Rust Removal Oxalic Acid (Part 2)

次回、この記事の日本語版を投稿します。

In the previous post Rust Removal Oxalic Acid (Part 1)  I mentioned that I received a promising tip on rust removal using oxalic acid from a Mr Akagiyama.  Impressed with the results Mr Akagiyama obtained, I decided to order some to test for myself.

This is a tool that came with a bunch of other old tools I purchased via an online auction.  I have several old tool catalogs, but never have I seen this tool before.  I consulted a fellow enthusiast over at しげＰの自転車日記 (Japanese only) and he was able to solve the mystery. The tool is used to cut the excess from spokes on the inside of the rim. But, for the present, let's focus in on how well oxalic acid removes rust from old tools.

For the purpose of comparison, I decided to immerse only halve the tool in the oxalic acis solution (CAUTION working with oxalic acid is dangerous, be sure to read the steps in the previous post.) 

Oxalic acid went right to work, the solution immediately turned yellow as the acid began attacking the rust and forming a yellow film on the rusted surface.

I left the tool in the acid solution for five days.  For the sake of comparison I intentionally only immersed half of the tool in the solution.
As seen below the acid solution did a good job of removing the rust.  I then flipped the tool over and let the acid go to work on the remaining portion.


The results were good, as can be seen by the before and after photos below.

The next test is to try it on some rusted chrome parts and see how well it works.