Remove Rust Grease And Mill scale in Two Minutes - No Tools Required!
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- čas přidán 14. 07. 2024
- In this video I will cover my process for turning rusted, dirty, or oily steel into perfectly clean steel ready for welding or painting.
Previously the only method I had available to me was use of an angle grinder with a flap wheel. The angle grinder has a few unfortunate downfalls.
-Continued cost of flap wheel replacements
-Large production of metallic dust
-Inability to get into tight spaces
-Long process time/lots of labour
-Metal becomes very hot during process
By using a Hydrochloric (Muriatic) acid bath, all these pitfalls can be eliminated.
-Any amount of metal can be cleaned in less than 3 minutes
-Very little labour required
-Removes all contaminants including oil
-Acid lasts an extremely long amount of time
-Any shape of part can be cleaned in its entirety
The only "issue" of this method is the production of acid vapour. That can be managed by doing the process outdoors and wearing a respirator.
This has proven to be extremely convenient and a big time saver. I will never go back to using a flap wheel.
0:00 Intro
1:03 The Old Guard
2:47 Note*
3:04 Container Selection
3:48 Acid Selection
4:18 Safety/Acid Pour
5:26 Old Container Inspection
6:45 Process Demo
7:08 Timelapse
7:43 Process Demo
9:09 Outro
Here are the parts I used in this particular project.
Container (36.5 L): www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/ma...
Acid (I used less than 2 Gallons): www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/ro... - Jak na to + styl
Thank you. Good info. Something I thought needed to be mentioned. An opened container of this acid in your garage will corrode every tool and piece of metal. You might look into phosphoric acid. Not as strong but it is safer. Found in soda. You can find it at home depot in a concrete wash and metal prep product.
Put some baking soda in the water to help neutralize the acid, WEAR GLOVES!
If you do it inside with the lid off anything steel in the room will get rusted from the fumes.
Always wear gloves when grinding, and certainly when working with acid. Great tip and good research on the plastic. Have you considered a 40% vinegar? It is not as strong as muriatic but a lot safer. Won't work in just a couple of minutes, but still lots quicker than household vinegar.
I use citric acid. Not toxic, no smell and no issue to dispose. Simply dilute down with water and pour into the ground. Most citric acid sold is food grade. It removes zinc coating, and mill scale also.
How much citric acid do you use?
@@TheTank8
I use 1 1/2 to 2 tbls per gallon of water to get down to around 3.0 ph. I have a ph meter (cheap on Amazon). This ratio will vary depending on the ph and hardness of your water. I have very hard water with a average ph 7.2.
I get the powder citric acid on Amazon. Very reasonable.
@@gcase08 and how long do you leave the metal in that solution?
@@TheTank8
It depends on what you are trying to remove. Heavy rust I leave over night and even longer. Heavy mill scale a few hours. There are things that remove it faster but are not as friendly or safe to use.
@@gcase08 I appreciate your advice, thank you.
Several considerations, the inside of the tube how do you protect it from further oxidation? I would treat it with a rust inhibitor. #2 I would make a solution of baking soda and water to neutralize the Muriatic acid then rinse in clear water add the rust inhibitor.
If you are not ready to prep for welding you can use Johnson’s paste wax to protect from oxidation.
Removing zinc can be removed safer with common apple cider vinegar a little slower but no dangerous fumes to deal with. Oh gloves dude! Have you ever experienced an acid burn on you skin? 🤣🛫 my $150.00 cents worth
I've used it plenty of times before in large 5 gallon quantities that even a respirator won't help with. What works best is just have a shop fan behind you so the fumes are directed away from you.
good tip, I think i'd wear gloves though...
they are not surface contaminants. Interestingly it is the exact same alloy as the underlying metal. It's been oxidized is all. In fact it is sold in great huge tankers to china where they will smelt it down and make steel from it by burning off the oxygen. the muriatic will do a better job if you use a little soap and water to de-grease the metal. The stainless tongs will rust. The Hydrochloric acid will remove the passive chrome oxide on the surface and corrosion will set in faster than the exposed surface can get fresh crome to migrate through the metal and replace it on the surface. Nitric acid won't do this to Stainless.Neither will citric acid.
