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Old 02-08-2015, 09:08 AM
HIVE+ HIVE+ is offline
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Default Molasses Rust Removal

Have seen reference to removing rust with a molasses solution soak, but in doing a search, can't find the recipe. Can someone help me out? Thanks.
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Old 02-08-2015, 10:30 AM
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Kerry Pinkerton Kerry Pinkerton is offline
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Google is your friend...well actually it's not but it is useful...

http://www.homercidal.com/molasses/
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Old 02-08-2015, 11:00 AM
weldtoride weldtoride is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HIVE+ View Post
Have seen reference to removing rust with a molasses solution soak, but in doing a search, can't find the recipe. Can someone help me out? Thanks.
Play with different ratios to suit your needs. I used to use molasses, but switched to vinegar, as it won't go as wonky as molasses does after a couple weeks. Incidentally, I purchased animal food grade molasses at my local farm feed store, comes in bulk for around $3.50 a gallon, changes with market rates. Loads cheaper than the grocery store.
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Old 02-08-2015, 11:04 PM
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Thanks, I just searched within Forum. I've got an old cane mill that needs refinishing, so it will be appropriate to use molasses to clean it.
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Old 02-09-2015, 10:43 AM
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I switched to citric acid. There is no smelly mess and anything not covered in the mixture does not rust at a rate you can't imagine. The mixture is so mild you can stick your hand in it even with a cut on your finger and not have any reaction. I bought a couple of kg of it from a local grocery supplier for what I thought was quite expensive, but by the time I finished cleaning 150 pieces it worked out to about 35 cents a part. I have since located a supplier where I can by 50 kg. for a reasonable price and will be using it a lot this summer.
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Old 06-30-2015, 06:36 PM
joemato joemato is offline
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Default cleaning off rust

I had some steel sheet thats been laying around for 10 years and had a pretty nasty surface rust coating. I read on youtube somebody used clear vinegar with a cup of salt mixed in per gallon. I have an old steel pan that I put the steel in, let it sit a few hours and noticed how all rust came off when I rubbed it with my hand. A sheet of 60 grit sandpaper cleaned any other crap. I now have the 19 gage sheet I needed and couldn't locate. It really worked well.
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Old 06-30-2015, 08:33 PM
Ranchero50 Ranchero50 is offline
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I did the electrolysis method when I restored my lathe. Not sure if it's a route you'd like to take but the cost and effort were minimal for the results. The machine suffered from a government liquidation auction and was nasty with tons of surface rust every where. I think it took $5 worth of baking soda to clean it up once it was stripped apart and it turned out looking really nice. The electrolysis method will remove layers of paint as well without hurting the base metal.

Started with this, several layers of Navy grey with plenty of rust.


In process, I could do a bucket of parts in a couple hours.


Cleaned, bare metal polished and waxed with turtle wax. Painted with Valspar satin over wet primer. The finish has been surprisingly durable.


Good luck.
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Old 07-01-2015, 12:44 AM
norson norson is offline
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Default Molasses

I used molasses for two or three years. The ratio I used was 7 to 1. My tank is 300 gallons and I would use nine containers (3 1/2 gal. each) and the rest water. The containers cost $9.00 each. The molasses was most effective for three months. It takes about 11 days to clean heavily rusted sheet metal. It won't remove paint. My neighbor complained about the smell (not that bad), So I switched to Citric acid a year and a half ago. Citric acid is cleaner but requires a few more steps. It takes only four or five days. The ratio I use is 50 pounds of citric acid to 300 gallons of water. I neutralize the acid with baking soda and kill the flash rust with Prep-n Etch. These are some of the parts I've cleaned.

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Norm
One picture of the rusty gas tank I cleaned.
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Last edited by Steve Hamilton; 07-01-2015 at 04:43 PM.
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Old 07-01-2015, 02:09 PM
Ranchero50 Ranchero50 is offline
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Thanks for posting pics of the tank. I do a lot of work for my buddy and his tractor obsession. Nearly all of them have tank rust issues that a bucket of bolts being shook inside doesn't quite fix.
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Old 07-01-2015, 08:41 PM
norson norson is offline
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Ranchero50
The gas tank was from a '55 Olds. Because of the undercoat and ugly stuff on the outside I filled the gas tank from my big tank. The acidity of the citrus mix was 2.8 (about the same as vinegar). I let it soak for 5 days, but It wasn't quite enough so I refilled it for three more days then drained it and rinsed it out (seemed like ten times). Washed out at at least two or three quart bags of rust. Then neutralized it with a half box of baking soda and water and a final soaking of Prep-n-Etch to stop the flash rust. I ended up with three or four pin holes I have to solder, but it's really clean. Did not need anything to "scrub" the inside of the tank. The picture shows the result of citrus only cleaning. Used a shop-vac suck air through it for drying.


Norm

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Last edited by Steve Hamilton; 12-03-2015 at 01:50 PM.
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