72 TA : New Project

[Verne_Frantz]

Steve,
Based on your last precautionary statement, I will add the "rule of thumb" for mixing caustics or acids with water. ALWAYS, add the caustic or acid to the water, never the reverse. IF the water is already there when the chemical is added, it will instantly be diluted and will not result in a violent reaction (erruption). Water first; chemical second.
Even when cleaning your home drains, never pour the chemical in a dry drain, then add water. ALWAYS run water first, then add the chemical.
Verne

[njsteve]

Wise precaution, Verne.

BTW, Here is a link to a site that has the % concentration of Sodium Hydroxide in various items. It's so nice to see that Crest Tooth Whitening Strips have the same ingredient of Sodium Hydroxide as Purple Stuff and Drano. Though the powdered Drano ranges from 30% to 60% Sodium Hydroxide and the purple stuff is only 1% to 5% concentration.

http://hpd.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/house...chem&id=19

[Nova Jed]

I have read about this (sodium hydroxide) process before in a resto magazine, but do you know if the trim could be reanodized after it's stripped off? Or is it best to polish the trim and keep up with it? Any tips or info would be appreciated. Looks pretty good by the way!

[njsteve]

I believe this is basicaly the same process the commercial anodizers use. Here is a link to one of them and how they do it:

http://www.focuser.com/atm/anodize/anodize.html

[Nova Jed]

Thanks!

[ANDY M]

One thing that I still remember from High School Chemistry,
"Do as you outta, add acid to water".
The demo that the teacher gave was very convincing.

[njsteve]

I tried my hand at buffing the aluminum trim and it worked out rather well. I used an old electric motor bolted to a couple of pieces of plywood. I bolted them to the work table but far enough out that I have room to work. I used the basic Eastwood kit and started with the Tripoli compound and then wiped the piece down with mineral spirits and finished it with the white rouge compound. After that I wiped it down again with mineral spirits and then hand polished it with Simichrome chrome polish. I then wiped it down again and sprayed some Boeshield metal protectant on it to keep the luster for a while.

Here is the setup:



And after some initial buffing (on the left side of the piece)



Here is the polished right side piece, compared to the unpolished left side:





It took about 30 minutes to do the one piece with the wheel changes and cleaning between stages. So that's one down and 7 to go!