Shopsmith Forums

Thanks Doc! Evapo-Rust looks like the cat's meow! A little spendy at $21.00 a gallon, but probably worth it as it is safe to use. Takes a little longer, but Who cares? As you know WD-40 has cautions written all over the cans.

Folks, I'm looking for someone out there with a set of rusty tubes who will lend them to me for a Sawdust Session. Here's the deal: Send me the rusty tubes, and I'll send them back to you clean as a whistle. You pay shipping; I do all the work.

Twenty-one bucks for a rust remover? If you can hold off for a few weeks, I'll show you how to make gallons and gallons of the stuff from non-toxic inngredients (that many of you eat) for less than a buck or two.

With all good wishes,

Nick,

There are a bunch of rusty parts on ebay. Check out this auction. Item number: 110217136506

Thanks, Paul. I bid on and won an old set of rusty ER tubes. Just what I needed.

With all good wishes,

Nick wrote:Thanks, Paul. I bid on and won an old set of rusty ER tubes. Just what I needed.

With all good wishes,

Any idea when you may do this? I'm in the middle of restoring an "ER" right now and am working on this problem as well. Not super rust but enough.

Matt.

Thank-you. I purchased one that has been sitting for 12 yrs and have to clean and prep prioe to use.

I have not done this on a SS
I use an 4-1/2" angle grinder with a wire wheel on removing paint and rust from garden tractors. The small part I use my bench grinder with wire wheels (fine and course). I also a hand drill with different wire wheels to get into the small places.
The only problem I have is getting into tight places.
To get a good clean surface that I clean with paint thinner before painting.

68DodgeCoronet wrote:Thank-you. I purchased one that has been sitting for 12 yrs and have to clean and prep prioe to use.

This was a 2008 thread started by Nick Engler when he was researching rust removal.

2016 - update

There are very easy ways to do it with an environmentally friendly product - Evaporust which they discussed in 2008. It works really well, and can be re-used.

Use a 2 inch PVC Pipe capped on one end, and threaded plug on the other just long enough to fit the bench tube (which is a slightly bit longer than the way tube) inside.

Insert way or bench tube, then insert a smaller capped PVC pipe in the center of it to cut down on the liquid volume to fill the larger pipe with Evaporust. I chose to fill the smaller pipe with sand to keep it from floating and to simplify adding the Evaporust while upright.

If you don't do that, imagine holding down a 5½ foot long bobber in water in a pipe while you tried to fill the pipe, and screw on a cap.

Use something to change the buoyancy of the small pipe, or you could put on a threaded T-Somewhere in-line and fill it after you threaded on the first cap at the end I suppose.

I may do that as I build up more pipe to do all 4 at once then I can take out the plug on the side and drain and reclaim the Evaporust.

Several of mine took less than 3 hours, and the Evaporust was reclaimed and reused by filtering through a coffee filter.

Read about their spray on Rust Block which is a companion to the remover which can protect something indoors for up to a year, after you get the rust off. Outdoors not so good since you rinse it of with water... did I say environmentally friendly? I use that for paint prepping when I have de-rusted something that needs painting, but I need to wait to finish other parts and pieces to paint all at once.

Use Johnsons Paste floor wax on the way tubes once you get them sparkling and they will stay that way with a wax retouch every few months.

Good luck.

Everett

Another thing to try for the bench and way tubes is soaking in a 2" PVC pipe filled with water and "White Potatoes". It may take a few days but it's suppose to work really nice.

Another thing is Apple cider vinegar. I use it for just about everything which is bare metal and it removes the rust extremely well. For light rust, It takes 1 to 2 days. For heavy rust, It may take up to 4 days.

Once the rust has been dissolved, You simply wash the part with mild soap and water. Wax or oil promptly afterwards.

The process is a little bit slow however, No harsh chemicals and no elbow grease needed...

Mike

oldiron wrote:Another thing to try for the bench and way tubes is soaking in a 2" PVC pipe filled with water and "White Potatoes". It may take a few days but it's suppose to work really nice.

Another thing is Apple cider vinegar. I use it for just about everything which is bare metal and it removes the rust extremely well. For light rust, It takes 1 to 2 days. For heavy rust, It may take up to 4 days.

Once the rust has been dissolved, You simply wash the part with mild soap and water. Wax or oil promptly afterwards.

The process is a little bit slow however, No harsh chemicals and no elbow grease needed...

Mike

Having had potatoes go rotten in the back of the pantry, (and onions are even worse. ), I suspect that the Apple cider vinegar smells a LOT better.