and you can potentially boil it if you use a large power supply with a small tank.

- Sodium Carbonate. The easiest place to get this is to buy a box of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda. You can find this with the laundry detergents/additives in most grocery stores. It's cheap, and a box will last you quite a while. Washing Soda is NOT the same as Baking Soda. Baking Soda is sodium bicarbonate. Baking soda doesn't work well as an electrolyte. If you can't find Washing Soda, you can convert baking soda to sodium carbonate by cooking it in your oven at 300 degrees for about an hour. It's suggested that you wait until your wife goes out before you do this.

- Sacrificial Anodes. (What the heck are those?) Sacrificial anodes can be just about any piece of iron or steel that you don't mind seeing ruined and/or consumed. An ideal anode is the same general shape as the item that you're de-rusting. Museum curators often use expanded steel mesh and form fit it around the artifacts that they're preserving. That's not really necessary for that old ratchet you found in the junk yard. A couple pieces of re-bar or an old crankshaft works just fine. In my opinion, the best sacrificial anodes are pieces of carbon graphite rod or plates. The biggest advantage of using graphite is that the whole tank stays much cleaner. They also last a very long time. When you use iron/steel, it accumulates rust and leaves a thick layer of orange sludge floating around your tank. You'll need to stop periodically to clean the rust accumulation from the anodes to keep everything working efficiently. Graphite anodes seem to shed whatever iron oxide they attract and it doesn't sludge or foam up in your tank. You can find graphite rods at welding or glass blowing supply places or on the Intertubes, eBay, Amazon etc. If you're just doing a couple of things or want to start RIGHT NOW, go ahead and look in the corners of your garage for some metal.

IMPORTANT HEALTH SAFETY NOTE: You should never, never, never ever use stainless steel for your anodes. Stainless steel contains chromium and it will cause hexavalent chromium (chromium VI) to precipitate out into your electrolyte. Hexavalent chromium is a nasty carcinogen and is responsible for several Superfund cleanup sites. Take a look at http://www.hexavalentchromiumdangers.com/ to see for yourself how bad this stuff is.

- A plastic bucket, tank or other non-metallic container. You can use just about anything that's large enough to contain your item (plus a little room for your anodes). Anything from a 1 gallon plastic bucket up to a wading pool or a big hole in the ground with a plastic liner will work. Some people have used metal containers and just used the container as the anode, but that gets messy and it will eventually be eaten down and get holes in it. You also have to take care to avoid letting your tool etc touch the sides. I like using a 5 gallon Spackle bucket for smaller stuff and a larger RubberMaid tub for larger things.

- Some wire to hook everything up.



.... continued in next post.....

OK. I got all that stuff. Now what?

To start, clean your item to remove any grease, loose paint and loose rust. A wire brush and some brake cleaner works well. If there's still some grime left it's not the end of the world. Washing soda is a pretty good degreaser and it'll do a decent job of cleaning your object, but it does make the electrolyte get slimy. Too much grease will “protect” your tool from the current, so it should be fairly clean when you start.

Now, fill your bucket or tub about halfway full of water. Make sure you leave room for whatever you're cleaning so it doesn't overflow when you submerge it. I use about 2-3 tablespoons of the washing soda per gallon of water. The ratio isn't critical. Too little will make your reaction run a little more slowly. Too much won't dissolve and will precipitate out to the bottom of your tank. Starting with some warm water if it's handy will speed up dissolving your washing soda, but if all you have is cold, just stir it for a few minutes to dissolve it.

