# Where the heck do you buy lye?



## VegasF6 (Mar 11, 2008)

Title says it all, need to de-annodize.
Found this article:
http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/coldprocesssoapmaking/a/lyesources.htm
But I really don't plan on ordering it. Hardware store? Grocery store? Specialty store? No luck so far, Home Depot, Walmart, Albertons and Lowes!


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## modamag (Mar 11, 2008)

Home Depot or Lowes in the toilet section.
Draino and such. Look at their ingredient.


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## VegasF6 (Mar 11, 2008)

Good lord that was the fastest reply ever! So it is ok to use Drano or something that is MOSTLY lye, even if not 100%?
Cool beans.


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## Robocop (Mar 11, 2008)

Yes it is fine and I still use the brand Red Devil Lye with good results. I simply put maybe 2 teaspoons to a glass of cool water and drop the part under the solution. Stir it if needed and watch it closely. It only took maybe 2 dips under the solution at maybe 40 seconds each to nicely strip an old LS I had.

Wear good rubber gloves and check the part often to ensure it does not eat away at the aluminum. It is much better to dip it several times for a short period than to dip it fewer times for a long period. On the second dip try to simply wipe the item with a soft brush or even cloth and you will see the ano simply rinsing away.

Clean it nicely and follow with a good polish to help seal it from oxidation.


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## Low_Rider (Mar 11, 2008)

Some brands of oven cleaner also have a sufficient amount of lye to strip anodising. The process isn't as quick, but often that can be a good thing.

Cheers, Dave.


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## nekomane (Mar 11, 2008)

Some people have used Greased Lightning with good results though I've never had the 
chance to try it.
Wear gloves!


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## will (Mar 11, 2008)

I prefer Drano over Greased Lightning - it works faster and you can adjust the concentration.


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## rizky_p (Mar 12, 2008)

so toilet and flashlight has something in common...


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## James Jackson (Mar 15, 2008)

Just to clarify...

Red Devil lye is pretty much 100% lye.

Draino - is lye with a lot of additives. 

Not the same. If you are looking for just lye - use the Red Devil lye. You used to could find it in the grocery stores - in the plumgibg isle - with the drain cleaners. It's getting more and more difficult to locate nowadays.

(I used to use it to make my bio-diesel fuel - and I know that Draino isn't useable for this purpose.)

Good Luck finding it. I found that some of the smaller stores - in small towns still had it on the shelves.

Regards,

James Jackson


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## dulridge (Mar 15, 2008)

In the UK it is usually called by its chemical name of sodium hydroxide - just about every hardware store here has it.

Wear gloves - and eye protection.

Caustic alkali burns are far nastier than acid burns - they turn your subcutaneous fat into soap. Not recommended.

If you get dry crystals, add them to water, not the other way round unless you enjoy really bad chemical burs as the water immediately boils and spits boiling strong alkali everywhere.

Always add strong alkalis or acids to water - NEVER the other way round.


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## VegasF6 (Mar 16, 2008)

Well, if you read my original link, it claims Red Devil was pulled, hence my concern. If it is still out there somewhere, I am just not looking hard enough. Otherwise, I know Drano is availible.
Thanks


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## r-s (Mar 22, 2008)

The last time I used Drano (caveat: this was like 20 or 30 years ago), I recall it being a mix of lye AND tiny bits of aluminum. The "magic" was that the lye, when wet, would go after the aluminum like a bat out of hell (aluminum is a VERY reactive metal -- if not for the nigh-instant oxide layer formed by exposure to air, it'd be like sodium). The result of the reaction was a LOT of heat, very quickly. It was excellent for opening stubborn drains, because it created a physical action that "pure" lye could not provide.

If it's still that sort of compound I doubt it would be useful for anything *other* than unclogging recalictrant drains.


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## VegasF6 (Mar 22, 2008)

Well I did wind up with crystal drano, and while maybe not ideal it did the job lickety split. I really got carried away though. I was only attempting to remove anodizing from the inside of a mag tailcap. I filled it about 3/4 with water, dropped in a teaspoon or so of drano and walked away for about 10 minutes. When I came back it had boiled over and removed streaks from the outside of the tailcap as well. So, I cut the top off of an aluminum pop can, filled it half with water and maybe 2-3 teaspoons of drano, dropped the whole tailcap in and watched it bubble away. It drew the anodizing right off and attracted it to the side of the pop can like a magnet, no wiping was really even needed! Then I watched the pop can expand, dance, and finally burn a hole right through itself. I polished up the cap with some automotive aluminum polish/sealer. Looks pretty good, I am glad I didn't pitt it all to hell.

I only have so many tailcaps to experiment on, but I am thinking next one I will coat the outside of the cap first with vasoline or automotive grease. Then mix up a diluted solution of drano in a water bottle and pour very little of it into the bottom of the cap. Then before rinsing it out I will try dumping baking soda in it to de-activate first. Hopefully that will give me the results I am looking for.

