Yet another electrolytic rust removal post (ERR10392)

WTF, I had nothing to lose, so I tried it with just the lye. It worked,
very well. So well that I would certainly not bother to get all those
other ingredients and mix to the recipe. I don't doubt that the
official recipe is superior, but it couldn't be that much better.
Perhaps its real advantage is in other cleaning situations.

BTW - all I did was attach negative to the lathe bed, dip the (positive)
swab in the lye and rub the rust. Poof!, it was gone. (Well, maybe not
"poof", but very quickly.) Thanks, Ted.

I was about to hit "Send", when I thought "Maybe just TSP would work".
Well, it does. And just as well as lye. Maybe better - it doesn't foam
as much. This is good - that lye is nasty stuff.

Feeling that I was on a roll, I tried using a wooden dowel in place of
the carbon rod, thinking that the electrolyte-saturated cotton might be
enough of a conductor. Nope - you need the carbon.

Bob

Hummm...what is the power source ?

Gunner, thinking about his "new" mill

The aim of untold millions is to be free to do exactly as they choose
and for someone else to pay when things go wrong.

In the past few decades, a peculiar and distinctive psychology
has emerged in England. Gone are the civility, sturdy independence,
and admirable stoicism that carried the English through the war years
. It has been replaced by a constant whine of excuses, complaints,
and special pleading. The collapse of the British character has been
as swift and complete as the collapse of British power.

Theodore Dalrymple,

Battery charger. The most that I pulled was a couple of amps, but it
would depend upon the area of contact, the thickness of the cotton, and
the electrolyte concentration.

Bob

So tell me how you do it if you would be so kind. That Italian
horizontal would be nice if I could derust some of the bits without
taking it apart.

Ive been reading up on the tub method, Ive got a lot of tubs that would
work fine, but would rather be able to spot derust if its possible.

Gunner

>>> Now why doesn't this surprise me one bit?

That's easy.... you're too dull witted to be capable of surprise. What
little synaptic ability you do possess is stretched to the limit with
life support. If you diverted power to the critical thought processors
you'd asphyxiate in a matter of minutes.

George Orwell

http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/_1999_retired_files/E-CLEAN.TXT

Ed

I thought the parts electrode needs to be negative?

The part itself needs to be negative.

I accidentally reminded myself of this on Friday. I needed to cut a gear and
got out the dividing head. I had been stored in the (damp) garage for a couple
of years without enough oil on it and there were some light spots of rust on
one of the dividing plates. I set it going in a bowl of washing soda.

I was sure that I had checked the polarity before I connected it up. When I
had a look at it half an hour later the rust was certainly gone, but there was
significant cratering in the areas where the rust had been... I'd got the
bloody thing back to front! Luckily the damage is cosmetic, but I'm still
annoyed at myself.

Mark Rand
RTFM

First the qualification: I have about as little experience with this as
is possible. I encourage you to alter as much of what I did as your
imagination allows.

I mixed a strong solution of TSP, near saturation, I would say.

I wrapped a 1/2" carbon rod with cotton batting. Not very thick (I
don't know how you would measure it). I think that its purpose is just
to prevent shorting the rod and work piece. A 1/2" rod was what I had.
My preference would be flat carbon, for more contact area.

Using a 12v battery charger, I connected the negative to the lathe bed
and the positive to the carbon rod.

I dipped the cotton-wrapped rod in the TSP solution and applied the rod
to the rusted spot on the lathe bed. I kept the spot wet with a baster.
"Poof" is an exaggeration, to be sure, but it did go pretty fast.

What I tried and didn't work: copper, brass, aluminum, and steel anodes.
(The copper got this really bright blue coating!)

HTH,
Bob