rust cutter

C

cgwbear

Joined
Dec 22, 2002
Messages
520
hi, i know this has come up before, but i never get the use of the archives right, so: i have a hundred or so rusty folders--all closed. in the past i have soaked a dozen or so in C L R (calcium, lime, rust) overnight, and it freed them up for cleaning. i can't find the stuff now, and i know there is a better way. i would be happy if someone (or more) would suggest some product to soak them in. this is so cal, so anything really good can't be purchased or owned. i practically grew up in a print shop, and benzine would clean up about anything. probably would get me a prison term today. thanks in advance, sorry my question is so dumb....but, i gotta start at some point..........b
 
Get some "naval jelly" at the hardware store . That's phosphoric acid in a gel and it will dissolve the rust be patient , then rinse , dry and put some oil on it.
 
If I had that many I'd be tempted to try soaking in Coca Cola. I've heard this starting when I was a kid and it;s been said by many since then, but I've never tried it. Maybe put some naval jelly on some like METE said and soak a couple of others in Coke.
 
Phosphoric acid is not recommended for use on knife blades or springs.
Soak them in WD 40.
 
Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about here, but it seems to me that both CLR and naval jelly would damage the handle materials and maybe the liners, as well. I would soak your old folding knives in some good penetrating oil from a few days to a few weeks and see what that does for them. Liquid Wrench is the old standby, but there are many others. Plain old mineral spirits might work pretty well. Personally, I think WD-40 is barely adequate for all the uses most people put it to. CorrosionX (spelled EXACTLY like I just wrote it) is ten times better than WD-40.

By the way, exactly where and how did you come into so many old rusty pocket knives?
 
hi folks, thanks for all the great ideas. i came by this many rusty folders by being willing to put my nose into all the "cruddy" boxes of junk at yard sales that most people pass on, especially when they see the mouse droppings. usually the people putting on the sales don't want to touch them either. i find cigar boxes of knives that probably got wet when water got into their garages. i hit about 15 or so every sat. got a box full of old rusted butcher knives this weekend. it's amazing how good some of that old carbon steel is, and how nice you can get it to look--once you get past the rust. thanks again. more advice will be welcomed.........................b
 
I'll second the Coke. Carbonic acid is a very light acid and will cause the least damage. Good place to start.

I'll disagree with the WD-40 bashing we always see, its always a good STARTING POINT. Wussy, little oil, little water remover, lots of spritz, perfect thing to try first. Don't forget to wipe down well and coat with a good oil for storage!

J-
 
WD40 is good as a penetrant, for freeing up a rusty folder, but pretty useless for removing rust. WD40 is also lousy for long-term protection.

For years I've used 'Tarnite', which is tough to find on store shelves but is available for internet purchase from Ace Hardware and other sources.

The active chemical ingredient is oxalic acid, which chemically digests metallic oxides. It includes a very mild abrasive, and is excellent for polishing all metal surfaces - but I wouldn't 'soak' it (due to the abrasive) into the pivot area.

Recommended:
- Free up the pivot with oil only.
- Clean blade surfaces with Tarnite.

Hope this helps!
 
OK. I'll say it again-soak the knives with WD 40. Wipe them off, soak again.
This will not hurt the knives. If rust remains, scrub lightly with 0000 steel wool soaked with (again) WD 40.
Or, soak them in Naval Jelly, Coke, hog pee, or whatever-and risk screwing them up.
Bill
www.billdeshivs.com
 
Bill DeShivs said:
OK. I'll say it again-soak the knives with WD 40. Wipe them off, soak again.
This will not hurt the knives. If rust remains, scrub lightly with 0000 steel wool soaked with (again) WD 40.
Or, soak them in Naval Jelly, Coke, hog pee, or whatever-and risk screwing them up.
Bill
www.billdeshivs.com
Click to expand...


Bill, you made my evening.

Thanks,
 
I need some old knives so I can try that hog-pee. Well, no maybe not, because then I'd need some hog-pee too.

I received an email awhile back listing all the uses for WD40. All kinds of weird uses. I can;t remember a single one of them except for #2 on the list: soaking rusty slip-joint knives. I completely forgot about that until after I replied with the Coke comment.

:D
 
I've never been a fan of WD-40 for anything. As a lube its a joke at best, and as a penetrant/rust disolver PB Blaster tops it by heads and tails. Don't even get me started on how it claims to be a gum cleaner/adhesive remover.
 
WD-40 isn't meant to be a lubricant or rust remover, it is meant to DISPLACE water. It does that ok.

-Cliff
 
Buck268 said:
I've never been a fan of WD-40 for anything. As a lube its a joke at best, and as a penetrant/rust disolver PB Blaster tops it by heads and tails. Don't even get me started on how it claims to be a gum cleaner/adhesive remover.
Click to expand...

Well, not to get too OT, but...... WD40 happens to be very good at removing adhesive residue. I turn to it first when I want to get tape off of something, or a label off of something else. Maybe there are better adhesive removers, but everybody's got a can of WD in the shop.
 
cgwbear said:
hi, i know this has come up before, but i never get the use of the archives right, so: i have a hundred or so rusty folders--all closed. in the past i have soaked a dozen or so in C L R (calcium, lime, rust) overnight, and it freed them up for cleaning. i can't find the stuff now, and i know there is a better way. i would be happy if someone (or more) would suggest some product to soak them in. this is so cal, so anything really good can't be purchased or owned. i practically grew up in a print shop, and benzine would clean up about anything. probably would get me a prison term today. thanks in advance, sorry my question is so dumb....but, i gotta start at some point..........b
Click to expand...


-Use a good penetrating oil so you can open the knife
-wash with soap and water
-soak for a half hour or so in SnoBowl toilet cleaner to disovle the rust (you might want to test the handle material first)
-steel brush the rust away, wash with soap and water,
-pollish then oil (with your choice).


Jim L.

WD 40 rocks! I don't care what anybody says.
 
I'm with Bill. I use WD-40 on all the old pocket knives people give me to restore.

I don't have to worry about the handles swelling up, melting or discoloring.

I'd rather use WD and some elbow grease and it take a little longer than using some strong chemical for 5 minutes and risk ruining a nice knife.

I've done dozens of knives with it, and I always get really nice results.
 
cgwbear said:
hi, i know this has come up before, but i never get the use of the archives right, so: i have a hundred or so rusty folders--all closed. in the past i have soaked a dozen or so in C L R (calcium, lime, rust) overnight, and it freed them up for cleaning. ..............
Click to expand...

Ok. Bear says he has alot of old rusty knives. Subsequent posts show that he picks them up at yard sales, etc. Now, it seems logical to me that some of these, if not many, were POSs even when new. Why not try some caustic, semi-caustic, not-so-caustic, and relatively benign chemicals and solutions on them? WHat's to lose?

Certainly you'd like to weed out that old Case that looks as if somebody's great-great grandpa put it to good use....you'd want to go easy with that one and those like it. But there are bound to be a few in there that say "China" on them and they got rusty simply because the owner saw fit to leave them where they might belong...exposed.

DISCLAIMER: Not all knives with "China" on them deserve being left "out in the rain". Most just deserve being left.
((( :D )))
 
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