AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Gun Building => Topic started by: SingleMalt on September 28, 2016, 05:41:06 PM
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Ive got two jars of aqua fortis that Ive had for years. Both jars have some "sludge" in the bottom with some amber liquid on top. Over the years, the liquid level has dropped due to evaporation.
My question is, will adding water to the mix leave me with "good", although weaker aqua fortis?
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BE VERY CAREFULL ADDING WATER TO ACID ! Acid's specific gravity is higher than waters, and the water will remain on top, the interface develops heat rapidly leading to steam and then you have an explosion. NOT GOOD. Better to add the acid slowly to the water and make sure it is stirred as you do it. Wear protective clothing and face and eye protection.
( my pharmacy education sometimes comes in handy even though I've been retired for 5 years.)
Mikeyfirelock
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Ive got two jars of aqua fortis that Ive had for years. Both jars have some "sludge" in the bottom with some amber liquid on top. Over the years, the liquid level has dropped due to evaporation.
My question is, will adding water to the mix leave me with "good", although weaker aqua fortis?
I have not added any more water to my solution but I have pored of the top liquid and discarded the remaining "sludge". My aqua fortis has not evaporated in my container which has a very good seal. My stuff works OK but not as dark staining the maple as it has when new. This is my experence with MY stuff.
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I certainly agree about the hazards of adding water to any concentrated acid. In this case the acidity of prepared AQF should not be much more than vinegar. So I would be careful but not dismiss adding water.
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It's not sludge in the bottom. It's iron that has precipitated out of the solution over time. If you shake the bottles up well, pour them into a container, and heat it, the most of the iron will go back into solution. Originally, the addition of iron to acid was an exothermic reaction which caused the solution to originally heat up. You will merely recreate those conditions.
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Just shake it up and use it. TOF is 100% correct, it's an iron oxide that has precipitated out. Color will be better (imho) if you shake it up and use it vs. decanting the liquid off and leave the sludge behind.
HOWEVER: in larger batches, the decanting of liquid and residual sludge can be useful. The "sludge" is an iron oxide that is essentially a pigment and (due to inherent liquid in the sludge) a stain at the same time. Furthermore the iron oxide is in a finer granular size than anything you can buy that has been physically ground (i.e. a typical ground pigment) so it will not muddy grain as will a typical pigment. Using the pigment as a 'wiping stain' and then heating as per typical aquafortis solution will yield a color more oriented toward yellows and orange/red orange. You can get some very neat colors.
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I make my own with nitric acid and iron filings or steel wool. I usually make about a half pint or so at a time and I stir it up good each time I use it. I don't see much difference in it from fresh made to after it sits awhile and settles. At the time I started no one was selling prepared aqua fortis and I was convinced I had to have some. I went to a local scientific supply company and bought the acid. I think about a litre or two in a bottle. Had to have a business license to buy it. The stuff was not very expensive. The guy at the counter asked me if I was going to put it in my vehicle, yes. Then I have to put it in a hazardous shipping container. The container was more than the acid. Still have enought to last me a while. Need to mix up some more.
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Chemistry lab professor always said
"Acid to water; just like you orter"