"jim rozen" wrote in message
...
In article , Harold & Susan Vordos says...

I also suspect that simply rinsing the parts well, and
using a mild base like baking soda will be enough, so
he would not have to deal with caustic NaOH solutions.

Jim

I'm afraid I'd have to strongly agree, Jim.

One of the negative experiences I had when refining was to get a drop of
nitric acid directly in one eye. Immediately the surface of my eye peeled
off. I had done something EXTREMELY stupid in that I had gone from the
machine shop, where I always wore safety glasses, to the lab, where I
removed them (??) while I tended to a large beaker of silver, to which I
added some acid. One drop, and only one drop, popped out of the beaker,
right into my left eye.

When an ophthalmologist looked at my eye, he told me how "lucky" I was. I
was told that the human body can quickly neutralize acid, which prevented
the acid from doing permanent injury to my eye. On the other hand, he said
that had the drop been lye instead, I would have been blinded because the
lye continues to destroy tissue. We can't neutralize base solutions nearly
as well.

I endorse the baking soda, and would encourage anyone facing this situation
to use it in place of lye.

Oh, yeah. Just as I was promised, the eye healed up with no lasting
effects, although I've often wondered if that's the reason my arms are too
short now. :-)

Harold