Rust removal -- again (option 1)
Last time I brought up the subject of electrolytic rust removal -- which was here:
www.flickr.com/photos/ghb624/5896789751/
I was using a setup similar to most others I've seen in YouTube videos and flickr pics. That is, a plastic bucket with something or other (iron or steel object) as the sacrificial anode. Both the anode and object to be de-rusted are of course placed in the electrolyte solution which more or less fills the bucket. Yesterday I felt slightly ambitious -- just enough to clean up one more tool, in this case a rusty file. It seemed wasteful to use a 2-gallon bucket for just one skinny object. I looked around for a smaller plastic container, ideally more tall and narrow, as would be appropriate for a file positioned vertically. Nothing jumped out at me from the chaos I call a workshop. But ... aha ... what about one of those 3-lb. coffee cans I've been stashing away for some unknown reason? True, they're metal. But, that could be a good thing. Why not let the container itself be the sacrificial anode?
I hooked it up for a test run and voila! Great electrolysis. Of course, I had to keep the file from contacting the can since that would constitute a short circuit -- no electrolysis that way and it wouldn't be good for the battery charger either! I cut off the bottom end of a plastic bottle and immersed it in the electrolyte so it would keep the bottom end of the file from contacting the bottom or side of the can. I wrapped some plastic around the upper part of the file so it could rest against the rim of the can without electrical contact. Later it occurred to me that the plastic lid of the coffee can could also be used for this purpose, as shown in the second image.
BTW, you don't see any electrolyte in either shot because I took the pics after the fact. But you can see (in image 1 anyway) how much rust came off the file and was deposited on the inside of the can. I'm still amazed at how slick this process works.
Now, if I'd just had a taller, skinnier can, I could've avoided having to do one half of the file, then flip it upside down to do the other end. Maybe next time ...
Rust removal -- again (option 1)
Last time I brought up the subject of electrolytic rust removal -- which was here:
www.flickr.com/photos/ghb624/5896789751/
I was using a setup similar to most others I've seen in YouTube videos and flickr pics. That is, a plastic bucket with something or other (iron or steel object) as the sacrificial anode. Both the anode and object to be de-rusted are of course placed in the electrolyte solution which more or less fills the bucket. Yesterday I felt slightly ambitious -- just enough to clean up one more tool, in this case a rusty file. It seemed wasteful to use a 2-gallon bucket for just one skinny object. I looked around for a smaller plastic container, ideally more tall and narrow, as would be appropriate for a file positioned vertically. Nothing jumped out at me from the chaos I call a workshop. But ... aha ... what about one of those 3-lb. coffee cans I've been stashing away for some unknown reason? True, they're metal. But, that could be a good thing. Why not let the container itself be the sacrificial anode?
I hooked it up for a test run and voila! Great electrolysis. Of course, I had to keep the file from contacting the can since that would constitute a short circuit -- no electrolysis that way and it wouldn't be good for the battery charger either! I cut off the bottom end of a plastic bottle and immersed it in the electrolyte so it would keep the bottom end of the file from contacting the bottom or side of the can. I wrapped some plastic around the upper part of the file so it could rest against the rim of the can without electrical contact. Later it occurred to me that the plastic lid of the coffee can could also be used for this purpose, as shown in the second image.
BTW, you don't see any electrolyte in either shot because I took the pics after the fact. But you can see (in image 1 anyway) how much rust came off the file and was deposited on the inside of the can. I'm still amazed at how slick this process works.
Now, if I'd just had a taller, skinnier can, I could've avoided having to do one half of the file, then flip it upside down to do the other end. Maybe next time ...