Acid fumes aren't that bad I've been cleaning wheels for 22 years without a respirator . Still alive and well 😊
Muriatic acid will also remove zinc coating (galvanization) almost instantly. The fumes, however, are dangerous.
Time saved = golden.
To neutralise the acid use water with a bit of central heating anti corrosive additive fluid.
if you want to keep the inside protected you can dip scott towel in the acid and cover the peice with it. it will work as fast
I do this all the time to remove rust. It works very well for pitted or odd shaped steel. Here are a few comments.
Real muriatic acid is just 32% hydrochloric acid.
Big box stores cheat you by selling a lower concentration. In my area Atwoods sells real 32% concentration.
I dilute mine to10-15% which gives me a larger volume for large pieces and is safer to use.
After repeated use the concentration will decrease.
Always do this outdoors with rubber gloves and goggles. I also wear a leather work apron. Avoid breathing the fumes and stay upwind.
HCl will dissolve nylon.
PVC pipe works great for long pieces.
Towel dry to help prevent instant rust. Air drying creates more instant rust.
To prevent instant rust, I brush on phosphoric acid. This creates a layer of iron phosphate that acts as a rust inhibitor. Rinse and towel dry after the treatment. I soak a rag in phosphoric acid and pull it through tubulars to treat the inside.
Paint adheres well to iron phosphate.
Iron phosphate grinds off easily with a flapper disc. Sometimes I weld through it.
Treating with oils will also prevent instant rust but can be a problem when welding and painting.
To discard used acid, neutralize it first which creates a salt solution. Baking soda or calcium works fast. A cheap way is to place a chunk of limestone rock in the acid and let it react for a couple of weeks.
Reaction times are slower in cold weather.
Never leave an open container of muriatic acid indoors. The fumes will corrode all your metals and are unsafe. I even store the new bottles outdoors.
This also works to remove zinc coatings.
If you don't want to mess with harsher acids and you have more time you can remove rust and millscale with common household 6% vinegar light to moderate rust can take 2-5 hours heavy rust and millscale can take overnight as with any acid if you're not gonna use it right away you need to oil it because it will lightly flashrust in a couple minutes you can also neutralize it with baking soda but I usually pull it out spray it off dry and weld pretty quickly if not you need to oil it muratic acid is great and fast and I use it on some stuff but it can get expensive for larger pieces with vinegar you can basically make any size container you need for odd stuff with foam board tape then a sheet of plastic and some spring clamps or you can do long skinny stuff in pvc pipe hell I've even dug a shallow hole and lined it with heavy plastic I always cover the top with a sheet of plastic as well seems to work faster straight vinegar is best 👍👍👍
Also if you're gonna weld and you don't neutralize it depending on how you're welding even though the steel is clean it's best to prep the weld joints with a wire wheel or flapper just enough to take that dull gray color to shiny steel before welding I've seen some welding react oddly to ungrounded acid cleaned steel that dull gray finish that's left can make the arc erratic etc anyway just figured I'd pass the info along for anyone looking up ways to clean metal for welding 👍👍👍
I wonder if it would work with applying it to a sponge/piece of cloth, and just rub the metal, so that the inner wouldn't get corroded..
Good video. I found it safer and more practical to use vinegar instead of this acid. Vinegar just takes a few extra hours
You got the millscale off the outside and inside of the tube. You can arrest corrosion on the outer surface, but what's your plan for the inner surface? Pickled and rinsed steel goes to hell pretty fast if you can't eliminate the residue. Personally, I refuse to pickle tubular shapes. I use a D.A. sander with 100 grit paper for tubes, and pickle solid shapes. Millscale thickness is a function of cooling time. Solid shapes cool slower, hence thicker scale. Tube cools fast enough to keep the scale thickness within the capability of mechanical sanding.
Nice tip. How long can you keep the acid in the container ready for use? Does it evaporate, etc?
