How To Remove Rust

So you've let a tool get rusty well don't worry because we have all done it and removing the rust is an easy process keep reading and i will explain. 

whilst looking in one of the outbuildings at my house i came across this very nice old chisel which unfortunately was covered in rust and paint. The handle needed cleaning up as well so i thought this would be a nice project to post onto my blog so lets see what happened.  

 

As you can see this nice 12mm wood chisel is suffering from serious rust and neglect later i will sand and clean up the handle as well. 

 close up of the rust. 

 To remove the rust you will need vinegar I used normal table vinegar but white vinegar works the best you will also need some fine grit sand paper and a toothbrush helps to scrub the rust away.

When you have your vinegar just put the required amount in a container and put in your rusty item, yes its that simple.

 

 Once you have done all that the waiting game starts the time period will depend entirely on the size of your rusted piece usually on smaller pieces it takes 1-3 days. 

After just a few hours you can see the results below

After a few hours you can see that the rust is coming off very easily.

Close up of rust removal. 

Close up of the bottom of the chisel the rust came off better here than the other side. 

 

  After 1 day and some light sanding the worst of the rust has gone I also cleaned up the handle as best I could and the results can be seen below.

 

 Close up of rust removal 

  There is still some light rust on the chisel  but I am happy with the results at this point.

To remove the remainder of the rust I lightly sanded for around 20 minutes and also sanded the handle to remove all the paint and old crusty clear coat that was around the handle.

 unfortunately the ring that goes around the top of the handle was to far gone and after I tried to remove the rust it was apparent that I wasn't going to clean up so I will replace that piece.

 After I sharpened the chisel it is back to a working state and ready to be used again.

I hope this helps you 

Thanks for reading