Richie's Mk1 Restoration

[horsa]

Very nice. Its more or less the same process (different chemicals though) for etching brass plates. Was researching it earlier in the week to see if I could fabricate my own data plates for another project.

If you were to soak a much longer track section in a larger vat, would it simply take longer due to the current in a bigger volume of solution, or would you need to increase the electrical charge to maintain the load?

[RichardT10829]

yes and yes. my findings are the larger the item you will require more solution both of which will add resistance to the current.. same with the more powder added the more potent the eletrolyte becomes (but drains more juice in the process). if you keep the same current on bigger items it will still work just a lot slower

so with that in mind for the larger track sections iam going to use my arc welder.

you have to be careful when using big power supplies as you dont want to boil the electrolyte....not really a problem here in the North of england as its so bloody cold ! a chap in Australia used a power supply from a photocopier (24v) and in the summer months had a refrigerator core wrapped around the bucket to keep the solution cool.

thing to look for.....as simple and low tech as it sounds, as long as you have a steady stream of bubbles fizzing from the item your derusting (not violently though more like a glass of soda) then you have enough juice....it may just take longer to get the same results.

one thing i didnt mention was you can keep re using the solution as many times as you like all be it becomes a sludgy mess....its the anodes you will go through

also make sure your positive dog clip does not get submerged otherwise you will find it gets eaten away.....the negative does not matter and that can go right into the solution.

you can put multiple items in as long as they are linked by wire. just make sure you dont short out cathode and anode. you could put copper in and coat the items in copper sulphate so they dont rot......but i have not researched fully yet.

[horsa]

The copper sulfate you mention is what would be used for etching brass as well. Process for data plates is to transfer toner to a piece of brass. You can print the text/logo/art and then use an iron to melt the toner from the paper so it moves to the brass. Then when soaking the brass in the charged solution, everything not protected will slowly get eaten away leaving the toner covered areas raised up. You need to mirror any text before printing since you will be laying it onto the metal backwards so what stays on the metal is then read correctly. And it helps to tape the back of the plate so that side doesn't get eaten away. Neat tricks...

I'll have to try your experiment later in the month on a small section of rusty spare track I have. Guess a battery charger would work equally well for power since I've got one with numerous charge rates which can be dialed in.

Wonder if my 3rd grade daughter could use this for her school required science fair project?

[RichardT10829]

hahahaaha of course ! I am told that if you connect the charger to a car battery then have a set of leads from the battery to the anode / cathode you will get better results from your charger as the battery will act as a rectifier.

[Lynn Eades]

There is a big thread about this stuff on the forum. I cant remember what it is called, but It would be good to have all the info in one place.

[D Ellery]

Not having access to a sand blaster and tired of hanging onto a angle grinder for hours on end I came across this process here on MLU. Awesome process! while you sleep it does away with rust and in the morning you just waterblast the gunk off and your away. I use a plastic water trough (farm type) which holds about 60 ltrs. I've been able to derust my carrier boggie's as a whole unit, boggie wheels, cross shaft and many other large parts. I did try some track sections but found that you have to wire up each individual track link as the contact between the links wasn't that good. Its a great tool and would highly recommend it over other methods. Cheers David.

[George McKenzie]

Originally Posted by D Ellery

Not having access to a sand blaster and tired of hanging onto a angle grinder for hours on end I came across this process here on MLU. Awesome process! while you sleep it does away with rust and in the morning you just waterblast the gunk off and your away. I use a plastic water trough (farm type) which holds about 60 ltrs. I've been able to derust my carrier boggie's as a whole unit, boggie wheels, cross shaft and many other large parts. I did try some track sections but found that you have to wire up each individual track link as the contact between the links wasn't that good. Its a great tool and would highly recommend it over other methods. Cheers David.

I made a sand blaster out of a 32" truck sleeper You can do things up to 6 ft long .right in the shop no dust and you don't lose the sand. I use glass beads in mine .I put it on wheels ,uses 85 lbs of air pressure and could be shared by more than one person Cost me $ 300There is an article about it in ARMY MOTORS 125 the MVPA magazine .