Now it's time to hook everything up. Connect a length of wire to your vise, tool or recovered Titanic engine. I like to use insulated copper wire, stripping a couple of inches from the ends. Copper wire gets messy during electrolysis, so the less that's exposed the better. Steel baling wire works too but it tends to dissolve away on the anodes, so you'll need to check it once in a while. Good contact between your hookup wire and your part is essential, so you'll want to spot clean that area. If there's a convenient hole, run a bolt through it and connect the wire with a nut and some washers. If you have some conductive grease like Noalox, a little dab there can help but it's not really necessary. Leave enough wire to run outside of your tank. Next, hook wire(s) to your anode(s). If you're using multiple anodes (and you usually should since the process works best along “line of sight” ) make sure to wire them up together. I like to surround whatever I'm cleaning wherever it's practical. For things like gas tanks, you can use a single anode (such as a steel bar) wrapped in some plastic window screen and slipped inside the filler neck. Double check and make sure that your part and the anodes aren't touching each other anywhere and creating a short circuit. Some wood bars across the tank with some wires to hang everything onto can be useful to keep everything in place.

Submerge your part and top up the tank with water to cover by at least an inch or two to allow for evaporation. It's best if your part doesn't rest on the bottom of the tank. I put a couple of fire bricks on the bottom but anything non-metallic will work.

Next up, you need to connect your power supply to your part and to the anodes. IT IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT to hook the negative terminal to your part and the positive terminal to your sacrificial anode.

Let me repeat that... IT IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT to hook the negative terminal to your part and the positive terminal to your sacrificial anode.

If you screw this part up, you'll convert the remaining sound metal on your part into some brand new rust. Leave it that way for a few days and your part will be reduced to a pile of iron oxide.

Negative (minus) = less rust. Positive (plus) = more rust is how I remember it.

Within a minute or so, you'll see some bubbles coming up off your part. That's the sign that the reaction is working. That gas is hydrogen, so it's a good idea to do this in a well ventilated area away from open flame. (Remember the Hindenburg!). Realistically, the amount of hydrogen produced is pretty small, so doing this inside your garage is just fine. For extra credit, you can collect some of this hydrogen gas in a small container and burn it, turning it into water.

Is it soup yet??

So, how long does all this take? That depends on a number of factors... how large and rusty is grandfather's vise? How much juice is your power supply putting out? How many anodes did you use and are they fairly close to your part? I like to check the progress after 4-5 hours. It's a good opportunity to check your anodes and clean them off with a wire brush if they're starting to crust up. You might also want to skim the sludge from your electrolyte once in a while.. it gets pretty nasty. I almost always use graphite anodes and I've left some larger items (like a 150 lb anvil) going for nearly a week. Eventually, the bubbles will slow down as the last of the rust is consumed and it's time to remove your part from the tank.

Hooray, I'm done!

Well, almost. When your part comes out of the tank, it's usually covered by a layer of black oxide. Rinse your part off with some clean water to remove the electrolyte. The black coating usually comes off with a scotch-brite pad or a stiff brush. I like to rinse in some very hot water so the part dries quickly.

Hey!!! WTF???!!? My part has been clean for 30 seconds and it's rusting already!!!

Your steel item is now squeaky clean and lacks any kind of oxide or other protection. Unless you live in Arizona, chances are that you're going to see some flash rust appear on your item as it's drying. This usually wipes right off, but some Jasco metal prep or other surface treatment will keep it to a minimum. You'll want to protect the surface quickly to prevent rust from getting a hold again. Now is a good time to apply primer, wax, oil or whatever your final finish is going to be. For older things, I've had good luck heating up to 400 degrees or so and dropping them into some motor oil. You should do this outdoors and wear a respirator since it will produce a HUGE cloud of acrid smoke. Lather, rinse, repeat this a couple of times and you'll end up with a finish that's like granny's old cast iron frying pan.

If you skim the sludge off of your tank, you can keep using the electrolyte until it's just too disgusting. It doesn't go bad or degrade. If some of it evaporates, you can just add more water. Keep it covered to keep out bugs, rodents and small children. When you're ready to dispose of it, you can pour it down the drain (it's not toxic). I dump mine out behind my garage. It's actually pretty good for alkaline loving plants, so you can just toss it on the lawn if you really want. If you don't expect to do any more parts soon, take the leftover washing soda into your laundry room. It's a great grease remover added to your laundry and is perfect for washing those pants you're wearing.

Remember:

- Always hook your precious item to the negative lead of your power supply.

- No stainless steel anodes.

