Finally sorted the galvanising out!
The first dip, just over a week ago, was poor
No slag, but bare patches where the steel obviously hadn't been cleaned in acid for long enough.
The production manager was taken aback when I pointed the first couple out, then he had a good look himself and condemned the lot!
His excuse, on behalf of the lads who actually do the work, is that they had such a backlog with the new bath and furnace delays that the first jobs were rushed through.
No excuses - he admitted they had failed and that their QA had let them down, so I left the whole lot with them for another few days and they pickled them again (this removes all the galv as well as cleaning the bare steel) and started afresh.
I'm much happier with the results, but as with any industrial (as opposed to decorative) galving process there are always drips etc. which the finishers have to grind off. That means there are some grinding marks on the tubes, though they have only removed the excess zinc and the galvanised surface is still there, and they will weather in
So, this weekend I'm finishing the bits and pieces I couldn't do until the finished frames were back - internal supports etc. so the first ones should be ready to send out, be collected, or fitted early next week, I hope
It's been a long process, but if I do another batch later I'll know what to expect, and should be able to have a much quicker turnaround.
By the way, I did make a couple of extra sets if anyone else is interested
Cheers,
Robin.