[Shop-talk] Acid sharpening?

[David C.]

thanks.  Interesting link.  Looks like regular old battery acid might work.


At 10:28 PM  9/14/2007  -0500, Mark wrote:
>David,
>
>Here is a link to the process.  Sulfuric is what the article describes.
>Might be able to get that at a parts store.
>
>http://people.iarc.uaf.edu/~cswingle/archive/get.phtml?message_id=157695&submit_thread=1
>
>Mark
>Nashville
>http://www.arrestmered.com
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "David C." <cavanadd at verizon.net>
>To: <shop-talk at autox.team.net>
>Sent: Friday, September 14, 2007 9:34 PM
>Subject: [Shop-talk] Acid sharpening?
>
>
>
>Have we talked about this one?  I believe it came up on my machinist's list
>a while back but nothing conclusive came of it.
>
>I have a quart (plastic) bottle of something called "Chemsharp".  I got it
>mail order years ago and it's apparently NLA for reasons that will become
>obvious.  Anyway, it was sold as a chemical sharpener for files (and other
>cutting tools).  You clean an old file, soak it in the Chemsharp juice, and
>the file comes out sharp.  It actually works very well; apparently as the
>teeth are dissolved, they form a sharp point.  I suspect it's mostly some
>sort of acid, possibly nitric, at some unknown dilution.  The stuff can be
>re-used until it doesn't work any more, but I only have the quart and would
>like to get some more as I have just started a job as a high school shop
>teacher, and I have a bunch of files and rasps that need sharpening, and I
>don't want to use my own stuff if I can't get some more.
>
>I imagine this stuff is no longer available because whoever made it was
>either sued out of existence after some idiot rinsed his contacts in it, or
>they couldn't get liability insurance and folded, which is too bad because
>the stuff works very well.  Anyone have any ideas what kind of more or less
>readily acid would work, and at what dilution level?  Should I just go up
>to the chemistry lab storeroom and steal a jug of nitric acid and use
>that?  I promise to wear my goggles and rubber apron.
>
>Thanks
>Dave C
>_______________________________________________
>mark at nashvilletn.org
>
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