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Posted by Sherman in Idaho [72.47.153.24] on Friday, July 27, 2012 at 23:25:56 :
In Reply to: Parkerizing posted by ern in ca [98.255.33.223] on Friday, July 27, 2012 at 22:10:19 :
Solid as opposed to what? I have not tried that phosphatizing recipe, but when I've made zinc chloride soldering flux I've dissolved old die-castings in hydrochloric (muriatic) acid. Most die castings are either aluminum-based or zinc-based. I would think it would be easy enough to just try what you have and if it dissolves, it must be zinc. Zinc will dissolve in any strong acid, with much fizzing, whereas aluminum won't. Aluminum, on the other hand, will dissolve in a strong lye solution with much fizzing, but zinc won't. Another test is to melt a small piece of it with a torch. If it burns with a bluish flame and makes white/yellow smoke, it's zinc. Aluminum won't burn in air. I'm sure you have some junk die castings sitting around. Another good source of zinc is the lumps of metal that are often found in with hot-galvanized nails. Rummage around in the nail bins at your local old-fashioned hardware store, or pay attention whenever you're using galvanized nails, and you'll find so lumps of pure zinc in with the nails. When I was a kid, I used to use the outer shells of flashlight batteries but hardly anyone buys carbon-zinc flashlight batteries any more. Of course you can also just go buy some, but what fun is that?