Cauldron of rusty bubbling goo!

[Lance Boyle]

Rust reducing electrolysis!

I went home a week ago and sought out the old plumber's ladle that my step father had. I last saw it in a crate on the floor. Sure enough it was still there but covered in rust scale from the damp concrete basement floor.

Recalling some posts regarding rust reversing I figured I'd give it a shot, not that a ladle really needs to be perfect.

My rust reversing equipment list
- old school 2amp/6amp car battery charger
- 6 gallon bucket
- 2 2 foot peices of angle iron (anodes)
- pony clamps
- some wire
- a wooden stick to suspend the ladle
- solution is 5 gallons of water to 5 tbsp of washing soda. (you can make your own washing soda by baking baking soda at 400 degrees F for an hour. That process bakes off CO2 and water. Perfect use for that box that sat in the back of the fridge for over a year.

1.5 hours in, waiting another 1.5 hours.

[John in WI]

I de-rusted a bunch of ancient gardening tools once. Covered with rust and baked on clay.

I had excellent luck using lye as the electrolyte, but instead of using steel for the anode, I used a stainless steel spoon. That way the anode itself isn't getting oxidized and filling the tub with sludge.

Please post how it turns out---I always love back yard chemistry projects!

[Lance Boyle]

Will do, I just checked on it, should take another hour or so, some rust still in the bowl but the handle looked good. I used 2 anodes so the part had good line of sight all around.

In my googling there is a caution with using stainless steel as an anode. It releases hexavalent chromium to the water and is a health risk. Not sure how bad that is in real life but I do know years ago when taking water samples at a specialty steel mill that made a lot of stainless they tested for Cr6.

I got a rather rusty shovel I might just give it the juice while I got the setup.

[montana_charlie]

My rust reversing equipment list
- old school 2amp/6amp car battery charger
Are you using the 2 amp, or 6 amp position?
CM

[imashooter2]

Yep, a fine lookin' brew...

http://home.comcast.net/~imashooter2/pictures/ERR-cookin.jpg

[Lance Boyle]

Montana, I used the 2amp setting. From what I read that's a better rate. If you're doing old valuable tools like planes or old milling machine bits they like it even lower into the milliamp ranges. Takes longer but the resulting finish is smoother assuming the metal is there to save, and you're not gassifying under a rust flake and popping it off before you can rebond it.

That's my understanding from reading not personal experience. My sum total experience is now one casting ladle.