Not to sure if I should be posting this in this section…….just move it if you think its in the wrong place Derek
Has the subject of removing rust from old camp ovens using a Molasses and water mix ever been discussed on this forum???? If not this may be of interest.
I’ve been using this method to clean assorted rusty items for some time now and it works very well. Very little elbow grease is required……just a bit of time.
Today I took these photos of an old gold miners pan that was heavily coated in surface rust when I bought it (didn’t have a rusty camp oven handy) I dumped this gold pan into the plastic container I keep my “mixture” in about 4 days ago, ……pulled it out today and squirted it with the hose……nothing more……no scrubbing involved. Still a little grubby on the bottom so I threw it back into the mix for a few more days. This method works really well on rusted camp ovens and cuts the amount of effort involved by a huge amount
Photo 1 Inside of pan as it came out of the Molasses tub.
Photo 2 Outside of pan as it came out of the Molasses tub

Great stuff SBB thanks for the tip!
Good to meet you too!!

Regards skip

Sugar is known as a corrosive agent.... By doing this you dissolve the oxidized metal end expose the metal underneath. Be sure to treat it as soon as possible to stop the onset of more corrosion.

Ever put a metal plate on stainless steel and then got a rust mark? The surface of the stainless starts to oxidise and forms a barrier against further oxidisation, when you put the plate on it, the barrier is blocked and you see the brown stain. Rub it back and its gone, a new barrier will form.

Stew

Thanks stew.......I always rinse very well with fresh water ......sometimes even leaving the item in a bucket of fresh water and changing daily for a few days ........then dry well with a heat gun and season well or oil the item what ever the case may be. Have yet to have any trouble using this method.

Thats unreal

Robbo

First tip is dont rush off to the super market for Molasses....they charge like wounded bulls ...get it from a Rural Store that sells chook feed / grains ect.... last drum i bought cost $17 for 20 litres from memory.....having said that about two litres should do a medium size camp oven and more
Ill add a bit more to this tonight or in the next few days re amount of Molasses to water ect.....
Tree if you know much about this jump in and help me out.....maybe you have some handy hints i dont know about.
Sundryed.....i was going to try Electrolysis ages ago ......read up on it ....little wires , battery chargers ,,,,,getting amps right .....fumes ect..
Decieded to try this method first and have never looked back.

Thanks Saltbush Bill.

Very timely this post.
Got a small chinese CO that needs a tune up before I go away after Christmas.

Aart

Saltbush Bill wrote on Dec 17^th, 2008 at 7:40am:


I like electrolysis because it's fast, and it's safe if you're careful.  Some people amaze me.  

As for the mollasses mix, some use it straight but 20[water] to 1 seems to work ok for me. I've heard it doesn't matter much what you use.

G'day again Tree
Thanks for the input re water Molasses mix, the only difference i can see is less takes longer .......more costs more but is faster........Ive seen the electrolysis method and it does work very well. I like to stick to the Molasses as i can often have up to 3o different things in my tank at one time........wiring  that many things up at once might get a little tricky..lol

what could be more simple than a scoop of molasses & a bucket of water, PD???

Mick.

Might turn out ok if ya ran it through a still first Muzz

Yeah pd, it's getting hard to even  buy decent chook food here now.  Our last [been there forever] produce store closed a few years ago, moved & is now Pet Smart, still sell some things but at about 3 times the price I can buy it, but it's 1/2 hour drive.

Also there is Reverse Electrolysis, makes new things look old.  

Ha, you might have something there.  

It's a trick, used mainly when you replace something [on a machine/whatever]  

It makes the new bit look original.  

SBB

Just ran a Mollasses bath for 2 Gem trays.
Will post the results in a couple of days.

Aart

Saltbush Bill wrote on Jan 15^th, 2009 at 4:48pm:



Thanks mate

Aart

That works very well. Thanks SBB will try it next time I need to clean some rust off,am trying hard not to buy any more CO's though


Regards Skip

SBB

I put my Metters 10 into the bath before I went to Hedlow.
Checked it this morning and there was a very scummy frotthy type of coating on the lid.
Sr\tarted scrubbing under lots of water.
It came up very well...Not an even finish.
Had to put it back in to remove a stubborn bit.
Nonetheless..it works very well.

Thanks for the tip.

Are you going to the National COG?

Aart

Just completed the restoration of a very rusted L & C 12"

beautiful CO again.

