How would you clean your taps?

[tinman123]

sorry now to disappoint those of you who came here thinking it was a house keeping issue, its Not.
but while your here, do read on, you may know something about some citrus...

i have a quantity of taps here that although aren't rusted badly are still not to my liking shal we say as per pic, they would all vary round this condition.
a stitch in time n all that.
id like to bring them back as much as possible to original condition, some would be easier than others as in one of the pics you can see one tap is engraved but the other has it printed with mission impossible ink.
if i scotch brite it (which is a non runner) it will rub the id off.
im kind of thinking that no matter what way i go about it bar an engraver before its gone, its not going to stay so that's why im asking anyone here, whats yer opinions?

how would things fair out with electrolysis, would it damage the tap, would molasses and water work safer or is it time for a buffing wheel of some sort?

answers on a postcard..

 

[brightspark]

cillit bang and a light scotch pad or a brass wire brush or bead blast I do both

 

[Screwdriver]

Soda blast. Bicarbonate of soda, coarse crystal.

 

[Seadog]

Citric acid or vinegar.

 

[rory1]

I'd use them to tap something whilst using plenty of cutting lubricant

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Run them trough a de greaser first, that will remove any old cutting compound etc.
Or boil them in dish washer fluid, cheeper.
Clean with a soft rag.

That tends to keep the makings of the size.

If they are not to bad a clean up with a rag soaked in duck oil.

Good taps and dies are engraved or vibro etched, that will survive almost everything.
The acid marked ones will "Go away" with time and any cleaning. I tend to, if I can read them before cleaning and then etch. engrave the size back on.

The rust encrusted ones dip into hot citric acid, that will clean the worse off and a quick wiz with a nylon bristle rotary brush.

With the dies after de greasing some 1000 grit wet and dry, with oil will clean up the flat faces and should allow the size to be identified.

If the sizes are lost, you can have fun, with a beer, and lots of nuts and bolts.

When they are clean I like to coat mine in bee's wax dissolved in white spirits. That will keep the rust at bay.

Hope this helps.

I know it works, just dome mine.

 

[Screwdriver]

A trick I picked up off the internet is to mix citric acid with wallpaper paste to make a goop you can use to coat parts for de-rusting. Not of great benefit for smaller parts you could just as easily dip but for larger items like castings or awkward framework.

S.

 

[armalites]

I did some on a grinder mounted wire wheel, cleans the shanks nicely, if you hold them vertically you can clean between the flutes too.

Scotchbrite works too

 

[brightspark]

gonna drop some of mine in cillit bang and will show the results later

 

[ChrisJ]

gonna drop some of mine in cillit bang and will show the results later

"BANG" and the taps are gone

 

[tinman123]

i have a sand blaster but it id destroy the surface on them, id say you would want to use almond shells for media there.
im looking for the fast approach here lads as id have a few hundred to do so scotch briting one at a time is a non runner, i just dont have the time.
as i go im giving them a run in the parts washer so they are fairly clean bad the rsut patches.

the citrus in the paste sounds like a good idea, kinda like nitromorse, i wonder how it would work.
or if brightspark is actually going to try Barrys stuff it id be interesting to see what would happen there.

what about molasses and water in a tank, anyone ever tried it?, any videos ive half seen of it they had to give the dipped part a damn good washing to get the residue off.

 

[tinman123]

Run them trough a de greaser first, that will remove any old cutting compound etc.
Or boil them in dish washer fluid, cheeper.
Clean with a soft rag.

That tends to keep the makings of the size.

If they are not to bad a clean up with a rag soaked in duck oil.

Good taps and dies are engraved or vibro etched, that will survive almost everything.
The acid marked ones will "Go away" with time and any cleaning. I tend to, if I can read them before cleaning and then etch. engrave the size back on.

The rust encrusted ones dip into hot citric acid, that will clean the worse off and a quick wiz with a nylon bristle rotary brush.

With the dies after de greasing some 1000 grit wet and dry, with oil will clean up the flat faces and should allow the size to be identified.

If the sizes are lost, you can have fun, with a beer, and lots of nuts and bolts.

When they are clean I like to coat mine in bee's wax dissolved in white spirits. That will keep the rust at bay.

Hope this helps.

I know it works, just dome mine.

what are the ingredients and cooking instructions for a hot citrus bath vark?
could be a runner.

all be it a pita on some of the already unmarked ones a thread gauge and a calipers will give quick enough solutions.

 

[Burdekin]

Hit with some compressed air, light scrub with a file card, wipe them clean and then wipe with an oily rag.

 

[MattF]

what are the ingredients and cooking instructions for a hot citrus bath vark?

Citric acid and hot water. Immerse the bit for a short while then extract, rinse and scrub.

 

[tinman123]

Hit with some compressed air, light scrub with a file card, wipe them clean and then wipe with an oily rag.

would work but i wouldnt fancy doing a few hundred like that tbh hi.

 

[tinman123]

Citric acid and hot water. Immerse the bit for a short while then extract, rinse and scrub.

never tried the citric, on a scale of 1-10 how effective is it?
and i see when i e bay'd it i got 905 matches, is there varying ph levels of it or is it all the same?.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

@tinman123

Boil water, not the wife's best pan.
Add Citric acid powder until no more is adsorbed.

Remove much as you can with a rag, then drop in and boil.
The crud will rise to the top.

do not leave in to long as some taps and dies go black.

 

[MattF]

never tried the citric, on a scale of 1-10 how effective is it?
and i see when i e bay'd it i got 905 matches, is there varying ph levels of it or is it all the same?.

It works okay. A hot solution merely increases efficacy. Not a fan of citric myself, but with the tool steels, it's usually fine to use. Just experiment with a scraggy tap until you work out the specifics of immersion time, concentration etc.

All the ones you've seen should be the same.

 

[Mr shiney]

I have to ask, are you pulling our chains!? There I should nothing wrong with them, just use them.

 

[brightspark]

dipped them in cillit band for a couple of hours and a clean with wire brush the rust just fell off decided a quick dust off in the bead blast cabinet and came up like new just the rest to do now