Ben-gineering123
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- 8
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- Cleethorpes- England
Can anyone recommend the cheapest yet effective acid/solution for a cut and etch test of a weld on mild steel? I've heard oven cleaner works but I am still yet to try this.
You might struggle to get nitric acid being 15, and methanol for that matter.thank you, i'm 15 learning to weld ready for the future and just want to check if my welds are sufficiently penetrating.
You might struggle to get nitric acid being 15, and methanol for that matter.
You might struggle to get nitric acid being 15, and methanol for that matter.
If you polish it up you can use a typical rust remover product from Halfords.
Technical question here - can anyone explain the reason why polishing the sample makes it more beneficial for the nitric acid to do it’s thing?
The weld pool, welding material and the workpiece will all be a slightly different alloy of steel. An acid etch will discolour each grade of steel by a slightly differing amount so you'll be able to see the boundary between the weld pool and the unmolested material at the join. That's basically a guess but I'm fairly confident it's on the right track. A polished surface will show up those differences much more easily and polishing will remove any smeared out materials from the cut.
I’ve used vinegar - but takes a long time. I think brick cleaner works as well. And brick cleaner is apparently good for removing the scale from hot rolled steel (according to the guys on the Model Engineering forum).