Thread: Best way to remove surface rust and grime?

Originally Posted by antho94

So after a little while of being out of the workshop realised because of the high moisture levels lately and where my tools are kept they have built up alot of surface rust and grime anyone have some good ways of dealing with this and bringing them back to their original condition?

Btw iv been quite lazy lately when it comes to posting on this forum but for those who like my work so far iv just opened up a Facebook Page which will be updated more regularly if you want to go give that a like it's called handcrafted Excellence, and it contains all my previous work and my up and coming peices.

Welcome back. For removing the light surface rust and grime from the cast iron (and other unpainted ferrous machinery surfaces, I use 600 wet & dry sand paper, with kerosene as the lubricant. Use a wood sanding block. Some people say to work the wet & dry in a circular motion, others say to work it in straight lines. To me it doesn't seem to make any difference which way I rub. If you want to get back to that almost new look, keep using wet & dry up through the grits to about 1200. After removing the rust, I clean with kero. Then when dry, I coat the surface with CRC 3-36 which dramatically slows the corrosion formation in humid environments. Have a look at my post on CRC 3-36 at https://www.woodworkforums.com/f155/rust-prevention-machinery-tools-189293.

For removal of light surface corrosion on hand tools, I use 600 wet & dry, or 0000 steel wool, again with kerosene as a lubricant. For serious corrosion removal (i.e. restoring long neglected and rusty tools) I have previously used the electrolysis method. However, at the moment I have an old Stanley #5 that is in bits sitting in a bucket of diluted Molasses. I've been told to leave the bits in the molasses for a month before having a look, so in another week or so I'll see what they look like -- and then I'll know whether using molasses as a chelating agent is an urban or Internet myth or whether it is fact.

Regards,

Roy

Much appreciated will give it a go thankyou

Scotchbrite pads are good too. Lubricate with your favourite or most handy lubricant (Mineral Oil for me). I even cheat and place a ROS to drive it on large flat surfaces (Tablesaws).

With flat surfaces like the table saw and bandsaw tables, I spray liberally with WD40 and then scrape the whole surface with an old card scraper.
You can feel the roughness of the rust dissipate, leaving a brown slurry and a smooth, flat surface.
Wipe off the slurry, re-wipe with a clean cloth and white spirit, then when dry, coat with wax or your preferred treatment.
I did my table saw today - took about 15 minutes.