Rusty tooling restoration

Hello, I recently bought a job lot of rusty tools, the reason for buýing them was this lovely bunch of tools that were hidden amongst the pictures.

There is also a marking out gauge which I was wondering if this was featured as a build in ME or if someone could identify the maker.

The fixed and travelling steady are up for sale if anyone is interested. As they are for an ML10 I believe so won't fit my ML4.

How do I go about cleaning the rust off the surface of the tooling?

Lastly what is the other faceplate with a spigot on it, anyone used or have one of those as I've not seen anything like it before.

There are quite a lot of threads already on here about rust. If you go to the website front page, not the forum front page and use the search box there it will come up with some. Quite a lot of options but for this light rusting ignore the brick/patio cleaner options.

I think the spigot o the faceplate is not part of the original and just fitted for quick mounting in a 3 jaw. The faceplate itself looks like a Picador one or one from a drill powered wood lathe.

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Battery charger and washing soda works really well and doesn’t etch the surface like acid will.

I recently tried Evapo-rust from Frosts, removed all rust and left a matt grey finish that doesn't re rust immediately. Very pleased with it, and you can re-use it until it no longer works.

Brian

Citric acid crystals dissolved in warm water, work very well, and give good results...cheaply.

Pete

Hello Jon,

I have sent you a PM.

Regards,

Andrew.

A lot of that stuff will respond best to a bit of wire wool and 3 in 1 oil or WD40. Use thick pvc gloves.

 If the faceplates are to be used in a lathe, then a light facing off will kill two birds with one stone.

Edited By old mart on 15/07/2019 22:53:16

At first sight I thought the faceplate could be from GHT's UPT.

Thanks for all the replies, i think ill try the citric acid crystals first on the calipers. From what ive been reading from bazyles suggestion is that electrolysis can leave raised sections of black stuff, so could effect the accuracy of any surfaces, and strong acids can eat into the surface of the metal. Evapourust seems to be a good one without any harmful chemicals but is still costly to buy in any quantity. So for me it's the crystals and then maybe the evapourust.

Cheers again

Jon

That's what I was wondering......I remember seeing pics of it before.

From my experience with the citric acid, keep your eye on it when you have dunked the bits and pieces. The rust disappears, the metal takes on a nice silvery sheen, but if left too long the metal can get discoloured. It is quite a long temperature-dependent process though.

Pete