electrolytic rust removal on a wood plane with some plated surfaces?

[mikem]

Will electrolytic rust removal affect the plating on a wood plane?

I have one with some bad rust places and some good plated areas and don't know whether to use Evaporust or electrolytic rust removal.

Anyone have experience with this?

[JoeEM]

I use both evaporust and electrolysis depending on the object size/condition and nooks/crannies for water to get into.
electrolysis will remove plating IF there is any rust underneath it. If there are bubbles or chips with lifted edges then you can guess there is already rust underneath. The rust will go away and the plating will flake off. The same applies for japanning/paint. But if the plating is 100% and there is no rust underneath it then it won't be affected.

[EVguru]

You could probably use wax to protect areas you don't want affected.

[JoeEM]

wax might work for evaporust - I've thought about that for covering wooden parts on things like braces. But for electrolysis it won't provide any protection because you plug the negative lead to the metal - the entire thing is getting zapped no matter what you've got covering it.

[lakeside53]

If you are concerned, use Evaporust... you wont need wax etc.

[ed_h]

wax might work for evaporust - I've thought about that for covering wooden parts on things like braces. But for electrolysis it won't provide any protection because you plug the negative lead to the metal - the entire thing is getting zapped no matter what you've got covering it.

There can't be any electrolytic action on a surface unless it is directly exposed to the electrolyte. All the action is between surface molecules and electrolyte ions.