# Rust and More Rust



## patlaw (Jan 4, 2010)

Almost all of my hand tools are stored in doors. The only "shop" I have is a garage, but it's not set up yet. 

Some of my (always in the house) tools are showing rust. It's a very dark, hard-to-remove rust. Only a few tools are doing it, such as the T-Square below. I've tried to remove it, but nothing I've tried works. (I've purchased just about every anti-rust chemical mentioned here.)

The humidity level in my home ranges from 30 to 60% season to season, and it's relatively stable from week to week. The temperature is very stable. Tools I've had for many years seem to be doing fine. The problem seems to be with tools purchased in the last two or three years. Comments or suggestions? Wax? Oil?


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## bryansong (Mar 4, 2015)

Mike,

Most of my tools don't have a problem with rust but I'm like you on the rusty square, my 12" square is almost junk. I'd really like to find an affordable one that doesn't rust up.
I don't mean to veer off your subject too much but I think as far as squares go I'm just going to have to break down and buy one. Watching people on YouTube videos using their fancy 
squares make me envious.

Bryan


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## Shop guy (Nov 22, 2012)

@bryansong: Buy a Starrett. You won't be sorry.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Mike; the worst thing about the squares is trying to preserve the black infill of the engravings while being aggressive with the rust.
You'd think they'd make the blades from stainless steel, eh?
Keeping the air moving in the garage is a good place to start; ie a ceiling fan, or a portable. Someone else can explain the physics, but I know that dead air allows the water vapour to condense on cold objects.
Furniture wax works well, once you've got _all_ the oxidation off.
For light oxidation, I like AUTOSOL
#11350 - Autosol Rust Remover - 500ml Bottle
Autosol: Autosol Metal Polish - Information and Directions
I use the second linked product.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

If nothing else works maybe try electrolysis. I've seen posts on here of members using it and it seemed to work well. You'll have to do a site search for it.

If I have to replace any of my rules that have rusted I'm replacing with stainless steel. The stainless ones I already have are holding up beautifully.I did buy a carpenter's square quite a while ago that has held up well and was cheap. It has a heavy coat of black pint and white graduations and numbers. I can't remember who made it. Either Mayes or Johnson I think. The paint is starting to wear away from the edges slightly but it is still fully usable after 20 to 30 years.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

I loves my SS carpenter square!!! 
I have to admit it's harder to read though.

This seems reasonable, if it's actually square...
https://www.amazon.com/Swanson-TC132-12-Inch-Square-Stainless/dp/B0008IT5LO

EDIT: Just to clarify, that last link is for a combination square. My first comment referred to my 24" carpenter square.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Crap, it's on Amazon .com. That a great deal on a combo square and it's one of those must have tools in my opinion. Mine rusted pretty bad and the aluminum ones aren't strong enough.


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## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

I use something called a Rust Eraser that I purchased over 30 years ago so I don’t recall where I bought it. It is like a rubber eraser that is impregnated with some kind of abrasive and it works pretty well for rust like yours. I have used it to remove thin surface rust from rules and gauges that belonged to my father.

A Google search led me to these rubber sanding blocks at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Klingspor-Sandflex-Cleaning-Polishing-Block/dp/B005JSSWDU


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## fire65 (Oct 29, 2008)

I use a brass brush in my drill press for small things like that. I will not remove the black if you are careful and leaves is smooth.


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## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

For heavy rust, I've used a Naval Jelly - it's very caustic and smells like crazy, so ventilation and gloves are important. I've used it on a cast iron table saw top. Don't know how it would affect the black lettering on a square.


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## Knothead47 (Feb 10, 2010)

Dehumidifier worked in our basement in central KY. I have a Brown & Sharpe that has the center finder on it. Love it and I take good care of it. Believe it or not, my Craftsman square is dead on according to my Groz precision square.