Or maybe I should just polish the darn thing on the inside with my die grinder and leave the lye alone


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## PEU (Mar 22, 2008)

Look for Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) thats the scientific name for Lye, as long the bottle you buy contains it, it will strip your anodizing. 
Is better to dilute it and do the process slowly. 
Use gloves. Use some rags to manually remove the annodizing, a dental brush will help in the difficult areas. 
After fully stripping, dip the piece in hot pre boiled water.
If in doubt check this thread

Be carefull & good luck!


Pablo


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## Photon Joe (Jul 20, 2008)

I have an alternative to the somewhat dangerous use of lye for removing anodizing
that will not harm the aluminum.
I am a retired gunsmith and have used this many times without fail .
Many guns have aluminum frames that have a hard coat anodize surface.
I use cold blue solution, which is for blueing/blacking steel.
It will remove anodizing in a couple of minutes or so with no heat , smoke , or damage to the aluminum, and can be bought at most sporting goods stores for cheap.
It comes as liquid, paste and even in a pen like a sharpy for precision work.
Just wipe with a paper towel soaked with cold water to stop the process.
Then lightly sand or polish to remove any color stain that remains.
It also removes factory blueing from steel as well ! Which kinda defeats the original purpose , but if left on too long that will happen.


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## r-s (Jul 20, 2008)

Photon Joe said:


> I use cold blue solution, which is for blueing/blacking steel.
> It will remove anodizing in a couple of minutes or so with no heat , smoke , or damage to the aluminum, and can be bought at most sporting goods stores for cheap.



I had a similar experience a few years ago when using "Naval Jelly" rust-remover -- it *instantly* removed the blueing, but I don't remember if it did so on aluminum as well as steel.
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## VegasF6 (Jul 20, 2008)

Photon Joe, that's a great tip! I haven't seen it anywhere else. I need to pull out the old gun cleaning solutions anyhow and see what is in there. I seem to recall having bought a high dollar teflon lube about 10 years ago that I could use now.

What I could REALLY use is a way to isolate the rest of the body from the solution. For instance I have a light that makes cruddy contact with the switch and I want to de-annodize the inside threads. But, I don't want to damage the outside. I wonder if tape, or some sort of grease could be used to protect the outer surface?


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## Photon Joe (Jul 20, 2008)

Yes a light coat of thin grease would protect it.
Just make sure you get all the blue out or it will slowly make a nasty oxidation on the metal.
As for lubes, if they are petrolium based they will destroy the rubber O- rings since petrol destroys rubber, so be mindful of oil and rubber.
Glad to be of help. ( I had a similar experience with naval jelly too.)








VegasF6 said:


> Photon Joe, that's a great tip! I haven't seen it anywhere else. I need to pull out the old gun cleaning solutions anyhow and see what is in there. I seem to recall having bought a high dollar teflon lube about 10 years ago that I could use now.
> 
> What I could REALLY use is a way to isolate the rest of the body from the solution. For instance I have a light that makes cruddy contact with the switch and I want to de-annodize the inside threads. But, I don't want to damage the outside. I wonder if tape, or some sort of grease could be used to protect the outer surface?


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## Photon Joe (Jul 20, 2008)

Oops ,Well, better check to see if new cold blue will work, the stuff I have left was purchased in 1988, it may be a different formula nowadays.
Mine has copper sulfate in it in a very weak solution.
I haven't bought any since then and it may be different now since this stuff could peel your skin if your not careful.
Worth trying though the old stuff works great.


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## VegasF6 (Jul 20, 2008)

Well, I didn't find any blue, I had hoped I had some, but no luck. I did find an old remingtion serial #'ed knife I had forgotten about, and an old squeeze it gyro type led flashlight. It won't hold a charge, do capacitors go bad over time?? Not that I ever heard of.

I also found the gun lube, it is tetra gun grease, a Fluoropolymer penetrating white grease and I seem to remember reading good stuff about it long ago, hence why I bought it.

I have emailed the company to see if it is a petroleum based product, or water based. Being my usual impatient self though, in the meantime I gooped up my nitecore ex10 with it. Feels smooth 

Edit: Oh yah, found an old bottle of hoppes #9, it claims to eat away copper, so does that mean it has the same copper sulfate as the cold blue?


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## Photon Joe (Jul 20, 2008)

Mines Hoppes too, It is for cold blueing though ,I believe what you have is probably bore cleaner ,it may have some of the same stuff, can't hurt to try just a little spot. I might have some naval jelly too, might have to try a small spot of that too. 
I don't like messing with lye or draino as I have seen it eat aluminum , and it releases gases one of which is explosive hydrogen when interacting with aluminum.
I use white silicone grease on things with rubber rings or molding, it will not harm the rubber.








VegasF6 said:


> Well, I didn't find any blue, I had hoped I had some, but no luck. I did find an old remingtion serial #'ed knife I had forgotten about, and an old squeeze it gyro type led flashlight. It won't hold a charge, do capacitors go bad over time?? Not that I ever heard of.
> 
> I also found the gun lube, it is tetra gun grease, a Fluoropolymer penetrating white grease and I seem to remember reading good stuff about it long ago, hence why I bought it.
> 
> ...


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## snoboy (Jul 21, 2008)

For all your hard to get chemical needs:

http://www.unitednuclear.com/chem.htm


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