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Restoration Progress On My 1955 Greenie

Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 11:29 pm
by mickyd
Update 9-04-09 Decided to add this thread index indicating which post numbers contain certain info. The thread is so long that it is difficult to easily find particulars. Hope this helps. I'll complete it soon.


THREAD INDEX (work in-process) Original 2-22-09 posted thread follows:
I wanted to update you on my 1955 Mark V restoration project. Originally came into the forum 2 weeks ago from: http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showthread.htm?t=3012

Taking it slow and steady. I’m completely disassembled and inspected. All parts are in Ziploc bags, by family, and identified by ref. #.

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There is nothing worse that tackling a disassembly jobs and ending out with a pile of parts that you have little clue as to what the heck they are and where the heck they belong. Learned that lesson as a teen disassembling an automatic transmission. Realized they sure do come apart easy but try putting them back together from a pile. You soon realize that you either need an outstanding memory……(NOT)…..or a “system”. Believe me, chose the latter.

Now that the beast is fully disassembled and inspected, the process of cleaning is next. There’s a ton of rusty steel and dull aluminum that needs attention. I started the rust removal today. Decided to use electrolysis for as much as I can. I hate hand / wire cleaning rust.

Here’s pics of the retractable the caster assy b4 electolysis. They are completely frozen up. I’ll show you the afters later. (afters are in post 187) They’ve been soaking in the bath all day. I'll take them out tonight for a peek to see how they are progressing.

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Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 1:24 am
by charlese
Thanks for the update, Mike! Like others, I feel that I'm almost involved with you in the process. You certainly have a great gift for writing, and photography. Keep 'em coming!:D

Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 1:56 am
by reible
Interesting, first time I've seen the tank used as part of the system... mostly have seen re-bar used. It is sure a good way to get the rust off. Can't wait to see the results!

Great idea on storing the parts in the bags. Another thing that works great is to take a lot of pictures... since you have the camera take a few snap shot and that way you can see how it looked as it comes apart. I know this has help me a lot since I've gotten older... use to be I could remember but now I get confused, perhaps you aren't at that point yet???

How do you dispose of the "gunk"?

Ed

Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 2:30 am
by mickyd
reible wrote:
How do you dispose of the "gunk"?

Ed
As long as BOTH your cathod (the material you use to connect your workpiece to the negative black lead with) and more importantly your anode (the material you connect the positive red lead to, in my case the sheet metal around the tank) is made of plain carbon steel and NOT plated i.e. zinc, cad, galvanized etc., or worse, made of stainless steel, the gunk is environmentally friendly. It is merely iron and the washing soda which is safe enough to pour on your lawn, bushes, garden etc. If your anemic, you can even slug down a 16 ouncer of the stuff............obviously JUST KIDDING on the sluging.

Don't use STAINLESS STEEL. Although it functions better than the carbon steel, it puts hexavalent chromium (Cr6 )into the solution which is environmently NASTY and illegal to dump.

Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 4:12 am
by reible
Well is sounds like you have it covered. If you have pine trees I understand they like iron at least according to my brother who lets stuff rest in a bucket of water then adds it to the drip line of the pine trees???

Ed


mickyd wrote:As long as BOTH your cathod (the material you use to connect your workpiece to the negative black lead with) and more importantly your anode (the material you connect the positive red lead to, in my case the sheet metal around the tank) is made of plain carbon steel and NOT plated i.e. zinc, cad, galvanized etc., or worse, made of stainless steel, the gunk is environmentally friendly. It is merely iron and the washing soda which is safe enough to pour on your lawn, bushes, garden etc. If your anemic, you can even slug down a 16 ouncer of the stuff............obviously JUST KIDDING on the sluging.

Don't use STAINLESS STEEL. Although it functions better than the carbon steel, it puts hexavalent chromium (Cr6 )into the solution which is environmently NASTY and illegal to dump.

Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 9:31 am
by nuhobby
I can't wait to see this one's progress.... thanks for posting.

Thanks also for your one photo that ID's some steel rods as the components of the Caster set.... I have one lonely sample of those steel rods sitting in my junk-box and I've spent a good many instances wondering where it came from.

Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 11:08 am
by tom_k/mo
Mike, very interesting. Looking forward to your "After" photos of the caster assys. Can you expound a little on the electrolysis process? You mentioned Washing Soda, is that TSP or something else? Any other details would be appreciated.

Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 11:34 am
by beeg
The washing soda is a laundry product, different from TSP. Here's a link for the process.

http://antique-engines.com/electrol.asp

Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 11:47 am
by tom_k/mo
Bob, thanks for the link. Always learning something new...

Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 12:46 pm
by dicksterp
A lot of guys over on http://www.owwm.org/ use this method to restore old iron. There they call it spooging. http://www.yankeetoys.org/lee/electrolysis.htm has a nice write up and lots of photos on it. You can just leave the solution in the container and cover it until the next time you feel the urge to remove rust.