"Richard Smith" wrote in message ...

Saw this post and thought - why not ask the experienced pragmatic
folk?

Sadly these calipers emerged from an overnight dunking with the spring
broken. It looks like it's probably been cracked for some time.

...
spring steel does not respond well to acid derusting.

Working with weldable structural steels, I was once totally
disbelieving of how susceptible bolts and some hardened steels are to
hydrogen and the effect of acid pickling.

Millions of times more susceptible...

How many of you have been involved in sorting out delayed
cold-cracking breaking of bolts and studs?

Rich

================================================== ==

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intergranular_corrosion

I vaguely remember from a college Materials Science class that alloy steels
can also suffer from fractionation during solidification that results in
differing compositions in adjacent crystals, which then have different
attractions for electrons and thus form microscopic batteries. All they
need to self-discharge is a conductive liquid electrolyte that allows
migration of oxidized ions.

Of course being a college student in the late 60's was in itself conducive
to brain cellular corrosion. I realized that I could satisfy the usually
onerous liberal arts course requirements by taking theatre classes that were
way more fun (and unflunkable) than the standard offerings. To my surprise I
and my techie friends participated in class discussions more than the
wannabe actors did. Perhaps we were immune to or at least less terrified of
the caustic wit of the professors/directors.

La Vie Boheme came along for free.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTvhS5d1kn8
https://www.metrolyrics.com/la-vie-b...rics-rent.html