As a "first time rust remover" I thought I would chime in on the issue. I just got a Ludwig Speed-Master off ebay. It's all there and, I believe, all original, including the leather strap. The footplate attachment pivot has not even been broken and rewelded like many. Only problem, it had lots of deep rust. The rust was mainly on the wing screws, the bass drum rim clamp and the footplate attachment bar.

I've read all the suggestions on this site about rust removal and thought I'd start with the one in this thread about Evapo-Rust. Bought it at my local Auto Zone store. Results.....it works great! The instructions say that for deep rust you may have to leave the parts soaking over night...that's true. After the first few minutes I thought it wasn't working, but I left the parts in while we went out to dinner. When we got back and I checked them I was really amazed! The rust was gone! I left a couple of the worst pieces in over night just to get the last bits of rust. By morning they were CLEAN (pitted from where the rust was, but clean).

So, here's one endorsement for Evapo-Rust...great product that I will now use often.

Absolutely not. That's the makings of a goofy grade school volcano project.

Upon rereading this post, it sounded angry. Not my intent. It was a bit of humor.

When I was a little kid I collected pennies and I told my grandmother I wanted to clean them, so she showed me the Apple Cider Vinegar and Baking Soda deal. It will make a penny look brand new and I don't remember any volcanos...however my 7th grade life science teacher did make a pretty cool exploding volcano out of some stuff....sheesh I wish I remember what that was..cooler than a Mentos and coke.

I'm still telling you guys that the best is Eagle 1.

NaHCO[SIZE=1]3[/SIZE] + CH[SIZE=1]3[/SIZE]COOH ------> H[SIZE=1]2[/SIZE]0 + CO[SIZE=1]2[/SIZE] + CH[SIZE=1]3[/SIZE]COONa

sodium bicarbonate plus acetic acid produces water, carbon dioxide gas, and sodium acetate

Though carbonic acid is very very temporarily formed, it breaks up too quickly to be any factor as a cleaning agent. All of this means that when you mix the two together, you end up with water and a gas and a simple basic salt. None of that will do much for cleaning an object.

The vinegar, however, is a weak acid and WILL absolutely work on the oxidation and rust.

Hope this helps.