I am looking for ways to remove rust and fire scale from my work. I have blacksmith friends that mureatic acid in water to remove rust. Will this also work on the hard scale? And how much acid to water? any help thanks snipped-for-privacy@bigfoot.com
Sandblast - works every time
Andrew Mawson
Beadblasting is my current preference but I used to use phosphoric acid solution - about 7 parts water to 1 part phosphoric acid. It's much better than muriatic acid. Still needs to be rinsed off well and can leave a slight "acid blush" but that can be wirebrushed off with a disc grinder or die grinder.
thanks all
Vinegar has already been mentioned for scale removal, and that is my preferred way to remove scale. I buy it in large lots. The best way to remove rust is by the electrolytic method. Fill a 5 gallon plastic bucket with water, dump in one tablespoon full of laundry soda per gallon of water, and hook the negative (-) lead of a battery charger to the item you wish to derust, and the positive lead to a large piece of stainless steel or regular steel that you will submerge in the water near the item. Plug in the charger and check the current to be sure it is not drawing too much. If it is, simply separate the anode and cathode a little to reduce the current flow. Leave it a couple hours for thin rust, and perhaps 12 hours for thick rust. Remove the item and use a scowering pad to easily clean all the rust and junk off the item under a stream of warm water. Dry it well, and immediately coat with WD-40, or oil. It is chemically clean and will rust almost instantly once it is out of the tank. I used this process on all of the parts of my power hammer, except the main frame, when I was restoring it. It is a superb method to remove 100% of the rust, even down in the pits if heavily rusted, and it is labor free. You can't hurt the item by leaving it in the tank too long either.
Ron
The best way to
Please give an example like a brand name or trade name of a laundry soda? Not sure that I've ever seen this product.
TIA Eddie
I use Arm&hammer. Get the cheap stuff with no perfume or bleach crystals etc.
Al
You need to get Sodium Carbonate...doesn't make any difference what brand. Baking soda will OK too, but it is a lot more expensive.
Ron
I use Daz, or Bold, or Surf (UK/Europe) In fact, any clothes washing powder seems to work
-- Big Egg Hack to size. Bash to fit. Weld to join. Grind to shape. Paint to cover. My name is not "news". If you reply to that address, I won't get it Wanted: 3ltr Vauxhall Carlton Estate
caustic soda works as well - just need a teaspoon to a big bucket of water.
havent tried it, but i wonder if salt would work - the objective is to make the water conductive, not a chemical reaction.
Baking soda is Sodium biCarbonate (NaHCO3) whereas *Washing* soda is Sodium Carbonate (Na2CO3).
Ted
It doesn't matter. Basically any "salt" [1] which dissolves in water will do, although ideally you want one that won't react with the iron. You're just adding spare ions (electrons if you like) to carry the electricity from one end of the battery to the other-*pure* water doesn't conduct electricity.
[1] This is a chemical made up of a metallic element (Sodium for instance) and a non metallic element (Carbon in the above examples, or chlorine in the case of table salt).-- Big Egg Hack to size. Bash to fit. Weld to join. Grind to shape. Paint to cover. My name is not "news". If you reply to that address, I won't get it
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