Ok, I have the vise and noticed it could use a good cleaning BEFORE I install it.

What would YOU do and how to clean it up?

WD 40 makes an excellent degreaser.

https://www.wd40.com/products/degreaser/

Mike,

Electrolysis, it will remove all rust, paint etc..

Just make sure there are no non iron parts.

part of rust removal is what you have available...  if i HAD a bead blaster, i would start with that.   Not sand or heavy duty abrasive.   I do have a buffer with a brass wheel and a steel wheel.   if you are up to taking that down to pieces, a wire wheel will work.   Not sure about stuff like vinegar (never tried it), or electrolysis (not tried that either), but have used evaporust and it's not bad, just messy (well, all of these are).   depending on the grease level, wd40, carb cleaner....lots of choices.

Apple Cider Vinegar will remove rust but if you leave it too long will pit the metal. So if you go that route do not do the screw in it, just wire brush that part.

 

Wire brush or emery paper will also work but give you more workout too.

That is a very nice vice and I look forward to its restoration.  

 

I was going to recommend electrolysis but Larry beat me to it.  I had one other idea which is soda blaster.  Does anyone know how that works on metal?  Does it remove some of the metal sufficiently to change the tolerances?  

Evapo-Rust gets good reviews.  Finding the right containers to minimize the amount needed might be a challenge.

 

If you already have a small battery charger then the electrolysis is the cheapest way to go and it does a better job than anything mentioned here and with less labor....It does work much faster if you tie in a used car battery but will work only slower without the battery .. Also the more soda one uses the faster it works... It will bubble I think more than twice as much using the car battery... a completely dead batter won't work though...

 The good thing here is you can watch it work and pull out the metal to check on its progress. Or when the bubbles stops either add more soda or else the rust is gone...

  Over the counter products mostly are to remove money from the customers pockets and some requires lots of labor to obtain any results!!!

 Soda blaster to work and at all needs a large compressor and if you don't want to remove any metal use crushed walnut hulls.

 Back when I thought I needed one of every used plane there is out there I spent a few years watching the bubbles... Now I have maybe 100 or more planes all in pieces in big boxes and have no idea as to what pieces goes to what shoe or body!!

  I know all these auctioneers in my area use to call me stupid or an idiot for I was always the high bidder...….If I had have bought every plane on ebay and all those places on line and paid twice the asking price I would have saved money from my dum-bow days.

 Now I have switched over to making dust and hey,,,,,I am having more fun than in any other time in my life......

I've always used the PH Reducer for pools it will remove rust quite well as well.  Not only that its not as harmful as some of the other stuff that's out there.  You can get the non toxic stuff.  When I was forging knives in order to remove a lot of the scale that built up during the heat treatment process and from the oil quenching it will remove that stuff pretty quickly.  How ever you will have to let it soak over night for it to work properly.  That may be an in expensive alternative for Evapo Rust not sure how spendy that is per gallon.  But the PH reducer I was able to pick up quite cheap online you can also get it at almost any one of your pool or out door supply stores for home and garden.  I think I paid like 10 or 12 bucks for a 3 gallon container and I still have quite a lot of it left.

a gallon of evaporust is about 30 at HF.   When i was using it on some saw blades, i picked up one of those long, shallow, under-bed plastic boxes (and lid) at wobblymart.   the evaporust i poured back in the bottle to re-use.   

26 minutes ago, p_toad said:

the evaporust i poured back in the bottle to re-use.

 

Did it work well for you?

yes, like i said, messy to clean up, but it did a nice job.