[Loch-ruadh] Trebuchet Project

[Jane Sitton]

I called Logan at home to ask him about the acid in batteries, and he also
said it was contaminated, and would be "too much sugar for a dime" to
reclaim.  He said he wouldn't try to use the lead, either.  He said tin
might be an option.  Supposedly, he has a source of a large amount of tin up
in Wichita Falls.  I don't have a clue about this.  I've forwarded all the
trebuchet emails to his hotmail account.  I'm sure he'll jump into the
discussion as soon as he gets our home computer back up & running.  The
eprom blew up, and the dumb computer won't go through the bios thingy
anymore.  In other words, it won't turn on.  It kept wanting to re-partition
itself.  But that's another story.

Normally, Logan said, he just uses the electric polishing brush to clean up
rust, but on really intricate work in hard to get to areas, or on very large
items, he puts them in a tub with a very weak solution of sulfuric acid and
lets them soak a day or three.

As Logan has been blacksmithing as long as I've been alive, I'm sure he's
found what works best for him.  He's not shy about experimenting.  He calls
his favorite part of blacksmithing "experimental archaeology", afterall.
Remind him to tell you Rolf the Red's funny story about this next time you
see Logan.

Also, Logan has a long history of experience with chemicals of all sorts.
He was an explosives expert when he was in the army, and specialized in
plastic explosives.  He also took a refresher course in chemistry in summer
school a while back -- taking chem 1 & 2 in one summer, along with the labs,
and made an A.  He slept with the books in the bed with him, I swear.
Learning by osmosis?  LOL     His lab was at 7 a.m.  I don't see how anyone
can think about chemistry that early in the morning.

Madelina

-----Original Message-----
From: Ciarlariello, Keith W [mailto:keith.w.ciarlariello at lmco.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2001 9:48 AM
To: 'loch-ruadh at ansteorra.org'
Subject: RE: [Loch-ruadh] Trebuchet Project


That acid in batteries (as I recall) is indeed sulfuric (H2SO4),
however it is polluted with other chemicals and not very useful for anything
else.  I would also NOT suggest attempting to reclaim the lead out of old
batteries.  It is a LOT of work (and dangerous) for very little gain.

The BEST chemical to clean rust off of iron and steel is Naval Jelly.
One only needs to brush it on the affected area, let it soak for a few
minutes, and then wash it off with plain water.  Your local auto parts store
should sell it by the bottle.  There are drawbacks, however, to using this,
and if anyone is interested I will fill in the details.

Wilhelm