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06-15-2016, 05:47 PM
I want to start cleaning up some of the old planes I just purchased. I've watched a bunch of videos, and most start by soaking all the parts in Evaporust. When I was looking for some, the guy at Lowes told me to just use Diet Coke. The Internet seems to believe that Diet Coke works.
Thoughts? I rather not waste my time or my Diet Coke testing this. ▼
06-15-2016, 06:31 PM
I would consider vinegar, but Diet Coke is honestly not a contender for rust removal. That's a bit of an urban legend.
Evaporust is good, but expensive. What I did in the day was buy some citric acid powder from a brewing supply store. Mixed with hot water it gets to rust right now. A one gallon jug of the raw powder derusted a couple of dozen planes. I didn't have a guilty conscience pouring it down the drain either. ▼
06-15-2016, 11:17 PM
not an urban legend
Diet Coke (like regular Coke) contains citric acid 'nuff said
06-15-2016, 07:02 PM
Most sodas have phosphoric acid as it helps retail the carbonation. You can buy Phosphoric Acid rust remover cheaply. or you could just try some soda water.
homo homini lupus
"The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity." Yeats Si vis pacem, para bellum Quodcumque potest manus tua facere instaner opere Ecclesiastes 
06-15-2016, 08:18 PM
Coke or Diet Coke can work in a pinch, but there are better things out there. I've used citric acid with good results. Get it powdered in the canning section of large grocery stores, and you can control the concentration to make it as strong or as weak as you like.
Steve S.
------------------------------------------------------ Tradition cannot be inherited, and if you want it you must obtain it by great labour. - T. S. Eliot Tutorials and Build-Alongs at The Literary Workshop
06-15-2016, 08:18 PM
I don't know about Diet Coke, but I did try Diet Sprite in the past with acceptable results... The number one ingredient in Sprite IS citric acid... try a little on a small object... If not happy, you can still... consume the rest of it...
06-15-2016, 08:30 PM
Find some food grade citric acid on line.
Get a bucket. Get some inexpensive steel bristle brushes. Fill the bucket with a gallon of hot water and add one cup of citric acid. Disassemble your plane and wash it with Dawn if it is greasy or dirty. Dunk the iron and steel (not the brass) parts in the bucket of citric acid for a few minutes. Scrub with brush. Most parts should clean up within a few minutes. Wash them with soapy water and rinse. Dry in 200 degree oven until they are warm to the touch. Douse the parts with 3 in 1 oil and let them rest overnight. Wipe with rags and reassemble.
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Please visit my website splintermaking.com ▼
06-16-2016, 10:41 AM
JimReed@Tallahassee said: +1 
06-15-2016, 11:37 PM
Diet Coke is an acid (more phosphoric and very little citric acid). Acids eat the metal underneath the rust, thus breaking the rust free. Evapo Rust works by a chemical process called chelation, where the rust is broken down and removed, leaving any metal behind. You can go too far with any kind of acid, but you can't with chelation. Chelation works until the rust is gone, then it stops. I like evapo rust for this reason. Citric acid is more gentle than most acids, if you mix it as cited in this thread. Just don't soak the thing then go on a 1 week vacation and expect to have intact parts waiting for you when you return.
Still Learning,
Allan Hill 
06-16-2016, 06:58 AM
Personally I prefer electrolysis to get the rust off. I cleaned up a Stanley number 8 in a 5 gallon bucket that way no scrubbing required.
"...cuttin' your presidency off right now. Just quit. Because if this is you helpin' us, then stop helpin' us."
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Evaporust v. Diet Coke?
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