Stanley 71 router plane

[John Mihich]

I just picked up a S-71 router plane for $18 from an antique store. A little rust but am happy for the find. No extras - just the router and bit - handles are good.

I'm going to try electrolysis this time. I have been using vinegar with success but heard electrolysis is better. Any feed back on that?? Thanks

[JimReed@Tallahassee]

Wish I could help with electrolysis, but I do not have any experience with it. Sounds messy to me. I use citric acid in hot water and a stiff metal brush. It works well for me as I can finish three or four bench planes within an hour.

[Bill_Houghton]

You might wander over to Old Woodworking Machines (here) and search on "electrolysis." They do a lot of it over there, on huge machines sometimes.

By the way, which model is the S-71?

[mbholden]

Did a couple presentations on rust removal for SAPFM meetings. Set up electrolysis, evaporust, molasses, citric acid, and lemon-lime kool-aid. Upshot was that all worked about the same (tough to get identical rust levels on identical parts). The electrolysis was the most fussy to set up and made the most mess. Citric acid and lemon-lime kool-aid are the same thing. Molasses was easier to clean up than expected. The evaporust just worked, clean up was easy as any. General agreement was that evaporust was the clear winner given ease of use and clean up. YMMV
Mike

[dustyrag]

I've recently tried electrolysis after using citric acid for a couple of years. I did not find it work any better or quicker. I've also used commercial products for rust removal and they work well. Citric acid is just so cheap and easy that it is hard to beat for me.