Philbert's Chain Salvage Challenge

[Maintenance supervisor]

Yup , I'll derust an Oregon 72 chain with an old bar ,if its been idle a year or 2 ,but a 40 year old or older chain should be carefully inspected in a meticulous manner before it comes apart under speed from a saw and becomes a projectile.
Careful cleaning and derusting by hand is part of that safety.

 

[Brufab]

Thanks phibert for the challenge and your time and knowledge. I just went and inspected the chain I'm trying to salvage and it's looking good. I just took a brush and knocked off a bunch of rust, thinking by the 24 hour mark of soaking it will be ready to be touched up with wire wheel on the dremel then soaked in oil to finish the task. Thanks again!

 

[Brufab]

One thing I noticed is that the cutters got clean first and the rusty links were next. The cutters are super shiny now and all the gunk on them brushed off easily with a tooth brush. Also alot of bubbles so that chemical reaction is taking place. This should make a good science project for kid.

 

[Philbert]

a 40 year old or older chain should be carefully inspected in a meticulous manner before it comes apart under speed from a saw and becomes a projectile.

Agreed.

Some guys just want authentic chains for restored display saws.

Philbert

 

[Jhenderson]

One thing I noticed is that the cutters got clean first and the rusty links were next. The cutters are super shiny now and all the gunk on them brushed off easily with a tooth brush. Also alot of bubbles so that chemical reaction is taking place. This should make a good science project for kid.

That’s because the tooth is hard chrome . The chrome is the reason a chain holds an edge.

 

[blades]

did an old scratcher chain on an old saw a year ago or so. just a clean up as it was going to a museum in Sweden.

 

[Wood Doctor]

In seventh grade I recall a teacher in a shop class showing us the power of Coca-Cola when it came to metal. He dropped several 10-penny nails in a glass Mason jar full of Coke for a couple of weeks. The nails disappeared, completely dissolved. You have to wonder about consuming lots of cola soft drinks, but many do it anyway, and I suppose it could be used to clean rust from chain loops. I've never done it and I gave up drinking cola beverages 30 years ago.

 

[Philbert]

In seventh grade I recall a teacher in a shop class showing us the power of Coca-Cola when it came to metal. He dropped several 10-penny nails in a glass Mason jar full of Coke for a couple of weeks. The nails disappeared, completely dissolved. You have to wonder about consuming lots of cola soft drinks, but many do it anyway, and I suppose it could be used to clean rust from chain loops. I've never done it and I gave up drinking cola beverages 30 years ago.

Water will kill you too, if you say submerged under it for a couple of weeks.

Just ‘sayin . . .

Philbert

 

[Brufab]

Chain is 99% rust free. There is still a few links that are seized up. Now it soaking in pb blaster for 24 hours. Hoping they free up because the chain looks like new now.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Water will kill you too, if you say submerged under it for a couple of weeks.
Just ‘sayin . . .

Philbert

But water won't dissolve 10-penny nails in a couple of weeks. Just ‘sayin . . .

 

[bwalker]

I dropped a new chain in the snow years ago. Had given up on finding it when low and behold I stumbled on it the following fall. Of course it was completely a rust ball.
I put it in a ultra sonic cleaner at work, then soaked it in oil for a few days. This broke it free for the most part. I then ran the thing until it was used up. Looked like he'll, but the chrome wasn't damaged and it worked fine.
In retrospect I am not sure this was the smartest idea given the damage a chain failure can do.

 

[pdqdl]

Chain One (continued)
...

NEXT TIME? - Still some other rust remediation methods to try!

Philbert

Try an oxalic acid dip someday. It actually reacts with iron oxide to restore the steel. Leaves a washable yellow residue, and is safe to bare hands. I use it to remove rust stains from concrete.

 

[Philbert]

Try an oxalic acid dip someday.

It’s there in the early threads. Used by a lot of people for removing rust from chrome, collectibles, steel beer cans, etc.

Turned my chains green if left for an extended period. Good choice for camo chains!

Oxalyic acid is also a key ingredient in ‘Bar Keeper’s Friend’ cleaner / cleanser.

Philbert

 

[heimannm]

Edwin - a lot of folks have an anecdotal story about Coke, but try it yourself and you will see it is a myth. We had the same discussion 40 + years ago when I was teaching industrial arts and tried Coke to get a 4 cylinder Wisconsin engine un-stuck. ATF worked where Coke didn't.

Mark

 

[link]

Coke is bad, period.
I use paraffin oil to loosen up old chains, it is exceptional to dissolve old solidified oil. But it dont dissolve rust.
I guess some kind of acid does the trick...

 

[bwalker]

Something to consider. In the oil refining industry we use light cycle oil to unfoul heat exchangers that have coaked or sludged up. Light cycle oil is a precursor to diesel fuel. Maybe using diesel is worth a try?

 

[Brufab]

The vinegar did wonders. I think after the vinegar some of the guys said to soak in kerosene or diesel for a couple days in some comments on the thread. The vinegar removed 99% of the rust from the chain I soaked for 24 hours.

 

[Philbert]

Maybe using diesel is worth a try?

The acids ‘dissolve’ the rust (iron oxide). The ‘rust reformer’ chemicals do something else chemically (I don’t really understand that process). I think of diesel oil as being more of a lubricant, although, as a fuel it does contain some solvents.

But I hate the smell, especially in my basement, where I often work on chains.

Something surprising that I ran into were seized chains (and bar nose sprockets) that were not rusted, but bound up by dried up grease. I used 3-In-One oil, and some mechanical persuasion, to loosed these up. A diesel soak would probably work there too.

I did an extended test with a diesel/ATF ‘cure’ in an earlier post in this thread. After a number of months the rusted, seized chain remained seized.

Philbert

 

[Brufab]

What is your mechanical persuasion technique? I have about 3 links that are still seized. The chain has been soaking in pb blaster almost 48 hours.

 

[bwalker]

The acids ‘dissolve’ the rust (iron oxide). The ‘rust reformer’ chemicals do something else chemically (I don’t really understand that process). I think of diesel oil as being more of a lubricant, although, as a fuel it does contain some solvents.

But I hate the smell, especially in my basement, where I often work on chains.

Something surprising that I ran into were seized chains (and bar nose sprockets) that were not rusted, but bound up by dried up grease. I used 3-In-One oil, and some mechanical persuasion, to loosed these up. A diesel soak would probably work there too.

I did an extended test with a diesel/ATF ‘cure’ in an earlier post in this thread. After a number of months the rusted, seized chain remained seized.

Philbert

As long as you can break the chain free the rust is only cosmetic and most of it will come off with use.