Probably want to oil it so it doesn't get rusty again.
this post was submitted on 31 Mar 2025
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I did in the end end up painting it a nice blue colour with a rust protect metallic paint. First layer looked awful, second layer looked quite nice already, but I'm gonna add a third one today. The paint can recommended 3 layers for proper rust proof, so that's what I'm going by.
For future reference, Eastwood make a rust removal gel that you can paint onto surfaces and does a pretty great job. There's also naval jelly which is a generic phosphoric acid solution that can also be painted on and washed off.
I checked the biggest retailers in my neck of the woods, doesn't look like any of them sell it.
You might find naval jelly at a marine supply store, I think Permatex makes a version. The Eastwood stuff might have to be purchased at an commercial auto paint store.
After some research, apparently my local auto store does sell a store brand rust removal gel. As a bonus, in my local language it's apparently called "Rust eater".
Cool. Keep in mind, this is @ 20% phosphoric acid and sometimes a bit of hydrochloric as well, you don't want to get it on paint or concrete. But it works a treat, if it's thin enough you can get it into a spray bottle or water it down a bit with distilled if you need. Maybe don't breathe it if you spray it.
I will keep this advice in mind the next time I need to derust something. Thank you very much. Bought a house from the 80's from a family of the previous owner, and they left a whole bunch of potentially good tools and other stuff in there.
A badly maintained, clogged, greasy electric chainsaw is on my list of things to open up, clean and lube up as well. Looking forward to that. As a mainly electronics guy, I only very recently started doing simple mechanical repairs. Opened up a fan that had a hard time turning, found out there were no bearings, just a rod acting as the iron core inside a DC motor. Disassembled, applied generous amounts of acetone to relevant parts, dried it up and greased it up. Worked like a charm afterwards, and didn't even lose any screws.
You should definitely paint all the surfaces that aren't machined, as that's very likely how it would have been originally.
Also, what's dull about restoring a tool? There are entire YouTube channels devoted to it that are pretty darn popular. (Or so I'm told, as I would surely not watch something so dull myself. <AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet.jpg>)
I am sincerely apologetic of posting content that you found not to be dull enough. I will try to be better in the future. Tool restoration indeed is interesting, but I thought merely soaking a tool in deruster for days would be dull enough :(
TIL that you could spell vice, vise as well!
I did not want anyone to think I was derusting my personal failings.
In UK English we spell it vice for a "mechanical object used to secure things". I had never seen it spelt "vise".
Not native English speaker, so I checked the dictionary first, and saw that vise is an accepted alternative spelling. Might not be that common apparently.
It is more just the difference between UK English and US English, nothing wrong with using either of them this is just one of those things that I wasn't aware had a different spelling until today.
It is like tyres - UK or tires - US. Tires looks wrong to me because I grew up using tyres but they are both valid spellings of the word.
I suspect we can thank Daniel Webster for trying to simplify spellings. I'm still not sure how I feel about it - I find some words make better sense spelled in the British way, like "behaviour", but I also appreciate the vice homonym spellings.
At least the vice / vise spellings make sense etymologically - they have separate Latin origins (see links). I can't explain why British English doesn't make this distinction, especially since they were different in Old French and Anglo-French.
Hmm, looks like it's the US spelling for a gripping tool, whereas UK uses vice for both a personal failing or a bad habit, and a gripping tool. I'm most familiar with US spelling since I learned most of my English from video games and TV shows as wee lad.
Your mistake was buying derusting solution. Just use vinegar with some salt.
Either way, if you don't paint it, atleast make sure to oil it afterwards, otherwise it will rust again immediately.
I've been using vinegar for this for most of my life but have never added salt. Does that speed it up, or help in some other way?
I don't actually know if it helps at all. Vinegar on its own also seems to work.