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## furboo (Oct 12, 2015)

I struggled to get rust off of an old Stanley plane I picked up at a garage sale, trying all sorts of over the counter caustic stuff, including naval jelly. Then I tried lemon juice (LJ) and the results were amazing. Let it soak at least 24 hours. If it's a large tool (like a handsaw blade), I cover the rusty areas with paper towels soaked in LJ and re-wet if they dry out too soon.

The active ingredient is citric acid, and there's youtube videos about just using powdered citric acid, mixed with water. See






This I haven't tried, but would be a lot cheaper than buying lots of LJ.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Rob; have you tried vinegar? Acetic acid. Really cheap if you buy the white stuff specifically labelled for cleaning. 
Mind you, it is kinda smelly.


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## Tonto1 (Nov 10, 2016)

Rust is Iron Oxide (Fe2O3). Chemically speaking, any acid will remove the oxide. The stronger the acid, the faster it will work. Hydrochloric Acid has a pH of 1 & will work very quickly. As mentioned, you might loose you black paint however.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Here is the USA Amazon link to the block Oliver mentioned. I have a really old combination square I love that needs cleanup, so I ordered it for $9. Should get it by Wednesday.
https://smile.amazon.com/Sandflex-T...178&sr=8-2&keywords=Sandflex+Hand+Block,+Fine


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## cocobolo1 (Dec 31, 2015)

As for losing the paint from our various measuring tools, here's what I learned in carpentry school.

Clean your square (or whatever tool) completely. Spray it with yellow paint. Wipe the paint off right away and you will be left with nice clear yellow marks which are easy to read.

I'm going to take a few minutes today to have a look at some of my tools to see how they are doing. I did clean the cast iron table on my thickness planer about 6 months ago, it will be interesting to see how it has fared since then. I should have waxed it then, but I didn't.


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## mark greenbaum (Sep 26, 2010)

Use a small rubbermaid dish pan, and distilled white vinegar. Let the rusty article stay in the vinegar for 1/2 hour, take out, and lightly scrub with scotchbrite, rinse, dry, and wax with past wax. DONE. Did it to my Dad's old Stanley, and it's like new.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

I ordered what I think @Gaffboat (Oliver) suggested. I think it might resurect my 60 year old Stanley combination square. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GAML4W/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thinking about it, I got it from a carpenter friend of the family when I was a kid, and it was used then. That thing has served me well. Would be nice to restore it and someday pass it on.


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## furboo (Oct 12, 2015)

DaninVan said:


> Rob; have you tried vinegar? Acetic acid. Really cheap if you buy the white stuff specifically labelled for cleaning.
> Mind you, it is kinda smelly.


Yes, and for whatever reason, I've had better luck with citric acid (lemon juice). But I'll admit, I may have given up on the vinegar smell too quickly  Although the used lemon juice smells pretty nasty, too.


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## furboo (Oct 12, 2015)

Tonto1 said:


> Rust is Iron Oxide (Fe2O3). Chemically speaking, any acid will remove the oxide. The stronger the acid, the faster it will work. Hydrochloric Acid has a pH of 1 & will work very quickly. As mentioned, you might loose you black paint however.


Sure but I'd prefer to use something I'd be willing to drink.

BTW, one of the many things I tried is naval jelly. I'll stick with lemon juice any day. Much more effective and a LOT easier to use.


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## coxhaus (Jul 18, 2011)

The vinegar I use is extra strength and it is 9%. I still like my bandsaw table top I used it on.

Tom I ordered one of those blocks from Amazon.


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## Tonto1 (Nov 10, 2016)

furboo wrote:



> Sure but I'd prefer to use something I'd be willing to drink.


Believe it or not, the HCl that your stomach secrets has a pH of 1. Strong stuff we use to digest food! Which is why our stomachs lining replaced itself every 3 days. But we don't want to go around upchucking on our tools.


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## Seenya (Apr 11, 2010)

I've used Evapo-Rust for several years now and it works wonders plus its reusable. It can be poured down the drain to dispose of it, too. It's available on Amazon and most big box stores.


