De-rusting gone wrong?

[MichaelBikel]

Forgive me if this topic has been covered, but I couldn't find quite what I was looking for in the discussions. So I picked up some USA tools at a tag sale, billings ball pein hammer, 2 kraeuter pliers, and found an old axe head in an abandoned home. I have used apple cider vinegar before to dearest and it has worked really well, turned out great on the Billings hammer! However, the kraeuter pliers seem to be pitted in some spots which i'm not sure if I wasn't paying attention to prior to their dip or if it was the vinegar. The thing is it seems to be less concentrated on the handles and more near the spine of the mouth of the pliers. Is it even possible to cause pitting with vinegar? Will post pics tomorrow.

Also, after you de-rust if you are not going to paint it how would you prevent rust? With axes I see guys use oil and beeswax, right now I have them lightly oiled...

 

[tym]

How long was the dunk?

Pitting visible to the naked eye caused by a few hours' soaking in household vinegar strikes me as unlikely, but I haven't tested.

 

[rusty65]

Honestly I'd say no not at all from the vinegar I've left parts and tools in vinegar for days. The longest I did was a adjustable for like a month and a half and then threw it in the bed of my truck so that one did get pretty messed up.

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[raiderhillbilly]

I have had that happen with vinegar. I am not sure if it was deeper than it looked rust or too long of a soak. I have had much better results with Evapo-Rust.

 

[Infinia]

Its best to thoroughly clean and degrease before any acid treatment or electrolysis...., Vinegar is mildly acidic so pits were mostly there before-hand and resisted acid etching.

Wash all traces of acid bath completely away when done. Use some coatings to block air or /oxidization from reoccurring. Some folks use oils, some use wax , I reckon some of the newer poly car paint protection products would be good too.

 

[MichaelBikel]

Thanks all, they were in probably 24 hours maybe less? I looked at the original pics to varify but bad lighting makes it difficult. I have used evapo rust and metal rescue before with luck, never had a problem with the vinegar till now. Perhaps I will do some experimenting with some junk tools.

 

[SilverDeck]

Before derusting it is sometimes tough to tell if the steel is pitted or not. The rusted metal "grows" and sometimes fills the pits. Usually if I can feel the rust raised above the surface of the surrounding metal, I figure that the underlying steel is probably pitted. The vinegar is a weak acid and attacks the iron oxide (rust). Then when softened or dissolved rust is wire brushed away all that is left is a bright pit. After derusting tools in vinegar, I wire brush them by hand under running water to remove the black iron oxide then dry then and spray with WD-40 before applying a coat or two of Johnson's paste wax.

 

[hoinox11]

I've had good result from cleaning grade vinegar. Just white vinegar with 6% acetic acid and it's found in the cleaning aisles of some stores. Best results personally though have been by getting like 3 gallons of wd40 and a bucket to put it in, then letting the tools soak for about a day or two. Best part is that it doesn't dry out the steel or iron, but instead it leaves a nice, clean and lubricated finish without the scrubbing on top of that.