Aart

Nice pot SBB

Kingsthorpe David wrote on Mar 30^th, 2009 at 3:42pm:


David all you need to know is on first page or two of this thread

Thanks SBB even I could manage this method and I noticed the Bedourie lid was a bit rusty at Thora.

I am pasting the whole instructions here as I had real trouble finding the start and it wasnt on page 2 on my computer.




"The way I do this is to put about 2 inches (double that wont hurt) of Molasses into a large plastic garbage bin and half to three quarters fill with water. Give it a good stir around with a stick or what ever is handy.
Places that sell horse feed usually have cheap bulk molasses……take your own container. For anyone from the USA sweet sorghum syrup and water at about a 10:1 ratio water to syrup can be used in place of molasses.

Temperature seems to have some effect on the time it takes for this process to work. In warm weather things happen a lot faster……for this reason I usually try to put the garbage bin in a warm sunny place ……I also paint the bin black with a cheap $2 spray can of flat black paint….. this probably isn’t necessary if your only doing one or two Cos.

Give your rusty camp oven a very quick rub with a wire brush to remove any loose rust also try and remove any grease or oil

Next thing is to dump your pot in …..Put it in right way up …. As the Molasses Mix starts to “work” it releases small bubbles of gas …..if the CO is up the wrong way it may fill with air/gas. (I’ve had things like milk churns float to the top over night and push the lid off for this reason)

Next put a lid on ….(A) to keep rain, kids, dogs, bugs ect out ,,,,,,,,,(B) Because this stuff starts to pong a bit after about 4 days.

After a couple of days…..sometimes as soon as 24 hours,….. depending on conditions, amount of molasses used ect. you will notice two things happening…….one is little bubbles starting to pop to the surface ……the other is a nasty looking scum starting to form on the top. The bubbles I think are from the molasses starting to ferment and this is when the rust starts to get dissolved or softened.

At this stage I probably should say that if anyone is worried about dropping there favorite antique camp oven into this horrible looking mess that a small jar of molasses and some water in an old icecream container or similar might be a good idea. ( Just add a few rusty nuts bolts as a test run)
Once the Molasses has started to froth on top leave your oven  for about four days. As I mentioned earlier this can vary depending on temperature, amount of  Molasses used ect.
Once the oven is ready grab the garden hose and a wire brush , give the pot a quick rub with the brush then wash with water, a very gentle rub should do the job.  If you have to rub hard the oven hasn’t been in the Molasses mix for long enough.
The brush I use is a medium size stainless steel brush….these seem to work better than the bigger ones. More and finer bristles I think. They come in a pack of three from Super Cheap / Auto Barn ect.
Try and keep plenty of water on the job as you work, this stops oxidisation starting to form..
Once the pot is clean you need to dry it thoroughly, and as quickly as possible as oxidisation will soon start. I use a paint stripper gun to dry anything I clean this way.  A good hair drier works ok to, a bit slower but it does the job…….just don’t get caught …….lol.
Once the pot is dry season as soon as possible.
If for some reason the rust doesn’t come off easily or a few patches are stubborn just toss the pot back in the mix for a day or two and try again."

Kingsthorpe David wrote on Apr 1^st, 2009 at 3:16pm:


Hey David that's enough to feed a horse for a year. 

Kingsthorpe David wrote on Apr 4^th, 2009 at 5:10pm:


April 12:  co looks totally unchanged from 5 April.......................
There is some froth on top, about 3 inches in from the sides.

KD

Not to sure whats going on there David its a bit hard without being able to see first hand, I had another look at the pots you bought recently they dont seem very rusty in the photos you posted,,,,,,more baked on black crud and seasoning from what i can tell from the photos, I presume it is one of those that you are trying to clean??????. Molasses wont remove old seasoning, baked on soot or grease........it only works on rust in my experiance,
Have you tried scrubbing the pot with a small fine wire brush such as the one i posted a photo of??
Is you Vat in a warm sunny place???
Try dumping another small really rusty object in with the camp oven and see if more frothing starts to occur in the next day or two.
Nothing else I can think of at the moment....get back to me in a day or two if no success.......I know Aart has tried this and is more than happy with the result

Saltbush Bill wrote on Apr 13^th, 2009 at 9:06am:



I had a bit of rust on a pre seasoned L & C.
Left it in long enough and it took the lot off.
Seasoning and all.
It was in about 3 weeks.

