3262. Brown Tint for Iron and Steel

3262.    Brown Tint for Iron and Steel. Dissolve in 4 parts of water, 2 parts crystallized chloride of iron, 2 parts chloride of antimony, and 1 part gallic acid, and apply the solution with a sponge or cloth to the article, and dry it in the air. Repeat this any number of times according the depth of color which it is desired to produce. Wash with water, and dry, and finally rub the articles over with boiled linseed oil. The metal thus receives a brown tint and resists moisture. The chloride of antimony should be as little acid as possible.

3263. To Blue Gun Barrels

3263.    To Blue Gun Barrels. Apply nitric acid and let it cat into the iron a little; then the latter will be covered with a thin film of oxide. Clean the barrel, oil, and burnish.

3264. To Ornament Gun Barrels

3264.    To Ornament Gun Barrels. A very pretty appearance is given to gun barrels by treating them with dilute nitric acid and vinegar, to which has been added sulphate of copper. The metallic copper is deposited irregularly over the iron surface. Wash, oil, and rub well with a hard brush.

3265. Iron Filings

3265.    Iron Filings. The only way to obtain them pure, is to act on a piece of soft iron with a file.

3266. To Remove Rust from Iron

3266.    To Remove Rust from Iron. We have never seen any iron so badly scaled or incrusted with oxide, that it could not be cleaned with a solution of 1 part sulphuric acid in 10 parts water. Paradoxical as it may seem, strong sulphuric acid will not attack iron with anything like the energy of a solution of the same. On withdrawing the articles from the acid solution they should be dipped in a bath of hot lime water, and held there till they become so heated that they will dry immediately when taken out. Then, if they are rubbed with dry bran or sawdust, there will be an almost chemically clean surface left, to which zinc will adhere readily.

3267. To Keep Polished Iron Work Bright

3267.      To Keep Polished Iron Work Bright. Common resin melted with a little gallipolioil and spirits of turpentine has been found to answer very well for preserving polished iron work bright. The proportions should be such as to form a coating which will adhere firmly, not chip off, and yet admit of being easily detached by cautious scraping.

3268. To Protect Iron from Oxidization

3268.    To Protect Iron from Oxidization. Among the many processes and preparations for preserving iron from the action of the atmosphere, the following will be found the most efficient in all cases where galvanization is impracticable; and, being unaffected by sea water, it is especially applicable to the bottoms of iron ships, and marine work generally: Sulphur, 17 pounds; caustic potash lye of 35° Baumé, 5 pounds; and copper filings, 1 pound. To be heated until the copper and sulphur dissolve. Heat, in another vessel, tallow, 750 pounds, and turpentine, 150 pounds, until the tallow is liquefied. The compositions are to be mixed and stirred together while hot, and may be laid on to the iron, in the same way as paint.

3269. To Protect Iron from Rust

3269.    To Protect Iron from Rust. A mastic or covering for this purpose, proposed by M. Zeni, is as follows: Mix 80 parts pounded brick, passed through a silk sieve, with 20 parts litharge; the whole is then rubbed up by the muller with linseed oil, so as to form a thick paint, which may be diluted with spirits of turpentine. Before it is applied the iron should be well cleaned. From an experience of 2 years upon locks exposed to the air, and watered daily with salt water, after being covered with 2 coats of this mastic, the good effects of it have been thoroughly proved.

3270. To Prevent the Decay of Iron Railings

3270.    To Prevent the Decay of Iron Railings. Every one must have noticed the destructive combination of lead and iron, from railings being fixed in stone with the former metal. The reason for this is, that the oxygen of the atmosphere keeps up a galvanic action between the two metals. This waste may be prevented by substituting zinc for lead, in which case the galvanic influence would be inverted; the whole of its action would fall on the zinc; the one remaining uninjured, the other nearly so. Paint formed of the oxide of zinc, for the same reason preserves iron exposed to the atmosphere infinitely better than the ordinary paint composed of the oxide of lead.

3271. To Scour Cast Iron, Zinc, or Brass

3271.    To Scour Cast Iron, Zinc, or Brass. Cast iron, zinc, and brass surfaces can be scoured with great economy of labor, time and material, by using either glycerine, steariue, naphthaline, or creosote, mixed with dilute sulphuric acid.

3272. To Clean Steel and Iron

3272.    To Clean Steel and Iron. Make 1 ounce soft soap and 2 ounces emery into a paste; rub it on the article with wash-leather and it will have a brilliant polish. Kerosene oil will also clean steel.