Muriatic Acid

[Maadman]

Am I over expecting? How is the metal supposed to look after the acid bath and dry? I've been using the acid for a short time now. Its kind of a love/hate relationship. What is the metal supposed to look like after you take it out of the acid?? I'm using hot rolled with P&O. For some reason I thought I would get a "silvery" color, but it is a gray. No shine! Is that normal??

BTW, I found my tub at WalMart. It was in the outside deck department. It holds 50 gallons and has a nice tight fitting hinged lid. It holds everything that I cut. I only have a 2x4.

Am I doing something wrong, or is this what I should get????

[tnbndr]

That is what it should look like. To get the shiny steel you are expecting you will have to run over it with 120 grit on a grinder or belt sander.
You should not have to acid soak P&O as that is what pickling does, remove the mill finish from the hot rolled processing.

[Maadman]

But it does help with the dross. Thank you!!!! Now I know. Thought I might be doing something wrong.

[acourtjester]

Maadman what are the dimension of the tub you bought, I have looked high and low and cannot find one I need. I cut the tattered flag about 32" long and have not found anything that I could use. I have tried to get a chemical tote that other guys use but the closest place that has them for sale is about 250 miles away. My next place is going to be a used gas tank from a wrecked car or truck and cut the top off, but don't know if that will be big enough.

[little blue choo]

Hey acourtjester, I had the same problem. I was cutting things that wouldn't fit in my acid bath but found this on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Dee-Zee-6537P-Pla ... e+tool+box
It is 40 inches over all but is 37 inch inside. It has a hinged lid and is very solid built. The best money I've spend. Hope this helps those hunting a good container for their acid.

Rick

[Maadman]

Sorry for taking so long. Doing Sunday things. Will respond in about an hour.

[acourtjester]

Thanks little blue choo I was not looking in the right place I did a google check and the prices were all over the place and there was a bigger one too.
But after thinking this is a truck type tool box I did a different search and came up with this one and they have them locally I need to lay eyes on it to be sure.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-35-in- ... /205053257 $54.
More great info from Plasma spider

[Maadman]

Just got back. The box I have is 19 in wide and 34 in long, inside dimensions . It came from Walmart and was $50. It is strong with a tight fitting hinged lid. Both your other options looked very good too. Good luck.

[gsi]

While we're talking about muriatic acid, what concentration are you guys using? I mixed a gallon of acid bought at the hardware store with 5 gallons of water. It seems to be a bit weak.

I bought a large heavy poly storage tote with a lid from Home Depot. So far, it's worked out pretty well. I wouldn't mind having something larger at some point.

[little blue choo]

I looked at the ones at home depot but they were to narrow for me. I cut a lot of signs that are 24" x 24" or larger and the Husky's aren't that wide. The DEE ZEE was the only one I could find that would fit a 24" x 36".

Rick

[little blue choo]

GSI I may be mixing mine to strong but I do 1 to 1. I purchase mine from a local chem. co. and give $30 for a 5 gallon can. If someone out there is using a different ratio let me know what it is and how it works. Never too old to learn something new.

Rick

[acourtjester]

Well I went to HD and found both the husky 50 gal and Dewalt 63 gal I bought the Dewalt and still was not wide enough inside.
and after getting it home I am not liking the foam seal I think the acid with break it down so I'm taking it back.

DSCN2072.JPG

[Capstone]

I went to Tractor Supply Co. and got a large water trough. I couldn't find the specific one I purchased, but it's similar to this one, but a lot deeper. Once filled, it can handle really large pieces. Since all of the signs are flat, 31 in. x 52 in. x 12 in, is a really good size to work with as far as getting the entire piece covered. Oh, and I just thought about the seal, the one I have has a copper drain plug and it held a full bath for a few months with no problem.

[acourtjester]

Thanks tractor supply is about 1/4 mile for the Home Depot I went to so that will work.

[steel 35]

I have a 110 gallon tank with maybe three inches of 2:1 in it. The copper bung is removed and a pvc bung? replacing it. It would make that gorgeous flag look tiny.

Real close to this if its not & no lids for it.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/produc ... nk-110-gal

[Bobcat320]

For my very large pieces, I went down to the hardware store and bought some of those huge, thick plastic contractor trash bags. Put the piece in it, add a few cups of acid from tank, seal it up and set it flat on the shop floor. After a couple of hours turn it over and let it sit again. Completely removes the mill scale and I just carefully pour the acid back in the tank when done!

[acourtjester]

Well after playing tank shuffle with different size tanks I settled on the one Steel 35 recommended from tractor supply.
Ok steel where did you get the PVC bung???

[steel 35]

I stand corrected; Its a (Bulk head fitting). ABS probably its Black, and a PVC Plug.
Not going to say what size because I would be wrong. First Local plumbing store I went to.

[acourtjester]

Thanks that gives me a mission to go on

[Mfdchief]

I'm pretty new to the site and still learning a lot from all the great posts. I ordered a 4 drum Haz Mat containment basin. It is only 7 inches deep but it is 51.5 square so large pieces can easily fit. The one I ordered is an Eagle 1638 4 drum basin. The best price I found was Wal Mart online at $146.00 with free shipping. Hope this helps some of you.

[tbeaudoin]

Laying pieces down hasn't worked out for me in acid. I searched high and low and found screen printing dip tanks. I have a small table but found a 24x24 dip tank 3.5" wide used on craigslist. So far it's been ideal, the top has a lip that allows pvc pipe to rest and hang parts in. I keep it out back and only use 1gal of acid in it, works great.

http://www.easiway.com/equipment/dip-tanks-accessories