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Dissolving nickel/chrome leaving stainless steel/brass unchanged

May 13, 2008

Hi,

I'm a grad student at LSU . My question is, how do I dissolve nickel or chromium particles deposited on a stainless steel (or brass) wirecloth (micro mesh), while leaving the stainless steel (or brass) unchanged? Please let me know soon.

Thanks,

Pratap Bhat

Pratap Bhat
student - Baton Rouge, Louisiana

You can dissolve chrome with 20% hydrochloric acid.
You can dissolve nickel with 50% nitric acid.
Neither will affect the SS as long as the solutions do not have much iron in them, as from 400 series SS.

Brass is another story, and that will depend on exactly which brass that it is. You probably will end up using proprietary acid mixtures/compounds for this.
Brass will live thru short exposures to both acids, but it can get aggressive very fast as it starts picking up copper ions.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
May 15, 2008

Once the chrome has been removed, what is the best method for polishing the brass back to a bright luster?

Robbie Dixon
faux finisher - Memphis, Tennessee
July 13, 2008

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