I have kept the acid in the container indefinitely, since the making of this video.
The acid will evaporate, however the container has a relatively airtight lid. The heat and possibly the acid have managed to make the container lid warp, and as such it requires additional clamps to make a seal.
The liquid level has gone down since, as the lid was improperly clamped. There also may be some degradation of the plastic, but it is really hard to tell.
I would not trust the container to hold the acid forever, but I will continue making inspections ever several weeks.
If you are interested, you can find a container, look at the recycling number. From that number you can find a plastic, and look up chemical compatibility.
You can use alcohol to displace the water inside of a tube. Works very well.
This is amazing dude!!! (but please wear gloves!)
I am looking to clean about 4’ pieces and thinking of using an acid resistant plastic pipe with a cap. Make sense?
That was one of the original designs I was considering. I decided against it, as the tubes I would be cleaning did not exceed a couple feet in length.
One concern I have with that type of design is drips and spills. Handling tubes in a flat tub is quite easy and stable. You can let the tubes drip into the bin before dunking them in water.
With a 4 ft design, you will likely have difficulty handling the material and equipment. It will be more difficult to keep the process clean.
If you figure out a good design for longer tubing, I would like to see it.
@@GadgetEyeGuides Im needing to do large pieces. Thinking of using a piece of PVC gutter with the ends closed off.
Been thinking about a design for 1 meter long pipes.
best option I think is a long box type container with a sealed lid.
but you might need to melt plastic to make that kindda design, 3d printing knowledge is a friend.
Another design would be using electrochemical machining. but that's a whole different process.
the plastic design setup is easier though.
2:57 - This bin from Canadian tire?
how do you dispose of the used acid?
Good question. As far as I can tell, it depends on the regulations where you live.
I haven't had to dispose of any yet, but when I do, my current plan is to strain out the debris and dilute it with a large quantity of water before pouring it down the drain.
@@GadgetEyeGuides add backing soda until it stops reacting (bubbling) and then it is neutralized and you can pour it down the drain. Always neutralize. Many older sewer pipers are cast iron.
You pour it down the drain. There are so many plumbers that use this to declog drains. It will neutralize itself on whatever it eats up anyways so no harm done to the environment. I've went through 10s of gallons of the stuff clearing up old pipes. To anyone who says it's not safe on pipes, Draino and all the other solutions aren't much better. If your pipes are so weak that Muriatic Acid will ruin them, then they were on the verge of collapse anyways.
meh. I used to do this but it would rust really bad afterwards. I one time then did it and immediately soaked my metal part in motor oil and took it out yet it still rusted. i think electrolysis might work and leave no damage...
so if I have a 24' tube where do I get a tight bucket to fit it ????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't think you will be able to use this method on such a long piece of steel.
It is possible to cover the tube in rags soaked in acid, but that is a far more hazardous process.
This method is best applied to tubes cut to finished length.
Do a quick build with some pvc or something to contain the piece along with the acid. Can choose diameter to more effectively fit the piece. But make sure to also keep acid amount in mind. Want to keep acid usage low, but also want to reduce the need to change acid often due to usage in the reaction. Gotta balance
Pvc might not be the best material to use, but oh well. As long as you keep in a ventilated area and dispose correctly, and get heavy metal free pvc, ayy by all means. Sure there are probably other types though. Not really sure what are where though.
Dip in to WD40 to stop flash rust and use acetone later to remove and weld.
WD40 isn't a thing in every area of the planet.
WD40 is the most overpriced useless trash ever.
@@PM17E5 After neutralizing the acid, with basic rinse, get rid of the water with WD40…WD = “Water Displacement”.
No that's wrong how about flash rush!!!! You need to nutulise the acid with baking soda I bet flashed rust was on that the next day !
A post rinse with water removes the acid and paper towels do a good job at drying the tubes. Although after that point the tubes are quite vulnerable to rust from excessive humidity.
It is very dry where I live.
Wearing eye protection and a mask, BUT NO GLOVES?????