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Metalworking (rec.crafts.metalworking) Discuss various aspects of working with metal, such as machining, welding, metal joining, screwing, casting, hardening/tempering, blacksmithing/forging, spinning and hammer work, sheet metal work. |
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#1
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What kind of metal in a food strainer?
I had a bunch of crud in my muriatic de-rust bucket & I strained it
through a (old) kitchen strainer. You know, the woven-wire basket with a handle kind. I thought it was made with SS wire, but I got a very vigorous reaction with the acid. WTF! I know the wire isn't aluminum, it couldn't be zinc (food contact), what is it? Tin? Does tin react with HCl? Would they make strainers with pure tin, not tin coated steel? If so, wouldn't SS be cheaper (I found tin ingots on the web for $12/lb)? Puzzled, Bob |
#2
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What kind of metal in a food strainer?
On Jan 20, 8:20*am, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
I had a bunch of crud in my muriatic de-rust bucket & I strained it through a (old) kitchen strainer. *You know, the woven-wire basket with a handle kind. I thought it was made with SS wire, but I got a very vigorous reaction with the acid. *WTF! *I know the wire isn't aluminum, it couldn't be zinc (food contact), what is it? *Tin? *Does tin react with HCl? *Would they make strainers with pure tin, not tin coated steel? *If so, wouldn't SS be cheaper (I found tin ingots on the web for $12/lb)? Puzzled, Bob Yup, makes stannous choride. See if a magnet sticks. Most food-grade stainless items are the non-magetic sort. And the iron underneath the tin will react with the hydrochloric acid pretty quickly, too. Sounds like you'll need a new strainer. The tin coating was in the fractional mil range, if the item isn't too old, can make a whole lot of coated wire per pound at that sort of thickness. Stan |
#3
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What kind of metal in a food strainer?
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#4
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What kind of metal in a food strainer?
On Jan 20, 11:37*am, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
wrote: ... *See if a magnet sticks. * Most food-grade stainless items are the non-magetic sort. * A magnet doesn't stick, but it's definitely not SS. *SS doesn't react like this with HCl. And the iron underneath the tin will react with the hydrochloric acid pretty quickly, too. *... Iron doesn't react as vigorously as this does. *It was "boiling" away to the end, not just while a coating was being reacted. Bob In a lab I worked the two most common types of sieves that we used were stainless steel and brass. The brass ones were less expensive. I'll bet that the strainer was a tinned or plated brass. |
#5
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What kind of metal in a food strainer?
On Jan 20, 2:53*pm, "Denis G." wrote:
On Jan 20, 11:37*am, Bob Engelhardt wrote: wrote: ... *See if a magnet sticks. * Most food-grade stainless items are the non-magetic sort. * A magnet doesn't stick, but it's definitely not SS. *SS doesn't react like this with HCl. And the iron underneath the tin will react with the hydrochloric acid pretty quickly, too. *... Iron doesn't react as vigorously as this does. *It was "boiling" away to the end, not just while a coating was being reacted. Bob In a lab I worked the two most common types of sieves that we used were stainless steel and brass. *The brass ones were less expensive. I'll bet that the strainer was a tinned or plated brass. Hadn't thought about brass, if the acid coming off was blue or green you're probably right. Guess my strainers are cheaper than that, even. Have a few inherited ones that are getting rusty, but good enough for cleaning small parts, not for kitchen duty. Stan |
#6
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What kind of metal in a food strainer?
On Wed, 20 Jan 2010 10:20:14 -0500, Bob Engelhardt
wrote: I had a bunch of crud in my muriatic de-rust bucket & I strained it through a (old) kitchen strainer. You know, the woven-wire basket with a handle kind. I thought it was made with SS wire, but I got a very vigorous reaction with the acid. WTF! I know the wire isn't aluminum, it couldn't be zinc (food contact), what is it? Tin? Does tin react with HCl? Would they make strainers with pure tin, not tin coated steel? If so, wouldn't SS be cheaper (I found tin ingots on the web for $12/lb)? Puzzled, Bob Puzzled too. How do you know that the wire isn't aluminum? Iron/steel usually requires elevated temperatures to react with HCl at any reasonable rate. When the wire reacts with clean muriatic acid, is the solution colored? Terry |
#7
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What kind of metal in a food strainer?
On Jan 20, 6:12*pm, Terry wrote:
On Wed, 20 Jan 2010 10:20:14 -0500, Bob Engelhardt ... Puzzled too. *How do you know that the wire isn't aluminum? Terry If it is aluminum, lye (sodium hydroxide) will make it fizz. jsw |
#8
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What kind of metal in a food strainer?
On Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:18:03 -0800 (PST), Jim Wilkins
wrote: On Jan 20, 6:12*pm, Terry wrote: On Wed, 20 Jan 2010 10:20:14 -0500, Bob Engelhardt ... Puzzled too. *How do you know that the wire isn't aluminum? Terry If it is aluminum, lye (sodium hydroxide) will make it fizz. jsw A reasonable test. Something else just came to mind: does the wire fizz with new, clean HCl? If so then I'm stumped (for the moment at least). If not, it may be that the crud in the old HCl has gunk** in it that makes it capable of dissolving stainless steel. Nitrates or possibly sulfates. Terry **A technical term used often in chemistry. :-) |
#9
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What kind of metal in a food strainer?
"Bob Engelhardt" wrote in message ... I had a bunch of crud in my muriatic de-rust bucket & I strained it through a (old) kitchen strainer. You know, the woven-wire basket with a handle kind. I thought it was made with SS wire, but I got a very vigorous reaction with the acid. WTF! I know the wire isn't aluminum, it couldn't be zinc (food contact), what is it? Tin? Does tin react with HCl? Would they make strainers with pure tin, not tin coated steel? If so, wouldn't SS be cheaper (I found tin ingots on the web for $12/lb)? Puzzled, Bob Older, or cheaper food strainers are made of tin-plated steel wire. Newer and/or better ones are made of stainless. Tin reacts with HCl, but not vigorously. The dilution usually called "muriatic" will strip the tin off of old tin cans but it actually attacks the steel more aggressively, so you get a mottled result. The tin will disappear before the steel can is perforated. Or the old ones behaved that way. I learned that by trying to strip the tin off of some tin-can metal, several decades ago. I used hardware-store muriatic acid. -- Ed Huntress |
#10
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What kind of metal in a food strainer?
On Jan 21, 1:12*pm, Terry wrote:
On Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:18:03 -0800 (PST), Jim Wilkins ... A reasonable test. *Something else just came to mind: *does the wire fizz with new, clean HCl? *If so then I'm stumped (for the moment at least). *If not, it may be that the crud in the old HCl has gunk** in it that makes it capable of dissolving stainless steel. *Nitrates or possibly sulfates. Terry **A technical term used often in chemistry. *:-) Gunk isn't the same as crud: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalk_r...ified_deposits jsw |
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