Stainless steel welding question.

[Bill Douglas]

I remember in welding night class there is some acid sort of stuff that you put on stainless steel welds and overnight it dissolves bits of carbon and black soot out of welds.

The reason I ask is I've bought a nice stainless steel S&W snubbie revolver that has a couple of tiny areas of corrosion that I'd like to dissolve the black spots out of then put renaissance wax on to fill the "pores".

Do any of you welding guys know what it may be - thanks.

[sc_rufctr]

This Old Tony uses some "Pickling Gel" to clean up the stainless steel welds at 4.46 in this video.

Lots of info on Google about "Pickling Gel".

[Bill Douglas]

Thanks Peter, that will be the stuff. I hope all's well in the fine city of Adelaide, Bill.

[sc_rufctr]

All good here Bill. Just a thought... Can you post a picture of the areas of corrosion?

[Porchdog]

Pickling gel works pretty well. You probably want to sand or polish a bit first. Try to get the visible rust off. Grey scotchbrite works well.

It's also good to prep with a strong caustic - you want to start with the surface as clean as possible. a bit of heat also helps - like 100°F.

If the pickling gel is hard to find you can use citric acid or nitric acid - but a welding store should have the pickling gel.

Rinse thoroughly with distilled water.

Stainless is protected by a layer of chromium oxide. You want to strip off the oxide and any contaminants, then allow a new oxide layer to form in air.

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

All good here Bill. Just a thought... Can you post a picture of the areas of corrosion?

It's very minor and hard to see. But the gun on top where the barrel screws into the frame. I'm just a bit obsessive and would like to tidy it up.