- Be prepared to paint, oil, etc right away to avoid re-rusting.

- Electricity and water don't mix (actually, they mix great.. electricity, water and humans don't mix). Be safe with your power supply.

Great write up! Be advised, however, using an industrial grade, high amperage battery charger to speed up the process will damage the part being cleaned. 50 amperes = too much. In my experience, 3 - 5 amperes is plenty.

Great post. Well explained...I will be trying this for the first time soon!
I especially liked the information on how to treat with motor oil.

I remember reading somewhere that you can use vinegar to get rid of the residual oxides after electrolysis, does this sound right?

Very well written, thanks for the post!

super thanks, i have a 30 gallon rubbermaid tote and a large 30-50? amp DC rectifier power supply from the gold plating specialists, just need some anodes and washing soda!!

Thanks

i searched, didnt find anything. has anyone ever used CLR to clean their tools and would it be safe in a e-bath solution? its supposed to work miracles but i have never used it on anything. i did pick up a quart at rite aid when i went looking for the washing soda. seems no one there or target or winn dixie knew wtf washing soda was. then i found winn dixie brand automatic dish washing powder and it is sodium carbonate(washing soda).

A good source for the sodium carbonate is a pool supply company or the local big box store. You will want to purchase "PH up"

I use this for cleaning deer skulls for a European mount.

great write up Rich!


One added comment: Don't use non iron (copper or cad/zinc plated ) wire to hookup within the electrolyte. (Outside on the external parts of the anodes is fine) You can get heavy metals into the solution which is also bad. Use unplated iron wire or (striped coat hanger wire, which is how I generally hang my parts in the tank off of a crossbar, generally a short section of rebar (which also make a good sacrificial anode)

If kept clear of SS and other heavy metals, the waste solution is relatively safe, and only really contains various oxides of iron in a PH unbalanced solution (which could be neutralized, just use Spa/pool PH - (Minus).

Daves69 said:

A good source for the sodium carbonate is a pool supply company or the local big box store. You will want to purchase "PH up"

I use this for cleaning deer skulls for a European mount.

Click to expand...

This is also called "PH (Plus)

How do yo use for the deer skull? Just soak? is the solution a high concentrate?

Outlawmws said:

How do yo use for the deer skull? Just soak? is the solution a high concentrate?

Click to expand...

I use a pretty good concentrate and let it simmer not boil outside over a propane cooker.
The washing soda helps breakdown the all the connective tissue.
The first one I did I had camo dipped.

We should have something in here for disposal, other than pouring it on your plants. Most of these old vises and things from that era have lead based paint. I'm no eco-nut, but I have well water and I don't want a superfund site in my backyard.

Someone suggested hauling the whole container to the paint section of the dump, and pouring it there.

Is there an easy way to dry out the soup, so we could just bag up the scum? Or is there something else that could be added to bond with the lead to make it less toxic or easier to deal with?

At least in electrolysis, at some point you have lead paint in a contained vessel ready for disposal. If you had ground it with a wire wheel, now the paint chips are all over your garage/driveway. If you had sandblasted, now you've contaminated your media and your cabinet/vacuum, and maybe wherever your cabinet vents to.

Short of taking the piece to a shop to have it chem dipped, electrolysis seems like a reasonable way of controlling where the lead goes. Same for parts off of old 'leadsled' cars.

Outstanding write up

I just picked up an old Craftsman 8 amp charger with a timer and some soda so I am almost set to start up my own business. But I have a question, the pieces that I want to clean, do they get hung from a wire in the bath? Or do I clip them and lay them down in the water? Can the clip be submerged in the solution or does it have to stay dry? Any ideas how long I would have to leave my drill press base in the solution? IT is on the large side and weighs about 20 lbs.

