I use vinegar as my acid remover. I will eat thru some chrome plating if you let it soak for too long. Then when I'm done I just pour it in my drive way to kill the grass. Get 2 for 1 use out of it.
Rust Removal - Oxalic Acid
- Thread starter Deprime
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
half_full
ArboristSite Guru
This seems to be the one big difference between oxalic acid and vinegar in the research I've done thus far.
I posted earlier that I was going to use vinegar. I changed my mind because I have some chrome parts to clean.
Any results to update us on?
From Wikipedia:
Philbert
From Wikipedia:
Philbert
I've been getting killed with OT at work the last few months. Things are beginning to calm down and I hope to get working on some saw stuff next weekend. I have several things to try in the oxalic acid including some pretty nasty 1/2" pithch chains that I would like to get serviceable.
Looked all over for the stuff: area hardware/home center/farm stores, etc. Found that not all 'wood bleach' is OA. Some had other stuff in it or hydrogen peroxide.
Called a friend who is a high school science teacher, but his sources were expensive.
Found some on eBay for a reasonable price ($25 for 5 pounds), but that sounds like a lot of OA, and buying chemicals over eBay made me a little uncomfortable.
Found it on Amazon! Lots of sizes. Good prices. Free shipping. Ordered 2 pounds for $9 shipped. Will post my results in 'Philbert's Chain Salvage Challenge' thread.
One Internet post cautioned about leaving parts in too long - said it left a 'hard to remove' scale coating behind.
Philbert
Called a friend who is a high school science teacher, but his sources were expensive.
Found some on eBay for a reasonable price ($25 for 5 pounds), but that sounds like a lot of OA, and buying chemicals over eBay made me a little uncomfortable.
Found it on Amazon! Lots of sizes. Good prices. Free shipping. Ordered 2 pounds for $9 shipped. Will post my results in 'Philbert's Chain Salvage Challenge' thread.
One Internet post cautioned about leaving parts in too long - said it left a 'hard to remove' scale coating behind.
Philbert
Eccentric
Mister Wizard
Can't find your challenge thread. Remember seeing it in the index earlier. Did a google search for it and found the link............but I get an error message when I try to open it. Strange....
http://www.arboristsite.com/chainsaw/245369.htm
The Site is somewhat erratic right now. Hope it settles out soon.
Got 2 pounds of the stuff in the mail, and at 3 ounces (liquid measure = 6 Table spoons = 3 coffee scoops) per gallon it is actually cheaper than vinegar at the grocery store.
Working on a challenge chain right now with it and, so far, am impressed. More so than the EvapoRust stuff.
Will post my results in that other thread to keep things organized.
Philbert
Hey Phil need a link that works
thanks for the link. good stuff
I bought two pounds shipped from an Amazon seller. My rototiller wouldn't start when I went to put it away for winter. It sat out during the flood and I noticed that the air filter housing was rusted on the inside. Also the recoil was busted and the carb isn't pumping fuel. I have to stop loaning tools out.
For $9 the oxalic acid is worth a shot. Thanks to the OP for starting this thread.
For $9 the oxalic acid is worth a shot. Thanks to the OP for starting this thread.
Haven't been posting photos due to the site issues, and my main computer going in for repair, but wanted to report some positive results with a frozen chain that someone gave me as a test challenge.
.404 loop reportedly left hanging on a nail in a shed. Color was a battleship grey - almost looked like someone had sprayed automotive primer evenly across it. Not all of the links were seized, but if you held it up in the air it remained a full circle, and trying to move some links just to get it to fit into a pan for soaking took some effort.
3+ days in a 3oz OA/gallon of water solution and 90% of the links now move freely! This was not a dip-and-clean solution. I changed the solution whenever it got heavily clouded, aggressively brushed down the links with a stainless steel 'scratch brush' (welding item - like an oversized toothbrush) between baths, and worked the links (some with a couple pair of pliers). A lot of work involved.
Looks like a chain now. Can read the markings. Going to give it another day or two to see if I can get all of the rivets loose using just OA, and not going to the acetone/ATF solution mentioned in other threads.
