Reply To: Cleaning rusty plane blades
Welcome! / Forums / General Woodworking Discussions / Tools and Tool Maintenance/Restoration / Cleaning rusty plane blades / Reply To: Cleaning rusty plane blades
Looks like someone has been pounding that blade. I have seen that once in a while and have always wondered. Did someone try to adjust it using a hammer the way you adjust an iron in a wooden bodied plane! Or maybe they used it like a wedge to split fire wood? Just curious.
Any way, a while ago I tried, with success, a suggestion from Fine Woodworking. Gallon of white vinegar with a cup of salt (scale up or down depending on size of object). I left it for a few days and then scrubbed with a 3m pad and maybe a wire brush. Fine Woodworking suggests ending with a bath in water and baking soda (same proportions) to neutralize the acid. I did that but am not sure how important that last is. End by polishing with some 0000 steal wool. Obviously, if you live in one of those strange places where water actually lives in the air (I think they call it “humidity,” not something I have to deal with where I live) you might add some sort of oil to protect the metal after derusting, as others have suggested.
One more thing, though not relevant to a plane blade. If you remove rust from, say, a plane body with japanning on it, rust removal can damage the japanning. I think what happens is that the removal process can remove rust under the japanning so the japanning just lifts off and peals away. That happened to a small plane I derusted using electrolysis. I assume it can happen with other forms of derusting too. No I do not recommend the electrolysis: it worked but was more trouble than it was worth in my opinion, especially given how effective every other suggestion is given by folks here.