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I wanted to fix up an old eBay artifact that had a lot of rust in places I couldn’t really get to effectively with a Scotch-Brite pad (which is the way I would usually clean up an old plane). I had read in various places on the ‘net that electrolysis would loosen up the rust and allow fairly easy cleanup. So I decided to give it a try.

Here are a couple of sources that I used to learn how to do this:

• Rarebear’s site: rexmill.com
• From the antique engine restorers: Electrolysis: a superior cleaning process
• From the horologists: Electrolytic rust removal FAQ

Armed with the above knowledge, I set up my electrolysis bucket. I already had a battery charger and a bucket (and water), so I was already halfway there! I found some Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda at a local grocery store. This is not the same as baking soda (although I’ve heard of people using baking soda with success as well). This stuff is found on the laundry detergent isle, but it does not have any fancy-schmancy fabric softeners, fragrances, etc. It can be a little tough to find (I only found one store in my area that had this). I used about a half-cup of the washing soda, in enough water to fill my bucket about 2/3 full.

I went to Lowe’s and bought a 3′ long piece of flat steel. I cut that in half to make two electrodes that are the perfect length to reach down to the bottom of the bucket and still stick up out of the water. To join them electrically, I drilled a hole in the end of each one, and used bolts/nuts to connect a length of 10-gauge electrical wire. You can see this wire looping around the electrode on the right in the picture below.

When hooking up the battery charger, it is critical to get the polarity right… here’s how it goes:

• BLACK (negative) – goes to the rusty tool in the bath
• RED (positive) – goes to the electrodes

I hung the piece to be cleaned from a string looped over a piece of wood, being careful to make sure the tool didn’t contact the side (positive) electrodes. Then I just dropped my old eBay artifact in there and fired that mother up. Here is a pic I took just after plugging the thing in:

After just a few minutes (by the time I got those pics on the computer), the water looked like this:

I kept the tool in the bath for a total of three hours, checking on its progress a couple of times along the way. The only problem I had was that this process loosened the japanning on the plane, to the point that it could be rubbed off on a paper towel.

This was a bit of a disappointment, but I wasn’t too upset about it. As a result of this experience, though, I decided I won’t be using this method anymore on japanned parts — just not worth the risk. I’ve read somewhere that the japanning shouldn’t be affected by electrolysis, but it seems to be unpredictable, and I don’t like unpredictable.

But it seems to work well on other parts. I used electrolysis to clean up all the non-japanned parts on this plane (below), for example. They still needed a little buffing, but much less than I’ve had to do before I tried electrolysis. I also went through my entire shop and used the electrolysis setup to clean all of my old rusty, grimy tools (some of which I thought were beyond salvage).