I saw there was a thread on repairing a rusty chain, but I thought I'd show how well this process removes old paint. It doesn't do so well with new, powdercoated parts, but old paint comes off nice and easy. Note: this process involves electricity and water. Take basic precautions while using this system - wear rubber gloves, turn off and UNPLUG the charger when you need to handle the part, and do it in a well-ventilated area, as the fumes this causes are flammable if they're allowed to build up over time.
Basically, this process will sluff off old paint and rust, and deposit nice, new metal on rough, pitted surfaces.
What you need:
1. A non conductive (plastic) container large enough for the part you're working with
2. A battery charger
3. Some old scrap steel (I use rebar stakes)
4. Some laundry soda
Step 1: fill your container with water
Step 2: Add the laundry soda to the water (this is not detergent... it's sometimes sold as a detergent BOOSTER. I use Arm & Hammer, and it's only a few bucks for a big box that I use about half of in a 33 gallon container) The soda makes the water more conductive - this is more an electrolytic process as it is a chemical one.
Step 3: Hang/support your part so that enough of it is above the water level to clip the NEGATIVE LEAD of the battery charger without it touching the water/soda solution.
Step 4: Hang your steel ANNODE(s) around the outside of the container. They shouldn't come in contact with the item. More annodes are better, since this is a line-of-sight process. You can jumper from one annode to the next with short leads, or sometimes I just use some old jumper cables and coil the extra.
Step 5: Attach the POSITIVE lead to your annode(s), the NEGATIVE lead to your part, and turn on the charger. Within a few moments, you'll start to see the part start to bubble. After some time, an ugly froth will build up on the top of the surface. The polarity is important - if you reverse them, the part will begin to corrode badly, and your scrap metal annode will get nice clean metal deposited on it in place of rust.
PIC (just using one annode):
My Wald fork leg after sitting in the solution overnight:
After one swipe with a rag:
Some paint is harder to remove than others. Make sure you wipe/rinse the part down thouroughly after the treatment - residual soda on the part will actually ACCELERATE rust in the future, so get it clean.
Basically, this process will sluff off old paint and rust, and deposit nice, new metal on rough, pitted surfaces.
What you need:
1. A non conductive (plastic) container large enough for the part you're working with
2. A battery charger
3. Some old scrap steel (I use rebar stakes)
4. Some laundry soda
Step 1: fill your container with water
Step 2: Add the laundry soda to the water (this is not detergent... it's sometimes sold as a detergent BOOSTER. I use Arm & Hammer, and it's only a few bucks for a big box that I use about half of in a 33 gallon container) The soda makes the water more conductive - this is more an electrolytic process as it is a chemical one.
Step 3: Hang/support your part so that enough of it is above the water level to clip the NEGATIVE LEAD of the battery charger without it touching the water/soda solution.
Step 4: Hang your steel ANNODE(s) around the outside of the container. They shouldn't come in contact with the item. More annodes are better, since this is a line-of-sight process. You can jumper from one annode to the next with short leads, or sometimes I just use some old jumper cables and coil the extra.
Step 5: Attach the POSITIVE lead to your annode(s), the NEGATIVE lead to your part, and turn on the charger. Within a few moments, you'll start to see the part start to bubble. After some time, an ugly froth will build up on the top of the surface. The polarity is important - if you reverse them, the part will begin to corrode badly, and your scrap metal annode will get nice clean metal deposited on it in place of rust.
PIC (just using one annode):
My Wald fork leg after sitting in the solution overnight:
After one swipe with a rag:
Some paint is harder to remove than others. Make sure you wipe/rinse the part down thouroughly after the treatment - residual soda on the part will actually ACCELERATE rust in the future, so get it clean.
