Electrolysis Tutorial.

[straykiller]

I decided to write a quick tut on how to use electrolysis to remove rust from firearms or whatever else you want. It’s a fairly simple process and will be useful as you may be able to remove the rust and not have to refinish your part if its not bad.

I will be using electrolysis to remove rust from an old hatchet found in the garage (Most rusted thing I could find at the moment)


Parts List

1. 1 Five Gallon Bucket
2. Arm&Hammer Washing Soda (People have used Baking Soda and said it works also)
3. Power supply**
4. Water
5. Sacrificial Metal (I used this Flat stake from Lowe’s for my anode, if you use this you must first remove the outer coating so the bare metal is exposed above and under the water, never use stainless steel)
6. A couple rags
7. Part you want to remove rust from

** Power Supply can be any wall charger or power supply for an appliance. obviously the more powerful the current the faster the process will work. I use a Linksys Router power supply and some alligator clips I bought from a local auto parts store. A car battery charger would work also as long as it isn’t a smart charger that requires a battery connected for it to supply power.


Step 1
• Fill Bucket with 5 Gallons of water
• Add Washing soda to water and stir (1 TBS per gallon)

Step 2
• Remove outer coating from your anode (if needed)
• Place in bucket and clamp it to the side
• Connect positive lead from power supply to the anode and negative to the part you want to remove rust from (IMPORTANT: DON’T MIX THIS PART UP)
• Put part into water (the closer the part and anode is the quicker the process will work. DO NOT ALLOW THE PARTS TO TOUCH EACH OTHER OR THEY WILL SHORT OUT)
• Plug in Power supply
• Wait awhile and check back regularly (Part will begin to bubble, turn part around if needed, most of the electrolysis happens to the side facing the anode so flipping and turning of your part may be required)



Step 3
• Unplug Power supply and remove part from water.
• Use a rag to wipe off excess water and black residue (when part is pulled out there might look like there is still rust on the piece but it will normally wipe off)
• Repeat the process if any rust is left after the wipe down.
• Do a full cleaning of the part/gun with solvent to make sure all the rust residue is removed and oil completely.

BEFORE AND AFTER WIPE DOWN


If everything worked correctly you should have successfully removed rust from you gun and or tools. I hope this helps a few people out.

[straykiller]

Before and after pics from when I used my set up to remove rust for a min 14. This is to show it works well when removing thick rust as well.
Before



After

[bob7122]

thanks for the post. this should be a sticky.

[straykiller]

thanks for the post. this should be a sticky.

no problem i hope this helps you out. let me know your results when your done.

[TURBOELKY]

Awesome! I'm going to try that out!

[Ytisfedup]

Isn't that mini-14 the one that got pissed on by cats?

[straykiller]

Isn't that mini-14 the one that got pissed on by cats?

yes thats what i was told.

[chiz]

This just reminded me that I have an M1 that I found buried in my yard in the garage right next to the box of washing soda. I was going to do this months ago but forgot all about it.

[Killawhale415]

Nice post and great work on the mini.

Cat piss be damned!

[Richard Erichsen]

<snip>
Parts List

1. 1 Five Gallon Bucket
2. Arm&Hammer Washing Soda (People have used Baking Soda and said it works also)
3. Power supply**
4. Water
5. Sacrificial Metal (I used this Flat stake

<snip>

This is a great tutorial, though I'd like to add a few details to it for safety's sake. Firstly the chemicals used are caustic and do an even better job at removing your skin than metal oxidation. Wear gloves, goggles, work in a well ventilated area that cannot easily be stumbled upon by curious pets or children. Keep it away from your cars if you do this in your garage or car port, the caustic soda solution doesn't improve your paint job. The voltages are high enough to kill you or a curious pet - keep it away from children. Never touch the contents of the tub while power is applied!

The tank can be any size large enough for the parts, but it should be a non-reactive material such as HDPE. Magnesium anodes are the best (marine supply stores have both magnesium and zinc anodes) but produce a lot of hydrogen during the process, another reason for the ventilation.

Most of the old mechanics I know mix up a solution with several bases, not just a single base. Sodium carbonate, potassium or sodium hydroxide, sodium silicate and tri-sodium phosphate. I've heard of lemon juice and salt mix being used by some but obtaining enough lemon juice is difficult and the salt causes a release of chlorine gas that makes the work area smell like it's been hit with mustard gas. Chlorine gas is fairly incompatible with the lining of your lungs, so I advise against using sodium chloride as your base.

R

[7,62x39]

Funny that you posted this, I've been using electrolysis on a yugo M70 barrel for the past couple of days. The barrel is dark and looks like it has crap growing in it, but its starting to look better. It still does not by any means look good, and as its cleaning up more, I'm thinking I probably wont even use it, since it looks like its pitted, and just barely passes the bullet test as is.

[cortayack]

Thanks for the write up......

[anothergunnut]

I've used sodium carbonate as my electrolyte as I couldn't find washing soda. Sodium Carbonate is the ingredient in pool PH up; I got it at my local grocery store.

I tried electrolysis on a couple rusted tools and it was incredible; fast and easy. The only problem is I used a model train transformer and apparently damaged it as it no longer works. I was planning on getting a car batter charger, probably this manual one from Sears http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...3&blockType=G3

[4thSBCT]

nice write up. sticky?

[njineermike]

I used the same, process to clean the inside of a motorcycle gas tank a few years ago. My power supply was a 12 auto battery charger, my base was baking soda, and my sacrificial anode was a chunk of rebar.