How to free-up rusty chain?

I've tried all kinds of ways including beating on 'em with hammers and soaking them in all kinds of stuff. But lately I get some thick oil onto the top of the chain........too thick to run down into the links and then I take my propane bottle and heat the links. This heats the oil and changes its' viscosity and it runs down and into the tight spaces in the links. I allow it to cool and it tries to return to it's original thickness and thereby loosens the links. Works for me, but it does take a while on 6' of 3/4 pitch chain!
Does anyone else have a favorite way of loosening a rusted chain? I for one would love to learn a really good way as it seems many of the old saws I get need a looser chain
Igpoe

Spritz the chain with whatever penetrating oil is handy and let 'em sit for a week.

Have also dropped a few loops into the used oil/hydro bucket for a couple days.

If a chain is rusted so bad it can't be freed up by hand, I normally don't trust the things.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

I've "restored" some really rusted and locked up 3/4" & similar sized chains using a wire wheel on a bench grinder. It definitely gives your hands a workout, and requires a lot of passes at different angles.

AERO KROIL is the bomb.
Penetrating-Lubricating Oils

Soakem in kerosene until they loosen up.
Werx fer me

I just read in another thread where GASoline (Gary) will leave 1/2" and 7/16" chain in a bucket of diesel for up to a month.

Joe Kidd said:

AERO KROIL is the bomb.
Penetrating-Lubricating Oils

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Yes it is!! Stuffs been on my bench for 15yrs.......but its a little too pricey to be soakin chains in.
I tend to reserve its use until its necessary.....then I'm like...why didnt I do that in the 1st place.

:hmm3grin2orange:

Kroil is the chitt, it is not readily available nor cheap.

Oh yeah, Kroil is the chitt man...
This stuff ain't your run-of-the-mill penetrating oil... P'Blaster ain't even in the same league with it.

I had a disc brake caliper piston stuck solid on an old Crown Vic, could not get it to push back in to save my sole. Tried vise grips, c-clamp, BFH and a lot of cussin'... it wasn't gonna' move and I'd just decided to head into town for a rebuilt caliper when I spotted my can of Kroil on the shelf. Hmmm.... Pulled the boot/seal back and gave it a douse. Just twenty minutes later I pushed that piston into the caliper with a channel-lock pliers and one hand. That was over a year ago, and I'm still driving that old bomb.

I had to replace the radius arm brackets on my old ford 4x4 last fall. I gave all the nuts and bolts a soaking with Kroil the night before, and the next morning they near fell off when the wrench touched 'em... even that big azz nut on the rear of the radius arm. Never even had to unrolled the hose on the "fire-wrench".

I've used the stuff to clean lead fouling from revolvers and pistols.
And I spray my bullet moulds with it... never have "sticking" bullets in the mould (yeah, I know, that goes against all the rules of bullet casting, oil should never be present in the mould... but this ain't just any oil).

Order the stuff direct... that's the only way they sell it... and worth every penny.

Get your Kroil here!

I thought I was the only frugal guy out there ! Some time back I help a tree guy and after the job, in his pickup box , I noticed a bent 24" bar and some (5) chains for it . I asked him what he was gonna do with em and he said make him an offer. Gave him $20 for all. Straightened, deburred and closed the rails on the bar , hung the rusty chains in a limby white pine and saturated them with PB Blaster. let em sit for a week. The tough ones I had to clamp in a vise and work with a small vise-grip but salvaged all of them. All were once used, dull, 3/8" .050 , 84dl stihls. I just happened to find an old worn out bar I needed to break them in with, on my last trip to the "saw shop". I wouldn't run them on my good bars without doing an old bar first . They were pretty bad ! Turns out he doesn't bother sharpening chains , just buys new ones ! PB Blaster works.

20 Mule Team Natural Borax

The best product I have ever used to clean chains! And its cheap.

A mix of 50% Acetone and 50% transmission fluid is the best and cheapest penetrating oil there is. You got to shake it up if it sits awhile. It is very flamable so be careful.

blackoak said:

A mix of 50% Acetone and 50% transmission fluid is the best and cheapest penetrating oil there is. You got to shake it up if it sits awhile. It is very flamable so be careful.

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Yes there was study on this and acetone/ATF beat all the expensive snake oil products.

Cheap too as used ATF can be had for free:msp_smile:

Varsol...(If you can find it)....or paint thinner at the hardware store will loosen up the links...

It won't remove the rust...as long as the chain will rotate well...the cutting will remove the rust.

J2F

Buy a new one? :msp_smile:

igpoe said:

I've tried all kinds of ways including beating on 'em with hammers and soaking them in all kinds of stuff. But lately I get some thick oil onto the top of the chain........too thick to run down into the links and then I take my propane bottle and heat the links. This heats the oil and changes its' viscosity and it runs down and into the tight spaces in the links. I allow it to cool and it tries to return to it's original thickness and thereby loosens the links. Works for me, but it does take a while on 6' of 3/4 pitch chain!
Does anyone else have a favorite way of loosening a rusted chain? I for one would love to learn a really good way as it seems many of the old saws I get need a looser chain
Igpoe

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Bad idea. Heating the links with a torch will ruin the chain. The links are heat treated and tempered. Heat from the torch will ruin that tempering and the links will be softened. It does not take much to change the temper, just 400 degrees or so depending on what the steel is. Soft links will stretch and break.

I've soaked old rusty chains and plyers in a bucket of my 2 stroke mix.... that seems to work fine for me.

Soak in vinegar, it'll eat the rust. Molasses works too.

k5alive said:

I've soaked old rusty chains and plyers in a bucket of my 2 stroke mix.... that seems to work fine for me.

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ditto

Even my BBay finds that "ran great a couple of months ago"

luck,greg

I just throw rusty chains into the bottom of my parts washer and then, several months later, I check and see how they're doing. If they are still stiff I toss them back in there. If they don't loosen up within a year or so, I pitch them into the scrap metal barrel.