4mm On Heather's workbench - on a Holden to…Yarmouth?

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Ressaldar

Ressaldar

Western Thunderer
Hi Heather,

Best wishes for a speedy health recovery for Best Beloved and some positive results from the tests.

On the coach front, try to stick to one three car rake at a time, if nothing else, they will take up less space on the workbench and allow the aircraft side of things have a better chance of a safe landing.

Kind regards

Mike
 
michael mott

michael mott

Western Thunderer
Sorry to hear about your family health issues, wishing a positive outcome for your best beloved. The stack of brass looks rather formidable to me, I’m sure you will make the best choice for continued work on them.
Michael
 
Heather Kay

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
Thanks for the good wishes everyone. It’s much appreciated.

A quick update on Best Beloved health problems. After a blood test on Wednesday morning, we got a phone call from a GP Thursday afternoon, and a face-to-face appointment this afternoon. Best Beloved is anaemic, so we now have boxes of iron sulfate tablets, and he's been referred up the chain to consult with a kidney specialist. Essentially, it’s a recurrence of a problem last seen six years ago, but this time might be more serious.

While all that sounds horribly depressing, knowing that professionals are beginning to deal with stuff on his behalf has actually cheered him up. He was very worried before the GP appointment, understandably.

So, onwards and sideways, as I’ve adopted as our family motto!
 
Heather Kay

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
Best Beloved health sitrep: slow improvement, sort of three steps forward and one back.

Meanwhile…

1AA8D489-BC80-430E-B10C-2850F4870BC1.jpeg

The stack got shuffled. This was because I decided to tackle fitting all the tee-handles.

9E67CB70-7C0B-41BC-8F23-A545FF42C83F.jpeg

I am happy to report that only one handle pinged off into the next dimension. I heard it land somewhere beyond my solder station, but as that’s turned into a bit of a jungle I decided to not bother searching. If it turns up another day, all well and good. There is some residual external solder I need to clean up, but hot soldering is pretty much done on the bodies now.

I think the next stage will be to load this lot into the ultrasonic bath for a good soak.
 
Herb Garden

Herb Garden

Western Thunderer
Heather Kay said:
I think the next stage will be to load this lot into the ultrasonic bath for a good soak
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Heather, would you mind if I asked a couple of questions? I've recently heard about ultrasonic baths as a method for cleaning up brass models and it sounds like the way forward compared to removing dirt and grease by hand.

Do you have any recommendations on equipment to use, chemicals to use and any guidance on method beyond bung it in and hope?

Cheers

George (Herbie)
 
Heather Kay

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
Herb Garden said:
any guidance on method beyond bung it in and hope?
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I'm afraid I’m pretty much of that school.

I invested in a large tank some years ago, knowing that a fair amount of the stuff I was building was quite big. It really doesn’t get used as much as it should, but that’s my fault. So, my advice is:

1. Buy the largest unit you think you need.
2. Prices vary a lot. I forget what I paid, but it came via Amazon from China. Don’t buy cheap.
3. Have somewhere to put it when you use it (for filling and draining it needs to be on a sink).
4. Have somewhere to keep it when it’s not being used!

The unit heats the water, but it usually takes so long I don’t worry about it. I generally use plain tap water, laced with either simple washing-up liquid to break the surface tension or a squirt or three of Viakal. About 10 minutes is usually adequate. I’m usually not trying to get a really shiny finish, and stubborn filth still needs a mechanical clean, but the bath is more to degrease and clean flux residues off.

There are other WTers who have better knowledge and experience than me. They may pipe up with comments. Wasn’t there are thread discussing ultrasonic cleaners? *shrug*
 
Richard Gawler

Richard Gawler

Western Thunderer
UltraSonic Cleaners & grit blasters.

I have had my best results cleaning brass by starting with tomato ketchup or Viakal worked in with a toothbrush. Then cleaning this off with the same toothbrush, soapy water and a rinse; and then the u/s bath with a dash of washing up liquid to break the surface tension. I bought a 3 litre tank, this just (just) takes a 6-wheel coach in 7mm scale.
 
Rob R

Rob R

Western Thunderer
Richard Gawler said:
Yes. I find tomato ketchup to be a convenient way to get acetic acid (in vinegar) in paste form. Just don't let it dry on, it becomes a nuisance to remove.
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Richard,
Any particular brand?
Or just cheapo supermarket own brand (not that anything is cheap these days)?
 
P

PaxtonP4

Western Thunderer
Coke-a-Cola works as well. That's because its 20% Phosphoric Acid. The stuff people throw down their neck!!
 
Chas Levin

Chas Levin

Western Thunderer
Rob R said:
Richard,
Any particular brand?
Or just cheapo supermarket own brand (not that anything is cheap these days)?
Click to expand...
Sounds odd but it really works! I do it for tarnished etches for instance by putting a thin layer on the bottom of a flat glass bowl (as if you were spreading it on toast) and laying the etch on top, pressing very gently so that the ketchup makes contact all over the underside, then pouring and spreading out another similar layer on top, leaving for 5-10 mins (you get to learn how long different amounts of tarnish take and you can always give it a second go) and then rinsing off under the tap!
As @Richard Gawler says, good old Heinz is exactly the right degree of thick and gloopy that it sticks well, allowing the (surprisingly) acidic formula to very gently 're-etch' the surface.
I thought I had some 'before and after' pics from a recent session but I can't find them, but if you imagine the most tarnished brass that looks almost brown, alongside the newest and brightest brass, that's how well it works.
I can't comment on Coca-Cola though, except that it takes pretty grim to me these days; how our tastes change with age...
 
oldravendale

oldravendale

Western Thunderer
Aah! But can you use the sauce on your burger or drink the Cola after you've finished? If not that's a real waste of super nutritional resources :)) . (Note the position of the full stop - it's quite important...)
 
simond

simond

Western Thunderer
I’m sure you can, but I’m rather more certain that you should not.

it seems that most brass tarnish is an extremely thin layer of oxides and sulphides of the parent metals, copper & zinc.

These are presumably dissolved by the acid in the ketchup, and whilst it’s difficult to see why a layer of ketchup should be any more effective than immersion in a similar concentration of eg citric acid, I feel my burger is unlikely to be enhanced by a weak solution of copper, oxide, sulphide or anything-else-ide, as copper is really quite toxic.

I’ve not been keen on fizzy phosphoric acid and artificial sweetener solutions since I discovered beer, so I’ll pass on that one, with or without dissolved metals, thanks all the same!
 
Richard Gawler

Richard Gawler

Western Thunderer
simond said:
I’ve not been keen on fizzy phosphoric acid and artificial sweetener solutions since I discovered beer, so I’ll pass on that one, with or without dissolved metals, thanks all the same!
Click to expand...

I am grateful to have not discovered any practical use for beer in model train construction and operation beyond its use as a dietary supplement for my general well-being, and I hope I never do.

I do hope Heather is okay. I know she has commitments outside WT but this is her Workbench thread and I wonder if we should start a Tomato Ketchup topic?
 
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