ELECTROLYSIS
should be done in an area with plenty of ventilation, it releases small amounts of hydrogen and oxygen gases, which could be flammable if they build up.

Soon you should see tiny Bubbles Coming Off Both Your (-) item and the (+) Anode. The migration begins, the positively charged ions move to the negative (-) cathode electrode and the negatively charged ions migrate to the positive (+) anode electrode. Eventually the rust will start flaking off or disintegrating. Small items stay on for about five hours, larger or rustier items might take a day or two.

ELECTROLYSIS; only works as long as there's rust, tarnish, grease or paint to remove, tarnish only takes a few minutes, you don't have to worry much about leaving cast iron in for too long. For extremely rusty items, you may want to scour a clean spot for the clamp to connect.
High voltage (more-so than current) can cause hydrogen embrittlement.

ION; An atom or group of atoms that carries a positive or negative electric charge as a result of having lost or gained one or more electrons. The particles of metal which travel from the part being cleaned to the positive electrode are in the form of ions. An atom of iron once acted upon electrically through an electrolyte is broken away from the base metal and becomes an ion with a negative charge. It travels through the electrically conductive electrolyte and goes to the (+) electrode since it has an affinity for the positive electrode. At that point the ion will lose its negative charge and either stick to the electrode or drop to the bottom of the bucket. If the particle is small and light enough, it may become part of the electrolyte solution. As in silver (+ -) electrode wires with a distilled water Electrolyte.

Another method of Electrolysis is Indirect Electrolysis which involves placing an item to be cleaned between (not electrically connected to) two electrodes (+ -), connected to a good DC voltage supply. This method may be ideal for ensuring that no hydrogen embrittlement occurs because the effective voltage on the (-) item you are cleaning would be only a fraction of the power supply.

CLEANING THE ITEM. When enough time has elapsed, turn off the battery charger and remove the (negative) item from the solution. It'll be coated with a POWDERY BLACK IRON (colloidal iron) that needs to be wiped or scrubbed away. Use a scrubby sponge, steel wool, or brush to clean off the black coating and rinse well. If there's still rust, you can put it back in the bath for a second round. If you want the black colloidal iron as you do with cast iron cookware, apply sun thickened cold-press linseed oil or sun thickened flax oil to the pan and apply heat to dry the oil into a hard polymerized finish that is "non-stick".

OIL ONLY WITHOUT BLACK IRON. A lower heat will dry the "oil only" black but the color and coating is not as permanent. When I used the "oil only" I did not use the electric stove top "red hot". When the smoking stopped I turned it off a few seconds later. Don't touch the oil at any stage before it stops smoking, it will mark and you will have to re-do the oiling and heating. Venetian Turpentine is really a balsom, it's very thick and leaves a very hard gloss. You can mix it 1:1 with oil, they both polymerize well. Flax oil is cold-pressed linseed oil obtained without solvent extraction and is marketed as flaxseed oil or rapeseed oil.

BRASS; copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties. Brass may have some tarnish to be removed because "Light" metals such as aluminum, zinc, white metal or other alloys break down much quicker than steel, cast iron or brass.

ELECTROLYTE; Washing soda (www.realcolorwheel.com/1color.htm Feb 11, 2015 - Trona is soda ash in its hydrous state as in sodium carbonate.), such as Arm & Hammer
Washing Soda, is the best electrolyte to add to water for removing rust. It's sold as a laundry booster, and can be found near laundry detergents in stores. Washing soda is mostly sodium carbonate (also known as soda ash), Na2CO3, it's a sodium salt of carbonic acid. It's also sold as and called pH+, a pool and spa water treatment to raise the pH of acidic water to make it more alkaline.

WATER; Warm water will dissolve the rust faster, but any pure water is fine. The electrolyte solution should contain one tablespoon of washing soda per gallon of water. Stir it until the soda is completely dissolved.

CATHODE METAL; The tool or other metal item you would like to clean.
Connecting the Negative Electrode.
Connect the negative (black) clamp from the battery charger to the rusty item. While the negative clamp can be underwater, it will cause it to eventually wear out. Don't allow a copper clamp to touch the water if you are making Colloidal Silver, that will destroy it for human use.

ANODE METAL; A piece of iron, steel or compressed graphite. The (+) anode is reusable, but it will be gradually eaten away over time, so don't use anything important!
Positioning the (+) Anode.
Place the anode transmitting metal in the container so one end sticks out of the water or connect it with a wire to the power source. Position it a couple of inches from the (-) cathode rusty item, making sure they do not touch!
Connecting the Positive Electrode: Connect the positive (red) clamp from the battery charger to the part of the anode that's protruding from the water, so the red clamp remains dry.

NON-CONDUCTIVE CONTAINER; A plastic storage bin or bucket is perfect. It needs to be large enough to hold both the (-) tool and the (+) anode without them touching.

SUSPEND THE RUSTY ITEM; Suspend the item in the electrolyte so it is completely wetted, I used twine.

COLLOIDAL SILVER is made at 3 or 4 volts not 6, 9 or 12 volts. It's made this way turning the distilled water electrolyte into Colloidal Silver water, CS, it works because there is no "rusty item" in-between the electrodes.