I read something recently which confused me.
Had a couple of issues with scale or flash rust on a few parts that'd been in the tank so decided to do some homework, got to the bottom of the problem, it was me being a bonehead and not pre heating heavier parts when blacking in cold weather, but when reading through Brownells instructions after an Internet search for info , they said not to wash or degrease the parts in caustic soda/lye solutions. Now, it may be a shrewd move as they recommend using their cleaner and I'm sure it's a good product, but if the parts are blacked in a bath of the stuff, I couldn't see the harm it could do. I've always boiled parts clean in a separate bath with a pinch or two of caustic soda in the water, rinsed off then boiled in clean water before prep and polish. Having not experienced any problems other than the occasional bit of trapped oil or polishing compound creeping out from nooks and crannies in the hotter salt bath I wondered if anyone else has had any problems ?
I'm not Brownells bashing at all, Its homebrew salts in my tank so it may not apply but still curious what the reason is for not using it ? Perhaps it's not an issue with the hot tank . Maybe there's a light pickling agent in their cleaner that gets down into pits and kills any rust, some trapped remains of the caustic/lye cleaner may neutralise that and cause a blemish maybe ?
Any ideas Gentlemen ?
