Great Gear: Better rust-buster

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Until I inherited them, my dad’s hand tools sat unused for 20 years in the heat and humidity of his Florida workshop. They were rusty, to put it mildly. Obliged to recondition them, I took a friend’s recommendation and soaked the still good tools in Evapo-Rust. Immediately, I noticed that rust began dissolving, and within 20 minutes, knobs and screws could be loosened. I soaked chisels and plane irons for an hour, wiped them down, and they were ready to sharpen. Inspired, I set about de-rusting the rest of my shop. I dipped old saws in a bath of Evapo-Rust; I soaked a rag in the liquid to wrap around turning tools and plane bodies, and used another to wipe machine tables. And because it’s re-usable, I’m still on my first jug. Best of all it, it attacks the rust but not the metal beneath. I accidentally left a rusty old square soaking all weekend, but when I saw it again on Monday morning, it was rust free and intact. To top it off, Evapo-Rust is non-toxic, non-corrosive, contains no acids or bases, and doesn’t produce harmful fumes. 

—Derek Richmond