Graphite electrodes y'say? Heck, gouging rods work great, long as you don't
ask too much of them. (Electrolysis of salt solution (say to make a strong
oxidizer like sodium chlorate) easily wears down any graphite of course.)

You can remove the cladding by anodizing (heh) it in a salt solution until
the metal dissappears (leaving copper oxide floating in solution), then it's
free to use for whatever.

Industrial graphite works good too, I got three 1 1/2" square 18" long bars
from a surplus dealer on e-Bay for a total $30 with shipping. Came from
around your area, as a matter of fact.

Tim

--
"California is the breakfast state: fruits, nuts and flakes."
Website: http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms

"Grant Erwin" wrote in message
...
I read Orrin's bit about using graphite electrodes for electrolytic
derusting. I
saw some cheap on ebay and picked up some, maybe $10. The first ones
arrived
smashed up, the second ones showed up intact. They're about 8" long, maybe
1/2x1" rectangular bar (very roughly). They look fragile. As I said, they
were
over $5 apiece. They will probably work fine, although I often need an
electrode
that is longer than that.

Today I was rooting around industrial South Seattle looking for a used but
usable welding ground clamp and I noticed these long perfectly round
things that
looked just like graphite. I picked one up -- it's 12" long, 3/8"
diameter,
looks pretty strong, looks real conductive. It's a scarfing electrode,
first
unclad one I've seen, and it must be made of some sintered carbon. They
had
hundreds and hundreds available for 35¢ each. Skeptical, I bought one. I
just
hauled out my DVM and my pointy-sharp leads and probed in in ohmmeter
mode. End
to end it's 2 ohms or less (my meter isn't accurate in that range) and it
appears to be just as conductive on the sides as on the ends. In short, it
appears to be a real good candidate for use as an electrolytic derusting
electrode!

I'll test it and report. This would be great if it works like I hope it
does, it
would mean electrodes that don't rust, no cruddy solution, without the
huge
expense and fragility of graphite.

GWE