Sonic cleaner -rust ??

[ascast]

Greeting I have come into a couple old rifle sights that are badly rusted but I think salvageable. The most interesting is an old Lyman tang sight. It has narrow spacing and a lock button. My question is the sonic cleaners -would they help in this situation or a waste of time and money? The sight has just a tad of wiggle in the eyepiece stem. I will get it freed up over time with a soak and heat regiment. If the sonic makes that quicker, I'll get one. This sight has a real bad spot like it had a mouse nest on top of it.
thanks all

[deltaenterprizes]

Try Evap-o-rust!

[fc60]

Greetings,

I use my UltraSonic to clean parts that have light rust. It works okay; but, the pitting will still be there.

The sonic waves will tend to free up any parts that are binding from the rust.

Remember to oil the parts with a water displacing protective fluid.

Be sure that the cleaning fluid you use does not remove the bluing.

I use Simple Green Extreme diluted with water.

Cheers,

Dave

[ascast]

Thanks all. It is soaking in Evaporust now. Trouble is the rust chunks bind up the moving parts. Just thinking if sonic would help. Maybe a Harbor Frieght model?

Pits and ruined bluing are inevitable. I'll get it work, then worry about the finer points.

[Bent Ramrod]

I’ve used an ultrasonic Cleaner with Liquid Wrench to loosen rust and fossilized oil and grease from parts, boolit moulds and small assemblies. May or may not loosen rusted-in screws, but always worth a shot. The prices on the things have come down considerably over the years, and they can sometimes be found for cheep at yard sales and swap meets.

I think the main use for them when they first came out was getting skin oil and flakes off glasses and jewelry, with mild cleaning solutions. So I never expect miracles on rusty parts, but am frequently delighted when they happen.

[Shawlerbrook]

What he said ^^^ and I have a Harbor Freight ultrasonic cleaner and they work great. Never used it on rusted parts. It can’t hurt.

[country gent]

I use my ultra sonic cleaner for a lot of things. One trick for small parts to save on cleaner is put the parts and cleaner in a small jar with a tight top and just water in the ultra sonic. This way you can use solvents and cleaners that would be to expensive otherwise. After the cleaning dry put in the cleaned bottle with oil and run a cycle. This works the oil into all the crevices and pores really well. Let drain for a dew hours and wipe down.
For rusted up bound up parts I have used Kroil in the bottle and cycled 1-2 times. My normal cleaner is simple green precision mixed 1 part to 9 parts water.

white vinegar mixed 50-50 with peroxide is a great rust remover but will remove bluing and etch metals.