lye tank for large pieces.

[Robert Bearfield]

a new acquaintance was  over to the house and we were talking cleaning cast iron, he told me he had a cast iron plate from an old table saw that needed to be cleaned. it was like 2 ft by 3 ft, and i said to myself,                         "SELF",               how would you clean that? he explained, kids small swimming pool, made a good lye tank and did a wonderful job. i thanked him as i have a wagner griddle my daughter gave me, 24 x 12, and thats to big for my lye tank, and it might be to big for the e tank too.

[Gary Salsman]

Should be no reason to soak anything from a table say in lye. also probably no reason to electro it. We are not trying to preserve any patina. It's a table say. Take it to a media blaster.

[James Wilson]

a new acquaintance was  over to the house and we were talking cleaning cast iron, he told me he had a cast iron plate from an old table saw that needed to be cleaned. it was like 2 ft by 3 ft, and i said to myself,   "SELF",  how would you clean that? he explained, kids small swimming pool, made a good lye tank and did a wonderful job. i thanked him as i have a wagner griddle my daughter gave me, 24 x 12, and thats to big for my lye tank, and it might be to big for the e tank too.

Hi Roger, there are many way to skin a cat especially if you wish to save yourself a couple of quid or more .
Whatever container works for you is what you should use. I have made temporary baths using heavy black plastic laid over a timber form that gave me the volume and shape I required.
If it is the table top that you wish to renovate you could try using an old towel or such, soaked in the washing soda you use in your electro. Place an anode on top (flat mild steel or s/s). Much like an electro sandwich :). Hook up the electrics as per using use low current. Be sure to keep the towel saturated ( you could have part of it sitting in the washing soda and acting as a wick).
You may have to remove the towel periodically to clean the the towel and component parts but that is not hard yakka .
This method has been used before to clean large machine tables where it is uneconomic to dismantle..