What's the best way to clean old rusty wrench's and sockets?

[931johnny]

I put a wire wheel on my 6" wheel grinder, but it's still difficult to get the rust. Maybe sandblasting will work better, but it will take all the chrome off.

 

[Michael Soldan]

Wire wheel 'em again,don't sandblast,it will ruin the smooth finish. After wheeling them wash them in a solutionof water and oxalic acid which you buy in powder form and dillute in water,let them soak and rub with pot scrubber etc.

 

[Inno]

In the body work forum this morning I read a post about alternatives to sandblasting, one of them was a "rust evaporator" liquid from Harbor Freight.
Here's a link to the thread.
http://ytforums.ytmag.com/viewtopic.php?t=767601

 

[Anonymous-0]

Go to flea market- garage sale- yard sale - and get new ones. Don't let the new ones rust. { yes they have Snap-on at sales too]

 

[John730D]

Try this. Works miracles.
Take it all off

 

[funky_g00]

Evapo-rust works very well. Another way that I clean things is thru some mean of vibration such a rock tumbler, an electric massager or toolbox in a vehicle.

 

[Ron in NS]

Try this.
Evaporust

 

[Goose]

I gotta tell this.

One time when I was in the Marine Corps, I needed to clean the carburetor on my car and put a kit in it. I scouted around at work and misappropriated a partly full 5 gallon can of a water soluble paint remover.

That evening after work I poured a couple of gallons of the paint remover out into a bucket, disassembled my carb, and put the parts in the paint remover. It worked as good as any commercial carb dip I've used.

A buddy of mine was hanging around watching, and when he saw I was done with the paint remover he asked if he could clean some tools in it. I told him to go ahead, and he emptied his toolbox into the bucket of paint remover. We BS'd for a half hour while I put my carb back together. When my buddy dumped his tools back out of the paint remover, he found it had eaten all the plastic handles off of his screwdrivers.

 

[souNdguy]

naval jelly or other phosphoric acid containing compound.. driveway rust remover.. clr.. etc. ospho.. etc.

then laquer them..

soundguy

 

[Bowlegs]

Put the tools in vingear keep a close watch on them when rust is gone remove and rinse. Leave them to long and it will take the chrome off

 

[showcrop]

Go to any restaurant supply store and get a gallon of lime scale remover. It is phosphoric acid. It will dissolve rust just like vinegar and oxalic acid or Coca Cola will, and it will turn any residual into inert shiny iron phosphate. 1/4 the price of the stuff that is sold specifically for rust conversion.

 

[showcrop]

First time I ever heard of anything other than fire that would dissolve plastic.

 

[bobs old iron]

maybe that's why i sick as a dog, had to much vinegar on my salad last night. cleaning my insides out. lol

 

[Dick2]

Or sell you old tools at a flea market, garage sale, Craig's list, etc., then just watch for a tool sale and replace them with good tools that fit better than the old ones did anymore.

 

[931johnny]

(quoted from post at 21:46:33 04/28/11) Or sell you old tools at a flea market, garage sale, Craig's list, etc., then just watch for a tool sale and replace them with good tools that fit better than the old ones did anymore.

Thanks for all the ideals to clean tools. I don't want to get rid of my tools, some of the tools, I bought when I was a kid, going to machanic school. That was fourty years ago.

 

[thebigyellowtruck]

go get a jug of evapo-rust from harbor freight. you
will have to soak your tools for at least a day, but
the clean up nice and you can reuse the rust remover
many times. the chrome will stay intact, but make
sure to rinse the tools when you take them from the
rust remover. they will be sticky.
Evaporust at Harbor Freight Tools

 

[Spook]

I've seen some industrial solvents that would soften up plastic parts pretty quick. We had a heated dip tank for milling cutters at work. It was a big tank, some of the milling cutter bodies were 3 ft across, so a hoist was installed. I put my Farmall H sheet metal in there. An hour later every trace of 50 yr old paint was gone. And I mean shiny bright clean.

 

[504]

Nobody said a word about electrolysis.

 

[eastexan]

(quoted from post at 15:57:33 04/28/11) Go to any restaurant supply store and get a gallon of lime scale remover. It is phosphoric acid. It will dissolve rust just like vinegar and oxalic acid or Coca Cola will, and it will turn any residual into inert shiny iron phosphate. 1/4 the price of the stuff that is sold specifically for rust conversion.

Wonder how that would work with brushing it on old rusty implements?
I have an old plow that I was thinking about painting.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I thought you were heading in a different direction, Goose! LOL

Years ago, we had some Red Devil Paint Remover which were granules that got dissolved in water. .....You could soak hardened, crusty paintbrushes in the solution, and the brushes would be rejuvenated and useable again. ....The stuff worked great.

We were always looking for easier ways to clean small-engine carbs which were gummed up by stale gas. .....So, one day I decided to try the Red Devil solution.

I put a B&S carb in the solution, and left it overnight. ....Next day, I took the carb out, and rinsed it off in water, and the carb was immaculate! ....It was amazing to see how well the stuff cleaned.

I was elated, until I started to reassemble the carb. ....When I went to screw the brass jet back into the carb body, it just dropped into the hole. ...WTF?

After checking further, I discovered that the paint remover did a wonderful job of chemically machining the zinc diecast carb! ....Any close tolerances were opened-up. ...Threads and holes were normal-looking, not pitted or eroded. ....They were just, oversize!

It was one of life's many lessons that I learned!

 

[Joe(TX)]

Like thebigyellowtruck said, use evapo-rust.