Scale removal- Vinegar soak question...

[Heikki]

I'm trying vinegar to ease the pain of removing scale on some blanks. What I've read says to leave it overnight after heat treating. Is there a minimum time for decent results? I just put em in this morning and was hoping it wouldn't take all day. Guess I'm being impatient.

 

[Gene Kimmi]

From my experience, it takes a good 12 hours to make much of a difference. I usually leave them in for 24 hours.

 

[Heikki]

Thanks Gene. Guess the rest of my afternoon is free then

 

[Chris Railey]

I have done the vinegar thing on some tomahawks after HT. At least 24 hours and I have left them a little longer too. The upside is it works very well espically for tight corners or inside a handle eye.

 

[C. Killgore]

In my experience, sodium bisulfate works better and faster than vinegar. It can be picked up from a pool supply and is usually marketed and "ph down" or ph minus. As it is intended to lower the ph in pools and such. Usually sold in a powder form. Put some in some water and good to go. Lasts a long time.

I tried the vinegar thing one or two times and it just didn't do it for me.

Just in case it doesn't work well for you. All my knives (forged) get a soak in the ph decrease before going to the grinder.

 

[Heikki]

In my experience, sodium bisulfate works better and faster than vinegar. It can be picked up from a pool supply and is usually marketed and "ph down" or ph minus. As it is intended to lower the ph in pools and such. Usually sold in a powder form. Put some in some water and good to go. Lasts a long time.

I tried the vinegar thing one or two times and it just didn't do it for me.

Just in case it doesn't work well for you. All my knives (forged) get a soak in the ph decrease before going to the grinder.

Thanks for the info. I had vinegar on hand, so tried that first. Next time I 'll try to get some sodium bisulfate to see how they compare.