Evaporated o Rust, BLA!

[Uncle Buck]

After hearing everyone sing the praises of Evap-o-Rust for years I decided today to give it a try. Well, I was thoroughly unimpressed.  I  decided to start with a rusty drill bit gauge and see how it worked. After soaking 3-4 hours I pulled it from the bath of EOR and the whole damned thing is black! It looked like I cold blued it!
I put it back in its bath and I will see what it looks like tomorrow.  I expect it to look through same. I plan to wire wheel the crap out of it and see if that helps, but I don't have high hopes.

Fortunately, I already have several so tossing this one won't be any real loss. Originally I intended to follow that with a couple of V Blocks and a couple of small machinist squares, but after that, no way will I chance that so I will do what I have done for over 40 years, wire wheel on the bench grinder.

It will be a long time before I try that crap again. I am so glad I only bought a Qt and not a gallon!

I  guess I should not be surprised,  through my life I have found the majority of things that work so well for others always seem to work the exact opposite for me. 😄

[Uncle Buck]

LOL, Spell check has a sense of humor! It changed my title from Evap, to Evaporated! How fitting too!😅

[Lookin4_67GalaxieConv]

I think it depends on what you use it on.  I've used Evaporust on old tool box friction slides lots of times and it does a pretty good job.  For drill bits, hand tools like wrenches, ratchets, etc, I'd just go ahead and wire wheel it.  If I can do it in a minute or so on the wheel, it's not worth going through the Evaporust bath in my experience.

[bonneyman]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience, UB. I've been using Evaporust for several years, and it works fine. Well, it used to. The last year or two it seems "weaker". Cost cutting, who knows?
I've heard WD-40 came out with their version of rust remover. I might try it.

https://www.wd40.com/products/rust-remover/

[oldnslo]

I'll continue to sing its praises. It does work, and IMHO, there is no equal. Yes, vinegar has its uses too. Yes, some metals do turn black, but it washes off with soap and water. I just picked up a gallon 2 weeks agao to replace my filthy re-used version from several years ago.

[pep]

I think it depends on what you use it on.  I've used Evaporust on old tool box friction slides lots of times and it does a pretty good job.  For drill bits, hand tools like wrenches, ratchets, etc, I'd just go ahead and wire wheel it.  If I can do it in a minute or so on the wheel, it's not worth going through the Evaporust bath in my experience.

I agree, only used Evaporust once not impressed it did work, took a couple of days. UB, tooling, wire wheel much faster.

Used Evaporuson a fish scale, the only way to clean it, black & rusty red, soaking it for 2 days.

@  bonneyman I would try the WD version for sure should a need arise. thanks for posting.

[Uncle Buck]

What turned me off on it so bad was how it turned the part so black that it can no longer be read and is now worthless.

It has crossed my mind this might have happened because the drill gage is stainless steel. However after reading the bottle I found no warnings regarding using the stuff on stainless. So far this morning the drill gage still looks the same, as black as a crow.

[goodfellow]

Yeah, I have my doubts about the stuff as well. I still get the best results on small/medium sized parts with just an old fashioned 5A battery charger in a washing soda (borax) electrolysis bath. Leave it for a day or two and the parts come out nice and shiny after I give them a rinse.

[hickory n Steel]

I just use a wire wheel and steel wool because I'm somebody who loves patina,  I don't like soaking things because basically all soaking methods change the color of the steel.
I love vintage axes, hammers, and knives, and I don't want to turn them dark
The worst is that dull grey color you get from vinegar,  thankfully I can't stand the smell.
10/10 just the slightest whiff of that shit will make me vomit.

[muddy]

Yeah, I have my doubts about the stuff as well. I still get the best results on small/medium sized parts with just an old fashioned 5A battery charger in a washing soda (borax) electrolysis bath. Leave it for a day or two and the parts come out nice and shiny after I give them a rinse.

Didn't you have a thread on that on the old site? Would love to see how you did it.

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk

[goodfellow]

Yeah, I have my doubts about the stuff as well. I still get the best results on small/medium sized parts with just an old fashioned 5A battery charger in a washing soda (borax) electrolysis bath. Leave it for a day or two and the parts come out nice and shiny after I give them a rinse.

Didn't you have a thread on that on the old site? Would love to see how you did it.

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk

I didn't have a thread on rust removal, but rather on electroplating with nickel. Someone else posted an electrolysis cleaning tutorial.
The idea is the same, but in rust removal you hook the Negative lead to the item that is corroded, and the Positive lead to a metal bar. I usually use a piece of rebar for that purpose.

An old fashioned analog transformer 3A or 5A battery charger is idea for this purpose.

http://garagegazette.com/index.php?topic=190.msg989#msg989