While at the Moontree shoot this past weekend I was talking cast iron skillets with Greg Sulfridge and he told me about removing rust and old seasoning with an electrolysis tank. When I got home I did some research and decided to make one. I cut a plastic drum in half and welded some scrap steel plates onto some round stock. The tank holds 30 gallons of water.
I added the sodium carbonate, also known as laundry booster, to the water
I tied a test skillet onto a pvc pipe and hooked a wire to it. 1-2 teaspoons per gallon.
I used a manual battery charger for the power source. Positive on the steel plates and negative on the skillet.
As soon as I turned it on it started to form small bubbles.
About an hour later it had a good layer of foam and rust on the surface.
Here are the before pictures of my $3.50 rusted skillet.
And this is the same skillet after a 3.5 hour soak in the electrolysis tank.
I used a paint removal wheel and some steel wool to clean in inside of the pan. I was extremely happy with the results of this test run. I will be cleaning 2 bigger skillets tomorrow. I have passed on rusted cast iron at auctions. After seeing how well this works I will be keeping an eye out for new pieces to restore.
