I hear that! Boy, you would *never* catch me putting my torch into
muriatic
acid .. how can you *guarantee* that you neutralize it afterward? I'd
never
be able to sleep worrying if that acid was still eating away at the inside
of my torch.

If you have to make it pretty just get some Knorrostol and/or some Brasso
and
a bunch of old cotton towels, put on some good tunes, brew up a big cup of
coffee, sit down and make it look pretty using the Armstrong torch
polishing
machine your mom gave you. - GWE

I agree on putting the torch itself in Muratic acid but I wouldn't have any
problems putting all brass items in the bath. On my instruments I usually
use a 20 to 1 ratio: If I have the part in muratic (50%+50% water) then I
leave it at least 20 minutes in water. I don't like dealing with acid but I
sure don't want to deal with more chemicals to get it off. I have been
doing this for 8 years now with no corrosion problems. I guess I would use
chemicals to neutralize if I was in a hurry... but I ain't.
The problem with Brasso is that it cleans up brass real good but doesn't
do much to other gook that is on top of the brass, other than oxidation.

LB