Hand Plane Restoration: How long in the bath?

48 hours

-- Nature is my manifestation of God. I go to nature every day for inspiration in the day's work. I follow in building the principles which nature has used in its domain" Frank Lloyd Wright

I do the bath on plane parts all the time….got one going right now as a matter of fact. On small parts with little rust, like on the threads of a screw or bolt, I usually go a few hours. Especially if the threads won’t be seen. On the body, iron, chip breaker, etc., I go 24 hours. Or you can wait till it stops bubbling if you want. It won’t hurt the metal. You will run the risk of the paint coming off the plane body however. If you want that to happen just let it sit longer and watch the progress. Plane bodies are easy to paint with epoxy appliance paint. Just mask off the areas that don’t get paint.

Great thing about electrolysis is it requires no work, just time. Sit back and watch the disgusting stuff develop on top of the water.

-- Just a man with his chisel.........

Until it stops bubbling sounds good to me… you DO NOT want to let it go too long, for sure.

Play with some other old stuff… to get the ‘feel’ for it… even rusty nails, etc.

-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?ppuser=1389&cat=500"

My understanding of the process is incomplete, but it seems that as long as your electrical current doesn’t go too high, letting it go longer won’t harm anything. As long as it’s not out of hand or anything. If there is still bubbling on the tool that means there is rust that is still reacting. When the reaction stops so will the bubbles. If you stop it too early you risk having unseen rust that didn’t get taken care of, possibly under the japanning.

In short, what Doug said. But be careful to note what parts need to be masked off. Take a picture in advance or something.

Where are you getting or how are you making your eletrolytic bath solution?

I have had parts get pitted more than usual after being left in the solution too long…

IMHO, it’s better to get it looking good BUT not pushing it to try and get it better…
... take a Good finish… by going for more, you may get LESS.

-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?ppuser=1389&cat=500"

In my experience 24 hours or so is usually sufficient for larger pieces. Because electrolysis is a line of sight process I have been known to do 24 hours per side to make sure I got it all. There is no harm if you want to stop it after a few hours to check your process. You can always re-submerge the piece and keep going.

-- "It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so." - Mark Twain

Anybody else notice there always seems to be a sheen of rust on the item, even after going throught the process? I hate that. :(

-- Beer, Beer, Thank God for Beer. It's my way of keeping my mind fresh and clear...

Joe, I’m pretty sure that means it had more than just surface rust. Chemically the reaction will stop when there is no more rust. I think you would get the same pitting from evapo-rust or any other treatment that went long enough to get all the rust. If you put a non rusted part into the electrolysis tank it won’t get pitted.

Milo are you talking right away or after a few minutes? The conditions of the electrolysis bath set the tool up for flash rust when it comes out, and it can happen very quickly. Drying quickly and oiling can help.

I gave up on electrolysis though when I realized that it doesn’t convert the rust back to usable shiny tool metal. It converts it to porous metal at best and black iron oxides than just need to be cleaned off anyway. That tipped the scales towards evapo-rust for me. Also the setup for electrolysis was more cost and hassle than the evapo-rust.

Tim, Does Evapo-Rust turn rust back into metal? I thought it just softened the rust so it could removed accomplishing the same thing as Electrolysis. (???)

-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?ppuser=1389&cat=500"

That’s right it doesn’t turn it back to metal either, it just dissolves it. I just figured if they did the same thing I’d use the easier one.

I typically leave larger pieces over night. I don’t think you can leave them to long. I agree if you have pitting, it was pitted when you put it on.

Evapo rust will pit if the metal is not completely covered. You’ll get an etch line at the water level.

-- There is nothing like the sound of a well tuned hand plane. - http://timetestedtools.wordpress.com (timetestedtools at hotmail dot c0m)

I have gone as long as 3-4 days @10amp in an 18gal tub.

Open question here,... Does the SIZE of the electrolytic bath make a difference on the required current?

My experience seems to indicate that it does. Anyone else?

-- HorizontalMike -- "Woodpeckers understand..."

I am trying electrolysis for the first time, but my battery charger is a smart charger—too smart for me. It detects that there is no battery and gives a fault code. I did a little research and it looks like I can hook a battery up to the electrodes and use it as a capacitor, then jump to the electrolysis bath. Anybody had to do that before, and if so, do you have any suggestions to me on that process?

-- People say I hammer like lightning. It's not that I'm fast -- it's that I never hit the same place twice!

Don, I’ve read that it can be a problem with some fault detecting chargers. I think you are on the right track, using a battery inline will help.

I’ve got an older Sears Diehard charger that is “dumb” and just keeps on trucking.

-- "It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so." - Mark Twain