Thanks

Mike

very interesting considering I just acquired two tool boxes fully loaded of rusted to hell machinist tools and misc. I'm guessing years and years and more years of water in the boxes caused the damage. I was thinking buffer, since I have three buffers and could run 6 wheels which should be enough to start to finish , but this sounds much better and eliminating half the steps n mess Id be creating and faster over all man hour wise.
How dooes is to with threads n such? I have lots of clamp rusted shut in various positions, I won't be compounding any problems at the points where threads are going into the clamps? I believe with even with cleaning and lots of super thin oil like kroil to try and soak in I will break a few getting em to turn from where they are so I can get to those threads too. I was figuring doing visible areas first so when I do crank on em they go to clean threads. anybody got pics?
thanks

phy6 said:

We should have something in here for disposal, other than pouring it on your plants. Most of these old vises and things from that era have lead based paint.

Click to expand...

As far as I'm aware, no paint should be dissolved into the electrolyte, so pouring it through a fine mesh screen and then some filter cloth should remove just about all of it. For the stuff that I've done, there's either been no paint left, or it's sheeted off in large chunks which can be fished out easily.

If you want to evaporate out the solution, you could pour it into some disposable aluminum baking dishes and leave them out in the sun for a few days.

1930artdeco said:

I just picked up an old Craftsman 8 amp charger with a timer and some soda so I am almost set to start up my own business. But I have a question, the pieces that I want to clean, do they get hung from a wire in the bath? Or do I clip them and lay them down in the water? Can the clip be submerged in the solution or does it have to stay dry? Any ideas how long I would have to leave my drill press base in the solution? IT is on the large side and weighs about 20 lbs.

Thanks

Mike

Click to expand...

I use a piece of rebar across the top of my bucket for hanging parts on and just use steel wire to hang them. something big and heavy may require something like coat hanger, or you cn put a brick in the bottom and rest one edge on that while you support the top with the rebar/wire (I do this routinely)

Keep any non iron wire/plated clips, etc out of the soup. you can use copper wire to connect sections of anodes on the outside of the tank, above water line.

For large parts it may take longer, depending on how rusty it is. Before starting any large parts take the anodes out and give them a quick wire brushing to remove scale. It does not have to be perfect, and that scale generally comes off pretty easily.

Don't be afraid to pull a part out, give it a quick wire brushing and see where you are at.

hammertime1 said:

very interesting considering I just acquired two tool boxes fully loaded of rusted to hell machinist tools and misc. I'm guessing years and years and more years of water in the boxes caused the damage. I was thinking buffer, since I have three buffers and could run 6 wheels which should be enough to start to finish , but this sounds much better and eliminating half the steps n mess Id be creating and faster over all man hour wise.
How dooes is to with threads n such? I have lots of clamp rusted shut in various positions, I won't be compounding any problems at the points where threads are going into the clamps? I believe with even with cleaning and lots of super thin oil like kroil to try and soak in I will break a few getting em to turn from where they are so I can get to those threads too. I was figuring doing visible areas first so when I do crank on em they go to clean threads. anybody got pics?
thanks

Click to expand...

It works well on threaded parts and often will loosen the seized part making it easier to get to the stuck areas. If it does not break lose, soak the seized parts in a good penetrant for a week or so. Then try again. or you can give a vinegar bath a try, and see if it will get inside the threads and do the rust in...

If you have plated tools, don't put them in the electrolysis tank, use SOS pads on chrome, or oil and 0000 steel wool instead.

spongerich said:

As far as I'm aware, no paint should be dissolved into the electrolyte, so pouring it through a fine mesh screen and then some filter cloth should remove just about all of it. For the stuff that I've done, there's either been no paint left, or it's sheeted off in large chunks which can be fished out easily.

If you want to evaporate out the solution, you could pour it into some disposable aluminum baking dishes and leave them out in the sun for a few days.

Click to expand...

on This^^^

You can also dump the electrolyte from one bucket to another, after letting the sludge settle, and then dump the sludge. I agree paint does not dissolve and can be filtered and dealt with as as solid or semi solid...

Once your old tank is clean (you can rinse the residue and dump that in the toilet...) simply reuse the electrolyte. If you are done with it and don't want to dump it, you can evaporate it and that can be sped up using a simple small aquarium pump and an air stone to keep the water moving while it evaporates, and of course the sun and breeze helps too.