Aart

My son just spent all Easter working at Highfields Pioneer Village and says they use straight molasses for their camp ovens and told me off for adding water to my current molasses bath.
Comments welcome!

See:

http://users.tpg.com.au/wagnerbe/hpv/

Just bringing this thread up to top (it was started in 2008) for those that need the instructions re. molassas bath to clean rusty pots....
Cheers Sue
INSTRUCTIONS FROM SALTBUSH BILL

"The way I do this is to put about 2 inches (double that wont hurt) of Molasses into a large plastic garbage bin and half to three quarters fill with water. Give it a good stir around with a stick or what ever is handy.
Places that sell horse feed usually have cheap bulk molasses……take your own container. For anyone from the USA sweet sorghum syrup and water at about a 10:1 ratio water to syrup can be used in place of molasses.

Temperature seems to have some effect on the time it takes for this process to work. In warm weather things happen a lot faster……for this reason I usually try to put the garbage bin in a warm sunny place ……I also paint the bin black with a cheap $2 spray can of flat black paint….. this probably isn’t necessary if your only doing one or two Cos.

Give your rusty camp oven a very quick rub with a wire brush to remove any loose rust also try and remove any grease or oil

Next thing is to dump your pot in …..Put it in right way up …. As the Molasses Mix starts to “work” it releases small bubbles of gas …..if the CO is up the wrong way it may fill with air/gas. (I’ve had things like milk churns float to the top over night and push the lid off for this reason)

Next put a lid on ….(A) to keep rain, kids, dogs, bugs ect out ,,,,,,,,,(B) Because this stuff starts to pong a bit after about 4 days.

After a couple of days…..sometimes as soon as 24 hours,….. depending on conditions, amount of molasses used ect. you will notice two things happening…….one is little bubbles starting to pop to the surface ……the other is a nasty looking scum starting to form on the top. The bubbles I think are from the molasses starting to ferment and this is when the rust starts to get dissolved or softened.

At this stage I probably should say that if anyone is worried about dropping there favorite antique camp oven into this horrible looking mess that a small jar of molasses and some water in an old icecream container or similar might be a good idea. ( Just add a few rusty nuts bolts as a test run)
Once the Molasses has started to froth on top leave your oven  for about four days. As I mentioned earlier this can vary depending on temperature, amount of  Molasses used ect.
Once the oven is ready grab the garden hose and a wire brush , give the pot a quick rub with the brush then wash with water, a very gentle rub should do the job.  If you have to rub hard the oven hasn’t been in the Molasses mix for long enough.
The brush I use is a medium size stainless steel brush….these seem to work better than the bigger ones. More and finer bristles I think. They come in a pack of three from Super Cheap / Auto Barn ect.
Try and keep plenty of water on the job as you work, this stops oxidisation starting to form..
Once the pot is clean you need to dry it thoroughly, and as quickly as possible as oxidisation will soon start. I use a paint stripper gun to dry anything I clean this way.  A good hair drier works ok to, a bit slower but it does the job…….just don’t get caught …….lol.
Once the pot is dry season as soon as possible.
If for some reason the rust doesn’t come off easily or a few patches are stubborn just toss the pot back in the mix for a day or two and try again."

mummsy wrote on Feb 22^nd, 2010 at 8:26pm:


They sure did look funny.  If you want email them to me and I will attach them. 

Great topic on this old thread. I use maolasses in a wheelie bin at any where from 50 to 1 to 10 to 1 mix ratio. It works great. I can't actually figure out how though. Because if it is the sugar that cleans the metal well there should actually be no sugar after a while. The frothing that appears after a few days is from the process of the suagrs in the molasses fermeting. Because the mix is open to the air, not in an airlocked and sterile environment with a yeast introduced to it like in a homebrew set up. Wild yeast quickly moves in to take advantage of all that sugar (its food) When yeast eats sugar it creates 2 byproducts, CO2 and Alchohol. The bubling is from the co2. Usually a yeast will not stop eating the sugar until the supply is deleted or the alchohol content is too strong for it to survive in. Which brings me to my point, if there is no sugar left what cleans the rust. There must be some other magic going on. Anyway, I have been wondering about this for ages. I have a degree in Rumology by the way.

KB the short answer is that the fermentation process creates acids, along with a multitude of other by products, as well as the stuff we drink, Ethanol.
What that acid is I'm not 100% sure...I will see if I can find out.