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## chessnut2 (Sep 15, 2011)

Mike.....a couple of months ago, there was a discussion of rust here on the forum. One thing that was mentioned was coating the rusted item with animal grade molasses, then rinsing after some amount of time. I googled the process, and a lot of people are enthusiastic about it. There was also discussion in that same post of electrolysis rust removal. Here's the link to the discussion. I hope it helps:
http://www.routerforums.com/lobby/103538-how-clean-up-75-years-rust-tarnish.html


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## cocobolo1 (Dec 31, 2015)

Well, I did check my planer today, and it has stayed very clean. No more rust at all. It is in the workshop which has one end completely open to the outside, although it is protected from any rain.

I used to use Naval Jelly years ago and it always worked well. But elbow grease and your favourite chemical usually works just as well.


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## chika (Apr 11, 2015)

*Rust*

Hi Mike I deal with rust all the time and I found that ordinary white vinegar is the best, just soak the pieces in it for couple days or for really stubborn rust whole week and it will be all gone. Good luck


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## subtleaccents (Nov 5, 2011)

For light to medium rust, I've used the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. There is some type of fine pumice impregnated into it. As mentioned by others lemon juice works well also.


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## furboo (Oct 12, 2015)

Tonto1 said:


> Believe it or not, the HCl that your stomach secrets has a pH of 1. Strong stuff we use to digest food! Which is why our stomachs lining replaced itself every 3 days. But we don't want to go around upchucking on our tools.


I didn't mean to imply HCl was unnatural, just that I don't like to drink it, either pure or in upchuck :smile: I can think of other bodily fluids I also would rather not use to clean my tools. I don't see the point in dealing with HCl to de-rust tools, when citric acid works fine. YMMV.


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## N'awlins77 (Feb 25, 2011)

Here ya go. Gets all that hard to remove rust!! ;o)


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## honesttjohn (Feb 17, 2015)

Betcha Rick wants one of those!!!


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## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

honesttjohn said:


> Betcha Rick wants one of those!!!


He's probably on his way to the store as we speak:wink:


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

"Set Phasers to 'Stun'!"


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## UglySign (Nov 17, 2015)

Possible to have a jar of Muratic Acid (30% Hydrochloric) sitting around?

Supposedly the fumes from it tend to rust things.
Apparently is does wicked things sort of fast and possibly overnight.
Might even tell what grade Stainless you have if affected.

I guess as Chuck mentions, follow up w/ electrolysis.

Hmm... I could go for a dose of Trek come to think of it.


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## Geevesmac (Jul 15, 2014)

There are some things you just have to get right, and square is one of them. Pay a bit more for a Starrett and you are set for life with square wood work.


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## Geevesmac (Jul 15, 2014)

I live in a hot, humid, wet and elevated area, so regular cloud. I tried most things to prevent rust, and then I was introduced to Nyalic (another space age development), and no more rust. Nyalic is for sealing, not neutralising rust, so you still need to do that first. Very easy to apply, self levelling, totally clear, and only needs a micro-film so it goes a long way. If you apply it too thick you will loose some of the benefit of reduced friction for table saw, planer tables etc. I see on the US site they sell it in a spraycan which would be useful.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

UglySign said:


> Possible to have a jar of Muratic Acid (30% Hydrochloric) sitting around?
> 
> Supposedly the fumes from it tend to rust things.
> Apparently is does wicked things sort of fast and possibly overnight.
> ...


Yes! I learned the hard way about Muriatic acid, and tools in the vicinity of the container. Bad juju ensued.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

I got one of the "erasers" Oliver suggested and worked over my 70 year old square. While there was some rust, I discovered that much of the roughness was really not, but some sort of hardened material, some perhaps glue but a lot of dried out oil from poor storage in a container with other, greasy tools (During my long years living toolless in apartments). The eraser seemed to be a rubber block impregnated with fine grit. Left a nice polished surface. Did the edges too since the hard goop was also on the edges, so they were not really straight. Much nicer to use now.


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