"Joe" wrote in message
news:mesWd.43279$ya6.18692@trndny01...
Muriatic acid. Cheap stuff. Gives of strong chlorine fumes. Some of
the
nastiest stuff known to man. Burns skin in an instant.
CLIP

I must be super human... I worked with teh stuff for years and never had
a
problem with my skin... I used to hold stuff and pour the acid over the
piece outdoors where I could rinse it off with a hose...

Never burned my skin unless I had a cut or something and then it simply
woke
me up real fast!

you want dangerous stuff for your health? Take a look at Hydroflouric
(sp?)
acid from what I hear...

You can add to the list nitric acid, which isn't forgiving of skin contact
in the least. It can remove the surface of your eye faster than you can
get it rinsed out. (Don't ask).

Actually, hydrochloric acid is relatively forgiving where skin is concerned.
Should you happen to get it on you, as long as it isn't permitted to remain,
it's no big deal. I'm speaking of skin that is relatively tough, hands,
maybe lower arms. The only time I experienced any discomfort from
hydrochloric (aside from breathing the fumes) was when I washed some brick
with a dilute solution, some of which ran down my arms and remained for some
time. I used it in the precious metal refining field for about 23 years
with no incidents to report.

A good choice for killing rust is phosphoric acid, which does not attack the
base metal, unlike hydrochloric. Assuming parts are allowed to soak over
night (with hydrochloric), damage can be done to them. It has no reason to
stop working until it's exhausted, so it dissolves the base metal right
along with the rust, usually with considerable pitting in specific areas.

Harold