On Sat, 16 Jul 2005 00:30:33 +0000, RadioGuy wrote:

Howdy:

Its been a common practice with me to finish the aluminum surface of a
chassis or box with an immersion into a caustic solution followed with a
coating of clear acrylic spray---I like the satin finish it produces. I
normally use lye that I regularly found on the shelves of our neighborhood
hardware stores. However, I've been having a harder time of finding the
flaked lye that I have used over the years for that purpose. I have used
'Lewis Red Devil Lye' that I found at Ace Hardware.
[snip]

Am I correct in understanding that TSP, also called Sugar Soap (the stuff
used by many to wash walls before painting) is essentially mostly lye? If
so that is quite a cheap source you might want to consider.

Larry VE7EA