Using B-9 stripper

[Olle]

I just started working on an old, nickel plated revolver, and I'm in the process of stripping and polishing the parts right now. I'm using the MetalX B-9 stripper, but I'm not sure about how to detemine if all the nickel is gone. I have noticed that the nickel turns black when you dip the parts, so can I safely assume that all nickel is gone when no more traces of black show up? I have soaked, wiped and brushed the parts a couple of times and it seems like nothing is turning black anymore, but the reason I'm asking is that some areas still seem to have that slightly yellowish nickel tint to them.

A related question is how you determine the remaining life of the stripper. It has some discoloration to it, but I don't know if the absence of black residue on the gun parts is because there's no nickel left, or if it could simply be because the stripper is used up.

Any tips will be appreciated!

[woodjames]

I'm no expert here, but perhaps can offer some advice. I have b-xxx, the one for aluminum and die cast-can't remember the number right now. I have found the given enough time most of the black smut disappears, however, you won't get rid of all of it. Usually I inspect the piece, and give it a quick shot from a water bottle, and that knocks the majority of it loose. Usually when it's black it's very thin, and a quick sandblasting or buffing will get rid of it. I've tried acids to eat the smut, but haven't been successful yet. If you can still see some yellow, it may be that it's dirty and the stripper isn't getting to the metal. Not sure about how much metal it'll hold, I've done a few square feet so far in a gallon, and haven't noticed a problem yet.

I just started working on an old, nickel plated revolver, and I'm in the process of stripping and polishing the parts right now. I'm using the MetalX B-9 stripper, but I'm not sure about how to detemine if all the nickel is gone. I have noticed that the nickel turns black when you dip the parts, so can I safely assume that all nickel is gone when no more traces of black show up? I have soaked, wiped and brushed the parts a couple of times and it seems like nothing is turning black anymore, but the reason I'm asking is that some areas still seem to have that slightly yellowish nickel tint to them.

A related question is how you determine the remaining life of the stripper. It has some discoloration to it, but I don't know if the absence of black residue on the gun parts is because there's no nickel left, or if it could simply be because the stripper is used up.

Any tips will be appreciated!

[CarWiz]

According to the Site specs it strips from 2.5 to 6 ozs of nickel per gallon. Even at the low end, that's a LOT of nickel. I've used the 929 for copper alloys quite a bit but mostly on small parts. It's a blue-green color now but still strips well. Run it hot and keep it agitated and it should strip any commercial nickel plating in an hour. After an hour, I pull it out and brush and rinse. There's only been a couple of times I've had to drop the item(s) back in for another few minutes. Probably because I unplugged the heater too soon.

As James said, if you have spots it may be oil or a contaminate that masked the stripper.

[Olle]

Like you both said, it could be that I didn't clean it good enough. I happened to have a jug of acetone, so this is what I used for de-greasing as this also dissolves most of the caked-up crud (BTW: Acetone also works wonders on old carburetors, for those of you that are into that). I will try other ways of de-greasing the parts and see if it helps.

I only mixed up a pint of the degreaser, as I didn't need more than that to cover the parts. Accordingly, my bath should dissolve .625 to 1.5 oz of nickel, so the question is how much nickel there is on a medium size revolver. How do you figure that?

[CarWiz]

Acetone is good for the initial wash but I would follow that with a heated SP degreaser or equivalent. The acetone will dissolve/dilute oils but it remains in the solution. When the item is removed and the acetone evaporates, some oil stays behind. Degreasers like SP or the amine soaps will break down the oil into components that can be rinsed away. Treat the stripping like plating and use the water-break test.

I wouldn't know how to start calculating the amount of nickel in a plate but Nickel is ~145.6 grams per cubic inch. Spread that out to a thickness of .001" (heavy plate) and you're probably talking milligrams per square inch. As a WAG, I'd say in the 145mg./sq.in. range. But I'll leave the calculating to someone wiser than me.

[Olle]

Acetone is good for the initial wash but I would follow that with a heated SP degreaser or equivalent. The acetone will dissolve/dilute oils but it remains in the solution. When the item is removed and the acetone evaporates, some oil stays behind. Degreasers like SP or the amine soaps will break down the oil into components that can be rinsed away. Treat the stripping like plating and use the water-break test.

