Vinegar has been mentioned before as a rust remover, but this weekend, my dad got out some of his old files and drill bits that were orange. Covered in Rust. I took one of my moms cake pans, filled it with vinegar, put the files and drill bits in the vinegar. I then put a piece of plastic on the top and let it sit for three days, on the third, i took it out and scrubbed them with a wire bursh and then put them back in the vinegar.(I emptied out the nasty vinegar and put in new vinegar.) The fourth i took them out and they are as good as new.

However, I would like to know how this chemical reaction works.

Acetic acid

hey M Take a drywall bucket and 1 of those black plant pots that have holes in it and are used when you buy a plant as the inner pot.....fix a hanger as a handle. The black plant pot will fit into the drywall bucket....fill the drywall bucket and the plant pot acts as a retriever....then you can just leave the bucket full of vinegar and lift the plant pot with your goodies in...there are holes in the plant pot so the vinegar will drain out as you check what you got init......you dont have to change the vinegar but you may have to add some from time to time.....

Thank You
m brothers, Ice Czar, and Fat Pete.
Good reminder of one of the many uses of vinegar. Plus I had not thought about using some type of submersible vessel as Fat Pete described.
I use a lot of vinegar for cleaning all types of things due to it being relatively safe to use.
Be safe!
Old Rusty Ted

I will get a pic of it and post it tomorrow.......THX Ted

I use a lot of vinegar for cleaning all types of things due to it being relatively safe to use.

or drink

other organic Carboxylic acids can be relatively safe and useful at a low dilution level
Oxalic acid in particular is often employed in metal smithing (rust remover silver pickling cleaning brass, copper ect) but its important to treat it with alot more respect than vinegar ;)

"hey M Take a drywall bucket and 1 of those black plant pots that have holes in it and are used when you buy a plant as the inner pot.....fix a hanger as a handle. The black plant pot will fit into the drywall bucket....fill the drywall bucket and the plant pot acts as a retriever....then you can just leave the bucket full of vinegar and lift the plant pot with your goodies in...there are holes in the plant pot so the vinegar will drain out as you check what you got init......you dont have to change the vinegar but you may have to add some from time to time....."

I will defiantly have to try that as we have both lying around somewhere. Unfortunates, I do not have any pictures. How do you prevent flash rust on files and drill bits, most of the rust is gone, but once i dried it with a few towels, it rusted a bit. It's not bad just a bit. Could I spray something on it?

It has been my experience when using vinegar to remove rust, that as soon as any cleaning, brushing, etc. is finished, that a quick spray of Gunk Liquid Wrench will protect the item from flash rust. I also sometimes use Marvel Mystery Oil, just a quick wipe with a rag lightly saturated with it works. Great when cleaning old tools. Seems like the Marvel has a more pleasant aroma that the Liquid Wrench, though. Automatic Transmission Fluid (ATF) is a good oil for this, also.

Your Mileage May Vary......

aaron

Where could I find this MMO? And what is it made up of?

You can get it t Wal Mart in the automotive section. Red plastic bottle. It's sold mainly as a fuel additive for some odd reason.
Finnr

Locally for me, there is the Captain Wally's house of Chinese imports (WalMart) which has it, as Finn said, in the auto section.

I also have found it at auto parts stores, dollar stores (Dollar General), and some hardware stores. At most auto parts suppliers, you can get it in a gallon tin can, which using it like I do, would last for years. A little goes a long way.

Great stuff, I use it to keep my anvil rust free, just a quick wipe when done forging, good to go next time.

Cpt. Wally's ! Oh That One Will Be Used!
Thank's

No problem Pete, 'tis what I'm here for!!

Honestly though, the marvel oil is good stuff. I have read posts here on IFI tauting it's use, and tried some myself. There's several members here that seem to mention it like it is an old friend, so that's why I tried it.

WeeeeeeeeeeeeLL it is an old friend. Since I can remember we have always had it in the shop and used it for a million and one things. Sometimes new and improved, just isn't.
Finnr

I kinda wounder if that stuff is so good, that maybe I could just take a sip for my arthritis (not much mind you), just a sip.
Then maybe the doctor will just call me "Old Ted" instead of "old RUSTY Ted? Or, if it don't work, the late Ted!
Be safe!
Wo,wo, waite a minute, ... I just thought about it (second thoughts), I'll pass on trying a sip! :cool:
Old Rusty Ted

Would you take a bite of "Mystery Sausage"?

So if corn oil is made from corn
Canola Oil, Palm Oil and Mineral Oil from Canola Palms and Minerals
where do we get baby oil? :p

I use vinagar all the time for removing the scale from my work after forging. If left in for a day or even 2 you can take the steel right down to the bare steel and it will come out a dull gray. Just rubbing it while it is wet and in the water will take the scale off. Wear rubber gloves cause it will make your hands very black. After dipping in baking soda to kill the vinegar, then wash off the soda, dry it well and then a quick wire brush or whatever finish you want works real well. It cleans metal very good and prepares it for almost any finish you want to put on.

actually canola stands for Canada oil, low acid.

Phosphuric acid, sold under the name Ospho at home depot, lowes, ect in the paint section will neautralize and kill any rust on any metal material excluding aluminum which it will literally eat, not that it rusts. About $5.00 a quart and a quart will last a very long time, one of the best product I have ever used. It also acts as a primer after its applied and has dried, just hit it with a wire brush and paint, or you can leave it alone. I personally like the look of it after it has dried. Here's a pic on the base of a sculpture that I made that was eaten up with rust.

The pic above is before I went over it with a wire brush, the white looking stuff is kind of like scale, most of it can be removed with an air hose but a wire brush is required in some areas.

Canola Oil is really rape seed oil but had an image problem with it's real name and so the name was changed to help them sell more of it, and Canada is a major producer.

Flop I truely wish I could find Ospho here in the midwest. It is outstanding stuff. Marvel Mystery oil is yes a great cleaner for fuel systems and also a crank case additive ( just read the bottle ). Old time oil. Also makes good air tool oil along with other light machine uses. This oil with some scotchbrite will remove rust and then preserve as well. I wish to thank Junior for my re-birth of using it. I had about forgotten it's value. Old timers in my youth used it.

Ten Hammers, you can get the folk's at Ace Hardware to order a case or two for you, unless the epa doesn't allow them to sell it up there. I don't know, I'm pretty sure you can't buy it in CA but they don't let you buy a lot of fun stuff in CA. The mystery oil does work great, I have used it to clean parts on my Jeep I'm rebuilding, really good stuff.

ahhh the sweet smell of marvel mystery oil......whats in it anyway? oh thats the secret...

MMO is and always has been in my shop. It is the best stuff for about fifteen dozen uses I can think of!
Finnr