Of course, rust eats metal. And just because I can remove the rust and free the links does not mean that the rivets won't snap when the chain is run. But I am feeling positive about this one.
Philbert
.404 loop reportedly left hanging on a nail in a shed. Color was a battleship grey - almost looked like someone had sprayed automotive primer evenly across it. Not all of the links were seized, but if you held it up in the air it remained a full circle, and trying to move some links just to get it to fit into a pan for soaking took some effort.
3+ days in a 3oz OA/gallon of water solution and 90% of the links now move freely! This was not a dip-and-clean solution. I changed the solution whenever it got heavily clouded, aggressively brushed down the links with a stainless steel 'scratch brush' (welding item - like an oversized toothbrush) between baths, and worked the links (some with a couple pair of pliers). A lot of work involved.
Looks like a chain now. Can read the markings. Going to give it another day or two to see if I can get all of the rivets loose using just OA, and not going to the acetone/ATF solution mentioned in other threads.
Of course, rust eats metal. And just because I can remove the rust and free the links does not mean that the rivets won't snap when the chain is run. But I am feeling positive about this one.
Philbert
Like
challenger
Cheese is good.
I have to say that electrolysis rust removal (AKA-spooge tank) is THE BEST way to remove rust. I have a tank I set up literally years ago made from half of a 55 gallon plastic drum and have spooged many things from old wood stove parts to old machinery castings. One does not need a tank as large as the one I made but this is America damn it!
Once one is set up, which is simply a matter of lining a plastic container with some sheet steel and attaching some evenly spaced electrodes ( I used some metal concrete form stakes), adding washing soda (I add TSP as well because this is Americ.....ooops-already said that) & water, then it can just sit around literally for years so long as it is covered. Suspend the rusty part or let it sit on the bottom and add a strong battery charger and walk away. There is no metal removed, unless some call rust metal. This also degreases BTW.
The awesome thing about the spooge tank is that it will make a clump of rusty ship wreck iron that had all the nuts, bolts & other ferrous fasteners seized inside a casting into a new, although well pitted piece that has fasteners that can be removed with just a tiny amount of wrench twist.
Trust me, having a spooger handy is such a convenient joy it will make you simply forget about all the troubles in life.
Or maybe not.
Acid works well too but doesn't hold a candle to spooge IMOHO
Once one is set up, which is simply a matter of lining a plastic container with some sheet steel and attaching some evenly spaced electrodes ( I used some metal concrete form stakes), adding washing soda (I add TSP as well because this is Americ.....ooops-already said that) & water, then it can just sit around literally for years so long as it is covered. Suspend the rusty part or let it sit on the bottom and add a strong battery charger and walk away. There is no metal removed, unless some call rust metal. This also degreases BTW.
The awesome thing about the spooge tank is that it will make a clump of rusty ship wreck iron that had all the nuts, bolts & other ferrous fasteners seized inside a casting into a new, although well pitted piece that has fasteners that can be removed with just a tiny amount of wrench twist.
Trust me, having a spooger handy is such a convenient joy it will make you simply forget about all the troubles in life.
Or maybe not.
Acid works well too but doesn't hold a candle to spooge IMOHO
I use electrolysis for some stuff. But it blew the chrome off of some rusted chains I was trying to save.
Some of the chemical methods did not appear to harm the chrome.
It's good to have a few different methods in your bag of tricks.
Philbert
Some of the chemical methods did not appear to harm the chrome.
It's good to have a few different methods in your bag of tricks.
Philbert
The oxyalic acid worked so so on the rusted tiller parts. It left some staining on the metal, but removed all the crusty rusty. I'm not sure it was worth the effort of buying the acid, mixing it and disposing of it.
challenger
Cheese is good.
I don't know of any problem with disposing of the acid. Is it the content of the acid after it is used you are concerned about? The acid itself is naturally occurring and IF it was a danger when dumped into some dirt then it would certainly be too dangerous to handle. If the concern comes from the material removed maybe running it through a paint strainer to remove the solids & bury the solids in a concrete vault with 5' thick walls?
Beekeeping for chordoma
I had no way of knowing how dangerous the acid was. Pages and pages of health warnings came with the product, but no instructions.... believe it or not....
