# Electrolysis Rust Removal... A vice this time!



## Seafood (Jul 10, 2014)

Put this on another forum I belong to but thought it may be of interest here also!

Err, OK so I took a chance and bought an old KURT 6" vice and if you know anything about vices you'll know KURT are bloody expensive I could never justify buying a new one but this one came up on Ebay and I thought I'd take a punt...

This is how I picked it up...













So into the electrolytic bath it goes, I never tried to clean it off at all just bared a little metal for a contact point...





And after 24hrs... the rust that's left just wipes off and the black which is carbon I think needs a bit of elbow grease to remove but you can see the base metal just under it, it's the best way I've found for removing rust. I am going to leave it another day to see if it can get any better...





They say the the process works on line of sight i.e. that the sacrificial anodes you use need to be able to see the areas of the rust you need to remove but in my experience and definitely in this case a lot of the rust couldn't be seen by the anodes and it still removed it all over it has even removed the rust from underneath the vice. All I had was two metal plates about 8"x4" one at each end...



Ok so I've moved on managed to get it all apart,  cleaned and got it primed ready for a top coat...


As it came apart




Basic cleaning...




Proper cleaning and primed...





OK so DON'T use Hammerite Special Primer on cast iron, I had to get it all off today right bloody job still it's done now, new etch primer and top coat...






Just jaws and a handle to make now!












Including new labels very kindly sent to me from Kurt free of charge...






And Finally with newly made jaws...






Lee


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## Lakc (Jul 10, 2014)

Good job, just made me jealous.


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## AussieJimG (Jul 10, 2014)

Will done Lee, who would have thought that that rust heap of junk was recoverable.

Jim


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## Swifty (Jul 11, 2014)

An excellent job Lee, I hope that the condition was advertised properly and the price reflected the condition. I would like to know more about you bath, what is the fluid and what did you use for the current.

Paul.


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## bazmak (Jul 11, 2014)

Brilliant Lee, so much satisfaction getting a top tool from a heap of rust
Shame to use it. Congrats. Bazmak


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## BaronJ (Jul 11, 2014)

bazmak said:


> Brilliant Lee, so much satisfaction getting a top tool from a heap of rust
> Shame to use it. Congrats. Bazmak



I agree !  A terrific transformation.  I'm almost jealous. :bow::bow::bow:


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## DickInOhio (Jul 14, 2014)

Wonderful !!!


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## Herbiev (Jul 15, 2014)

Great job. Well done.


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## winklmj (Aug 1, 2014)

Nice work! Who'da thought that rust-bucket would end up looking almost new.


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## velocette (Aug 1, 2014)

Swifty said:


> An excellent job Lee, I hope that the condition was advertised properly and the price reflected the condition. I would like to know more about you bath, what is the fluid and what did you use for the current.
> 
> Paul.


Hi can I jump in here with some info that may of intrest
http://antique-engines.com/electrol.asp 
or
http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/rust/electrolytic_derusting.htm

Nice job great to see someone who can see past the rust and dirt and spot a bargain and get stuck in and make it a worthwhile project.

Eric


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## Seafood (Aug 2, 2014)

Swifty said:


> An excellent job Lee, I hope that the condition was advertised properly and the price reflected the condition. I would like to know more about you bath, what is the fluid and what did you use for the current.
> 
> Paul.



Hi Paul 

Sorry I did miss this post, all you need is water, washing soda a couple of bits of scrap metal some wire and a 12v battery charger. Eric's links above are the way to go it's very easy to do and harmless enough as long as basic safety guidelines are ad eared to. One of the posters in the link Eric provided says he uses stainless as a sacrificial piece please DO NOT use stainless as it produces very nasty chemicals any mild steel is fine...

Lee


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