I used wirebrush and Brakleen for the initial cleaning (the revolver is old and was quite nasty...), and followed up by rinsing and brushing the parts twice in fresh acetone. There was a lot of old, hardened grease everywhere so it's possible that there still is some contamination. Still, the areas that look like they're still plated are not the ones that you would suspect would be dirty or difficult to clean, and that's why I'm unsure of if it's a matter of cleaning or not.

Anyway, it's definitely worth trying, so when you say "SP degreaser or equivalent": Is there anything like that I can get off the shelf in a store?

I wouldn't know how to start calculating the amount of nickel in a plate but Nickel is ~145.6 grams per cubic inch. Spread that out to a thickness of .001" (heavy plate) and you're probably talking milligrams per square inch. As a WAG, I'd say in the 145mg./sq.in. range. But I'll leave the calculating to someone wiser than me.

Thank you, very helpful info! I'm not any wiser than you, but I'll try to calculate the area and see what I come up with.

[woodjames]

A 6 x 8 nickel anode is .026" and weighs 175.9g Nickel is normally plated at .001 so 175.9g /26 shows us that 48 square inches of .001" thick weighs 6.76g. 3 of those makes a square foot - 20.28g per square foot.

The water break doesn't lie. Do what it takes to get there, I use 10 squirts or so from my sink dispenser of dawn detergent per gallon at 200 degrees and scrub the livin' "heck" out of it with a grout sponge. Rinse and rinse and rinse and then you will see that the water hangs onto the surface like it is a clearcoat, on continuous film, no droplets. Then you are clean. It will be required along with an acid pickel when you plate if you want it to be trouble free. There are other ways, just happens to be the way I do it. Though electrocleaning is much easier and faster, you go through more of it, and it's more expensive to replace than dish soap. Protect yourself - it's real hot.

I used wirebrush and Brakleen for the initial cleaning (the revolver is old and was quite nasty...), and followed up by rinsing and brushing the parts twice in fresh acetone. There was a lot of old, hardened grease everywhere so it's possible that there still is some contamination. Still, the areas that look like they're still plated are not the ones that you would suspect would be dirty or difficult to clean, and that's why I'm unsure of if it's a matter of cleaning or not.

Anyway, it's definitely worth trying, so when you say "SP degreaser or equivalent": Is there anything like that I can get off the shelf in a store?



Thank you, very helpful info! I'm not any wiser than you, but I'll try to calculate the area and see what I come up with.

[Olle]

Thanks, James! I didn't want to use dish soap as some have hand lotion and other nasty additives in them (I have had problems with this in the past when washing parts before painting), and I just didn't know which ones I could use. I'll try the Dawn and the water test, that sounds easy enough.

[woodjames]

Really haven't noticed a problem, but I stick to dawn. I usually run a set of thick cotton gloves under the pvc gauntlets, just make sure you don't have any holes in the pvc gloves 'cause it's freakin' hot, and you can't get them off fast enough when a finger fills up with 200 degree cleaner. I usually do it all in the kitchen - I run it in a largish pot on the stove 'till it boils, then CAREFULLY carry it to the sink, scrub away in one side, rinse in the other. I've tried adding some dishwasher detergent and dry laundry detergent, ohh and baking soda and some purple power or something like that - dawn by itself seems to work fine, just be ready to scrub. You can pick up a scrub brush while you're out getting the grout sponge, I used to do it that way before the sponge - but you'll only get a few pieces cleaned before the bristles get all flattened out and useless. The sponge lasts quite a while, I usually just leave it in the solution as long as the significant other can deal with the pot on the stove. Seems like when they get wet and dry that's when they start to go bad - but they last the longest out of what I've found so far.

Thanks, James! I didn't want to use dish soap as some have hand lotion and other nasty additives in them (I have had problems with this in the past when washing parts before painting), and I just didn't know which ones I could use. I'll try the Dawn and the water test, that sounds easy enough.

[Olle]

I usually just leave it in the solution as long as the significant other can deal with the pot on the stove.

When I started reading about you doing it in the kitchen, I thought: That man can't possibly have a "significant other". I guess I learned two things here: How to degrease gun parts in the kitchen, and that it actually can be done even if you're married.