anybody ever tried removeing rust from a part with iodine?

[hillbill]

the other day my brother gave me a very old cast iron pulley with bearings in it that he had left lay outside.i wanted to use it in my skinning shed to lift deer out of the back of my truck and suspend them for skinning. the pulley was froze up. i took it apart,with much beating, and it had 2 ball roller bearings in it that were rusted and froze up. i was about ready to toss them and see if i could buy new ones.then i rememberd a trick i heard once of soaking them in iodine. i had a gallon of high strength iodine i got from a buddy who used it in his turky operation for a disenfectent.i tossed the frozen bearings in a cup of iodine and a couple days later was rewarded with two bearings that looked almost new and rolled fine.reassembled the pulley and it worked fine, with appropriate grease of course.the steel that was before highly rusted now looked like new and the outside diameter was still tight.very interesting.

[nicholst55]

Interesting.  In the days before loctite, iodine was used to permanently install scope mount screws; it caused the screws to rust in place.

[Cornbelt]

That's a good trick to know. I had never heard of eating rust with iodine. But a friend of my mother ate her tonsils out by painting her throat with it every time it was sore.
 That's why I like this site. Someone's always coming up with a new twist.
 
     (Maybe one of you chimists out there could moderate a forum on kitchen table chemistry.)

[hillbill]

in the last few years ive had to rejuvenate a couple of bp firearms that sum dummy had shot and never cleaned.with much scrubbing they actually turned into decent shooters. allthough not tack drivers.im wondering what would of happend if i jus filled the bore with iodine and left it for a couple days and then washed it out with hot soapy water..it will put everything "in the white" for sure im thinking.i dont think id want it on anything that i wanted to remain blued or browned.

[gunnut69]

I use naval jelly for something such as you had. Iodine was used to permanently install scopes... I took a scope off a nice M70 and the screws were rusted in place. Ended up drilling them out.. The owner had read in a book that that was the way to keep them tight forever. I suggested loctite in the future.. Of course this was a long time ago..