Cleaning rusty neglected molds?

Picked up a five gallon bucket full of some very old Ideal molds yesterday at the show from one of the others dealers.

The bucket had been sitting in a storage shed for 40+ years.
Needless to say theres some very interesting molds in the lot.
Some are without sprue plates and screws here and there, most of those parts are in the bottom of the bucket. This box is just a small portion of the bucket.

The majority of the molds are complete and covered in old oil and grease but several are rusty, as these two pictured here. Some have whats left of old rubberbands wrapped around them, sticking to the blocks with goop.

Whats the procedure for trying to bring these back to life. These two seem to be the worst but the cavities look strong.
Have quite a few handles in the same condition as these two molds.

Going to sort out the keepers next week and try and save as many as I can with the others.

So whats the best approach with the rust issue??
Attachment 223697

I probably would start with a tooth brush and some Kroil. Maybe even buy enough to put in a tub so you could soak them. Evaporust will remove the worst rust but will also remove the blueing. A few guys have recently posted about cleaning neglected molds. You might do a search and review what they did. Good Luck with these old molds.

For starters, I would get some distilled water and boil them until the rust starts turning black, wipe with fine steel wool to dislodge the loose stuff, and boil some more until no more loose particles come off.

If there is only surface rust and no deep pitting, the moulds should be blue-black in color and ready for casting; no break-in necessary. Evaporust (with, perhaps, a little mild brass brushing) will clean the metal totally, and will get heavy rust out of deep pitting, but a break-in may be necessary before they cast well.

A little frostiness on the surface of a mould cavity doesn’t seem to hurt the boolit’s performance, as long as it comes out of the mould easily. Heavy pits in cavities will likely require lapping or polishing, and a break-in afterwards.

Electrolysis. I just cleaned a couple of old cast iron frying pans. A large tub, wire, piece of wood to suspend them from, baking soda and a battery charger is all you need.

Evaporust works very well.

Ditto Evaporust. Environmental friendly and you can reuse it. 24 hours is all you need.
Leadmelter
MI

Evaporust is incredible stuff...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF_lnJcf6Oc

CW

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So whats the best approach with the rust issue??

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A 50:50 mix of ATF & Acetone scrubbed with a bronze brush

I love the 50:50 mix of ATF & Acetone but I would start with the Evaporust first.
I brought several old Lyman molds back to life earlier this year with Evaporust.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cwlongshot

Evaporust is incredible stuff...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF_lnJcf6Oc

CW

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That was fun!

What I got for cheap .
Attachment 223876
After some 0000 steel wool and about 6 hr in evaporust.
Attachment 223877
A little cold blue wiped on and wiped down in Hoppes .
Attachment 223878

in the past i have soaked molds in white vinegar and wiped clean

Evaporust, no question.
have done it many times, comes out wonderful.

Another vote for evaporust. I got the big jug at Tractor Supply.