Great write-up. The process does work well, especially on sheet metal parts that are not substantial enough for mechanical cleaning.

Does the water have to be distilled or can regular water be used?

Mike

1930artdeco said:

Does the water have to be distilled or can regular water be used?

Mike

Click to expand...

Tap water is fine.

If you were doing historical restoration on valuable/museum artifacts, that might want distilled, but I've never heard of it mentioned specifically.

Great tips on straining the solids out, my rig is almost ready to go. Good call on the coat hanger, I thought I'd have to use copper wire or sacrifice a chain to make the connection.

I had a few questions, and this is the newest thread on the matter. As far as the sacrificial anodes go, most people use 5-6 piece of rebar or round stock spaced evenly around. Wouldn't more surface area be better? I was thinking of using 6 piece of 3"x.125" flat stock, with the flat sides facing inwards. That would be a hell of a lot more surface area line-of-sight to the part being derusted. I decided to build a dedicated rig for this, starting small at first. Just bought a 20g BRUTE container today and some 12g solid-strand wire for hooking everything up. I was actually planning on making the anode assembly one piece, so I could just lift it out of the bucket when need be. The 3" flat stock would be bolted to the frame or just all welded up, haven't decided yet. I scored 2 old-school USA made small chargers at an ez-pawn. 1 Sears 8A 12v charger (no settings) and 1 Schummacher (sp?) Made in USA with 6v/12v settings and 2A and 6A settings. I got them both for $40 out the door. I hope 6A or 8A is enough? I haven't really seen people talk too much about current required to do this.. What do you guys thing?

jrlp,

6 or 8 amps is plenty and if either has a switch from say 4-8 or 3-6, use the lower setting. It works just as well.

Also, welding the anode together is a good idea for line-of-sight, but realize that that stuff is sacrificial, so you will be adding on if you use it a lot.

I used this method on pieces of an old spring harrow that I was going to make some yard art with, and even though they were not scaly with rust, it took about 2 weeks or so before the brew stopped bubbling, and that was with cleaning anodes every morning. Mine were old mower blades tacked together in a circle with rebar.

Good Luck.

Paul

'56 Nomad

Flat plate anodes do work well. As lomad said, you'll be replacing and/or cleaning them often so bolting is probably better than welding.

If you're planning to do a bunch of stuff, invest in some carbon graphite rods and plates. They're not that expensive, they last a very long time, and they make much less of a mess than using steel/iron.

Awesome post. THIS SHOULD BE PINNED.

+1
Sticky this thread.

I'll look into it. For now I think I'm just going to weld everything together as this is 'Phase 1' just to get started and get a feel for the process. I found washing soda, took a few places to find it, though. I'll put a build thread up when I build mine, I'm planning on Sunday for the day. I have a very old leg vise my girlfriend's grandfather gave me, as well as a 2 ton chain hoist that probably weighs 300lb. Those are the first ones I plan on doing.

How about a few pics of some setups?

I have used this process for a while to clean parts and it works well. I use a 6 amp manual battery charger and a old steel saw blade for an anode. Newer automatic battery chargers may not work as they need to detect a small voltage which would represent the battery being attached. I also found washing soda to be a very good cleaning solution for greasy, oily parts.
For a super penetrating solution try 1 part ATF to 1 part acetone.

Is anyone using carbon graphite rods and or plates? I'll have to check You tube and look for a video.

spongerich said:

OK, I'm ready to do this. How to I start?

You'll need to gather a few things before you begin.

- A low voltage DC power supply. A battery charger works great for this and since you're here at GJ, you probably already own one.

Click to expand...

I have to disagree with you on this advice.
Chance's are the person you are giving this advice may only have one charger. I've burnt through 6 different battery chargers, all the newer style ones.



Once I went to using an old computer power supply I haven't looked back.
Chances are you can find a computer power supply cheaper than a couple amp charger.

spongerich said:

(You can do a Google search on “Converting an ATX power supply to a bench power supply for all the gory details of what to do.. takes about 5 minutes)

Click to expand...

harrytbagger said:

How about a few pics of some setups?

