Toyotus 7 Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Just wanted to draw attention to an environmentally friendly rust removal trick that works unbelievably well, for those folks relying on old rusted parts for their builds. Clean off the grease and loose paint, then soak the part in a solution of molasses and water for a two to three weeks, They come out looking like new metal. I was highly skeptical, so I tried it over Christmas. The result astounded me. Molasses is super cheap at a feed store and is virtually harmless. You can reuse it for ages, then just pour it in your garden. Anyone else ever try this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s2k7 Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 That's nice ..... but perhaps it's not for me. For 3 weeks ? I will go nutz.....i want it now ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffee break Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 What does molasses do for the garden? Get rid of ants? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toyotus 7 Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 Coffee Break - You can use it as a fertilizer/compost supplement. I agree that the length of time that it takes to chew through rust, would not be good for the impatient types, but if you've got a zillion projects on the go and are just picking away at them and can plan ahead, then this might be a good option. It seems to be quite popular in Australia, but rarely used in North America. There are videos of guys there soaking whole sections of cars in cattle troughs full of the molasses/water solution. I've got a 3 cylinder 2-stroke crankshaft with rods and bearings seized together soaking in it now. The last stuff turned out amazingly well, so I'm curious to see if it will actually free up the seized parts....not so they can be re-used, but just to see what this process is capable of doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xcarguy Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Good lord! All this talk of soaking....and no mention of ratios? How much of each? Please hurry.....my patience is wearing thin and I'm running out of biscuits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toyotus 7 Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 I used 1 part molasses to 6 or 7 parts water. I've seen anywhere from a ratio of 1:4 to 1:10 used. I guess it would depend on how big your parts are and how patient you are. . I've got about 20 gallons of solution now and it cost me about 15 bucks for the molasses at the local feed store. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestTexasS2K Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Ill have to give this a try. I have a bunch of rusty stuff to experiment on. I assume if it eats all the rust off it would be a iron supplement for your yard or garden. Soil microbes love molasses, I spread tons of dried molasses on my customers yards over the years after a compost applications for carb boost for the microbes. It smells good too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlumba81 Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 For smaller parts electrolysis using a battery charger and some scrap steel works well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toyotus 7 Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 The parts I did were way worse than this guy's wheels, but this video gives you a pretty good idea of how well it works. Actually there are lots of videos about it on the Internet. Check out this video on YouTube: Sent from my iPad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toyotus 7 Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 Ack! I don't know why the link always drops out on me. Just google "molasses rust removal". Lots of videos will come up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rikker Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 And for those readers under the age of 50, he is referring to a viscous black sugar by-product, (black treacle in the UK), that looks like crude oil and was popular in cooking till about 50 years ago and definitely not the rear ends of burrowing rodents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffee break Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 And definitely not the rear ends of burrowing rodents. :rofl::rofl::rofl: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rzempel Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 For smaller parts electrolysis using a battery charger and some scrap steel works well. Not just small parts. I've got a 300 gallon tank I can (and have done) some really large pieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toyotus 7 Posted February 1, 2015 Author Share Posted February 1, 2015 I checked the horrible old rusted DKW crank with the rods that were rusted solid in place that has been soaking in molasses and water for two weeks. The rods now move freely and about 90% of the rust is gone. I gave it a quick rinse and put it back in for another week. I can't believe how well this works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BirkinBernie Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 There is a product on the market called Evapo-Rust. I bought a 1935 vintage South Bend metal lathe about a year ago, and used the stuff to remove rust from many small parts. An overnight soak left rusted parts looking like new. Great stuff.... http://www.evapo-rust.com/ Bernie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toyotus 7 Posted March 3, 2015 Author Share Posted March 3, 2015 Here is an old DKW engine block before going into molasses. And after soaking for two weeks. This is was a mix of 1 part molasses to 9 parts water. As you see, the casting looks virtually brand new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gearbox Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 (edited) There is a product on the market called Evapo-Rust. I bought a 1935 vintage South Bend metal lathe about a year ago, and used the stuff to remove rust from many small parts. An overnight soak left rusted parts looking like new. Great stuff.... http://www.evapo-rust.com/ Bernie Just to let you know, all Evaporust is, is watered down Muriatic acid which is available at most hardware stores for 6 bucks a gallon. I've been using Muriatic acid on all my restorations for years. It attacks the rust and leaves the good metal behind. And it is fast. Depending on the size of the part, I use small tupperware tubs to those large plastic bins at home depot. For wheels, I found that those plastic round oil change pans perfect for 13" steel wheels, plus it has a spout to pour it back into the bottle. I normally will use full strength, and even if it doesn't fully submerge the part, I will flip it around every 20 minutes with rubber gloves and it cleans it in about a couple of hours. Just make sure you have a pail of clean water and baking soda to neutralize the acid. I use hot water with the baking soda so when you drop it in and once it stops fizzing, take it out and it dries quickly and minimizes any flash rusting. Just make sure you do not put anything aluminum in the acid, the reaction is pretty violent. You can reuse the acid for a long time, and once it gets too dirty, just dump a cup of baking soda into it and it neutralizes it within seconds for disposal. Good luck with you projects. Edited March 18, 2015 by Gearbox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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