September 3, 20178 yr Hi All, New here and I could not find the proper thread as I am sure it has been fully discussed. So I do apologise for bringing this up... Again I am in the process of building my own forge (never hammered on steel before). I have a 2" pipe that is Galv. That I want to use for my burner intake (hardware store only had up to 1 1/4" in black steel. I have placed the pipe in vinegar for 48hrs so far. Over the first 24hrs there were lots of recations and you could see the zinc being stripped. Now though, there is no more reactions and no more foam on the top. I am assuming the pipe has been stripped but it still looks like it might have Galv. Still on it??? How do you know for sure? I have attached some images. The last is the pipe post vinegar 48hrs and scrubbed with a SS wire brush.
September 3, 20178 yr Did you try it again with fresh vinegar? A certain amount of vinegar will only strip a certain amount of zinc before it no longer works---most chemical reactions are like that.
September 3, 20178 yr If you are going to soak it again, use cleaning vinegar which is 6% acidity instead of the 5% common vinegar. Better to be safe than sorry. BTW welcome to the forum. If you put your location in your profile you may be surprised how many of the gang are near you and some answers depend upon location.
September 3, 20178 yr Author 4 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: Did you try it again with fresh vinegar? A certain amount of vinegar will only strip a certain amount of zinc before it no longer works---most chemical reactions are like that. I switched to fresh every 12hrs or so. The last attempt was in there for around 3hrs with new. Nothing occured 38 minutes ago, Irondragon Forge & Clay said: If you are going to soak it again, use cleaning vinegar which is 6% acidity instead of the 5% common vinegar. Better to be safe than sorry. BTW welcome to the forum. If you put your location in your profile you may be surprised how many of the gang are near you and some answers depend upon location. Thanks, I'll give the 6% a go before welding it on. So far she's turning out pretty good. Just need to weld and swap out the regulator with one that is high pressure.
September 3, 20178 yr Vinegar turns galvy into zinc acetate, which forms a clear film over the remaining zinc. Scrub that off regularly, and it won't block the vinegar getting to the pipe.
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