​Vinegar and salt acid bath to clean metal?

[Guest]

Anyone tried this:

http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/113083/salt-and-vinegar-natures-rust-remover

I have read that an acid bath can discolor the temper on axe heads, but I thought I’d give it a try on something else.

I was laying out a horseshoe pit in the yard and discovered that I had two full sets of horseshoes in the shed, all rusty.

Vinegar is cheap. Salt is cheap, baking soda too.

I haven’t flung a shoe in 10 years, and the last time I believe we were playing night horseshoes with cyalume sticks attached to the shoes and stakes.

The night game is hilarious.

 

[yknpdlr]

Don't know about horseshoes, but I obtained a many decades old old cast iron pancake griddle that was in bad shape. It had years of crusted carbon and rust on it. I used coarse salt and a little water. Put in the oven on 500 until the water dried, then wet it again with salt and scraped it down with a sharp putty knife blade. Repeat again with salt and oven. The carbon and rust all came off. Then I properly seasoned it with oil and lard. Now the surface is as smooth and polished as can be, no pits and completely nonstick. Works great for pancakes and crepes, they slide right off. Cleaning with salt did the trick.

 

[Muskrat]

No Title

The vinegar will work fine on those horseshoes. I've cleaned up a couple railroad spikes that way. Just dump them for a day, neutralize the acid, and wipe of any rust residue that's left with a rag.

 

[Philtrum]

If you don't have any vinegar, lemon juice and salt should work. I've used that on copper-bottom pots and pans.

 

[Odyssey]

Soak rusty parts in Coca Cola.

 

[latremorej]

I've used the coke trick before with success