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Rust Removal: Death by Scraping

Everyone has their favourite methods. I tried some that was published.

Citric acid, Vinegar:
 Good for small rusted items like screws and bolts. An overnight soak leaves even the fine screw threads clean. Will re-rust rapidly if not flushed with tap water, dried and oild/waxed.

Coke (the drink) and Aluminium foil:
Most useful for folks with limited cleaning arsenal, works well on lightly spotted or tarnished chrome bumpers or bicycle frames. (Now you know why there's an ant farm under my Bailey No. 5's chrome lever cap)

Sandpaper:
Works on most metals, but removes patina and leaves scratches. Sanding in just one direction (lengthwise) helps the aesthetics greatly, as in sanding a hand saw blade.

Electrolysis:
Works like magic, all rust gone, no trace of any cleaning... or is there? Look closely, and you will see patches of discoloration (ok, I'm being very picky here), and the bare, rust free steel surface has a matted look. If you soak an item that has many captive nuts, nooks, crannies, tapped holes , you may find it challenging to scrub the black crud off after you take the item out of the dip tank. Or when the item comes with a wooden/horn/ivory etc  part attached that cannot be removed, electrolysis may not be the best solution.

So here I include scraping as another method. I first came across the method on Pete Taran's excellent Vintage saw website.(Vintage Saw site) and after trying, I have to agree that scraping is faster and should preceed sanding (if you must really sand).


First Pass. Use a low angle, slicing cut.

2ND pass, some base metal exposed.


Some elbow grease with metal polish (Read: Fine abrasives suspended in a base creme)

Look ma, no scratches.
I'm using a double edge razor because I'm too cheap. With care and a light touch, you will hardly nick yourself or the iron. This is a long, tedious process, and if you figure in the minimum wage with the time it took to do a square inch, it may well be the most expensive method. The only advantage is that it can be done dry.(No liquids here)

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