[TheForge] Re: Interesting rust prevention product seen on car show

[Mike Spencer]

> Rust Freeze -Goes Where No Other Rust Inhibitor Has Gone Before!
> ....
> Because Rust Freeze is so thin it will seep into small places such
> as folded seams on sheet metal, overlaps that are spot welded, areas
> behind braces and inside tunnels and tubes.

Sounds promising so far, eh?

> Rust Freeze penetrates deep into the metal. On bare metal or heavily
> corroded aluminum or steel Rust Freeze will encapsulate the
> corrosion and then penetrate up to 2 mill into the base metal
> matrix...

Ooop.  Snake oil.  Metal objects aren't "matrices", they're
crystalline solids.  Yes, regions of crystalline continuity are
partitioned into what's called grains.  And yes, there are some weird
things that can happen with individual atoms in crystal lattices.  But
none of that allows for liquids penetrating the "metal matrix".
(Sintered metal is another story but your truck frame or rudder
control aren't that.)

Okay, my formal chemistry is 50 years old so there're surely new
things I don't know.  I still say snake oil until someone explains
"penetrate[s] up to 2 mill into the base metal matrix" in
metallurgical terms.

FluidFilm(tm) seems to be thixotropic so it goes on gloppy like
(deprecated) tar undercoat but seeps and spreads and penetrates
crevices (not "metal matrix", though) when subjected to vibrations
during operation.


FWIW,
- Mike

-- 
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~. 
                                                           /V\ 
mspencer at tallships.ca                                     /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/                        ^^-^^