Hi,  Bob Conant sent the following reply to my message in which
I suggested Evapo-rust for removing rust from music box disks.
I wrote an article about this for the MBSI Journal a couple years
ago.  It just happened that I was using some at the time.

> Now, I have a question for you. I picked up a container of
> Evapo-Rust (on your recommendation) and I have a rusty steel
> nameplate that I put into the solution this afternoon. How long
> can I leave it in there before the part disintegrates. So far,
> the rust is still clinging tenaciously.

I am restoring a nice Molinari barrel organ that I bought from a fellow
who sent a note to MMD a few months ago asking for help making a new
front panel.  I sent him pictures, etc., but he decided to sell it
instead and stick to his day job selling art work.  Perhaps that's
a good thing for him because it needed a _lot_ more work: the front
panel was the least of its problems, which started with the huge mouse
nest under the barrel.

Anyway, I had just removed the arms that hold the key frame and put
them into a plastic jar with some Evapo-Rust, so I decided to take some
pictures and send them to Bob as an answer to his question.  As the
pictures show, the surface rust is gone after a few hours.  After a day
or so all but the hard black rust is gone, and after about two days
it's down to bare metal.  You can see how deep the rust was from the
pits that are left on the surface.

I did use a brass brush to brush away the black deposits (from the
carbon in the steel) that end up down in the pits after the iron oxide
is gone, and to shine it up a bit.  There is also a picture of some
other components from the organ that were pretty much covered with rust
the day before.

Regards,
Craig Smith from upstate New York

By the way, I wish I had some stock in this company.  I'll have to
check my 401(k) retirement account and see if there's enough left
to buy a share or two.

 [ See also Craig's earlier article, "Sources of Evapo-Rust", at
 [ http://www.mmdigest.com/Archives/Digests/200610/2006.10.08.05.html 
 [ -- Robbie