Hi,

#1 I have zero whole cannonballs...but I will have some eventually! [You can always send me your spares.]

I have looked into this and I am sure you've heard many answers to your questions. The 2 common ways of removing all of the rust are: (a) soaking in Muriatic acid [Caution !], which works but gives them a "pickled" surface (b) electrolysis. Other methods include soaking in Diesel, using various petroleum distilates like "Liquid Wrench"(tm) etc.

The most nondestructive of the methods is electrolysis. I have an axe head undergoing this process as we speak. It's not really hard to do and certainly poses less risk than when I used the acid.

After using acid or electrolysis and then rinsing you end up with a black iron object. The iron will rust in minutes so you must dry them quickly and coat with a light oil if no other treatment is to be done. WD40 (tm) or similar works fine, but would need to be reapplied often. Some folks paint the cannonballs black to prevent rust, however in most circles this devalues the item. There are commercial products to coat iron like Extend (tm). Most of the antique tool restorers use some sort of hard wax. [see their websites] To do this heat the iron with a blow dryer or heat gun and then let the hard wax melt onto the iron from the heat. This will bond better and create a perfect seal. There are waxes like this used for professional auto undercoating that do not require heat and this would also be an option. If you are going to use a sealant do not apply any oil beforehand.

enjoy! I wish I had all your cannonball problems.

hh

-=john=-