Click to expand...

Not a great picture, but what I did was take some 48" rebar and a 44gal rubbermaid brute trash can. Marked out where I wanted the electrodes to sit off the bottom. Then I took five 1/4" carriage bolts and bent them 90 degrees about 1.5" down from the head. Then I welded the heads on to the rebar.

Now I have the hook effect that one of the other GJ members has, but it has the screw part built in. I used 2 nuts and 2 washers on each bolt, sandwiching in some 10ga well pump wire on each one. I left a little slack between the electrodes so I could re-position them depending on the shape of the piece.

The washers actually lock the electrodes from being lifted out accidentally, I have to kind of pry them off.


So far the ungainly long rebar hasn't been much of a hinderance. My next improvement would be to cut them a few inches above the bolt.

For a lead to the work piece (vise), I used an old golden metal coat hanger, and sanded off the coating where it touches the piece. I also sanded where it touches the alligator clip for the anode.

For hanging, I've now switched to using some old clothesline cable that I had laying around. I have enough slack somewhere in the top to fit in a hook, and I use an engine lift to lift out the heavy pieces. This was my first run, where I used some old rope.


I'm using a 'Century' Chicago electric battery charger. I get 9A on clean electrodes and a large part.


The sodium carbonate I used was from a bottle of PH Up powder, sold in the pool section of Lowes. The $6 will probably last a lifetime.

I leave the electrolysis container outside while it's doing it's business, on a dolly. It's close enough to the garage door that I leave the charger inside, out of the weather. I just close the garage door on the wire and I can leave it running all week 24/7.

930dreamer said:

Is anyone using carbon graphite rods and or plates? I'll have to check You tube and look for a video.

Click to expand...

I scored a bunch from an auction and it's all I use now.
No more orange sludge floating around in the tank.

They last 10x longer than steel too and don't crust up at all so no stopping to clean them.

spongerich said:

I scored a bunch from an auction and it's all I use now.
No more orange sludge floating around in the tank.

They last 10x longer than steel too and don't crust up at all so no stopping to clean them.

Click to expand...

I sold a few 12"x12" squares last year, had no idea what poeple used it for. I'll add electroylis and EPM to the list. Any pics of your setup?

I have a 6" Wilton machinist vise painted blue and rusty. Most of the paint is still firmly adhered and thick. Will electrolysis remove the paint? Will it affect the machined surfaces? How long would it take to clean the vise?

bad_idea said:

I have a 6" Wilton machinist vise painted blue and rusty. Most of the paint is still firmly adhered and thick. Will electrolysis remove the paint? Will it affect the machined surfaces? How long would it take to clean the vise?

Click to expand...

Paint on the Wilton I just bought is coming right off after about 24 hours in the tank at 2 amps.

I'll know more in the morning after another 12 hours in the tank. My vise is stuck solid w/rust so we'll see how it goes.

bad_idea said:

I have a 6" Wilton machinist vise painted blue and rusty. Most of the paint is still firmly adhered and thick. Will electrolysis remove the paint? Will it affect the machined surfaces? How long would it take to clean the vise?

Click to expand...

Will not affect machined surfaces unless there is rust on them. To speed things up try scraping the paint with a razor/scraper, although the paint will eventually come off if there is line of sight to the cathodes. Make sure to have a containment plan for the paint chips and the sludge if you think they may contain lead. Mine did. Don't use a wire wheel and sling lead dust/chips around your garage or on your lawn. Don't use a sandblaster and contaminate your cabinet and media. Manually scraping it and sweeping it into a bag is the best way.

It probably only needs a few hours to get a decent cleaning, but I've left one in for a week with no issues. If you get/see black oxidation when you take it out, that's actually FeO embedded in the grains of the metal.

Edit: Ok, I can't find the paper I read stating the FeO (Iron II Oxide) embedded in the metal grains was a superior bonding surface for paint. So try it out. The black oxide will scrub off, but may well reappear because it's embedded in the metal.