displaying objects with rust

[Older The Better]

ive been digging a campsite recently and I want to display everything together, some things I really want to protect like flintlock parts and my fully intact and now functional round ball scissor mold, others like square nails and mystery items still have a little rust and I don't want to waste my time picking rust scabs from square nails, so to the question can the rust spread from the nails to the things Ive fully cleaned?

 

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[mick56]

I would try to keep the items from touching each other in the display.

 

[pa plateau hiker]

Rust is not contagious. It does not spreads from iron to iron. You need moisture for rust to form. Keep your display dry.

 

[Older The Better]

cool just wanted to be careful thanks for the help

 

[villagenut]

I think a little cleaning and preserving of the iron is in order. Rusty pieces in a display won't look as nice as preserved ones nor will they last longer. Rust never sleeps.

 

[Tnmountains]

If you do not want to put a lot of effort in to it soak it in apple cider vinegar over night then wash off and just wax it. Try an item first see how you like it. I did a canister of iron grape shot and was very happy

 

[Older The Better]

I had them in acv for about two weeks most of the rust is gone but I didn't want to spend the time picking scabs of square nails and crevasses of some of the scrap metal, but I do want to keep everything from that site together since it is 70 years older than anything else on I've found on the land and I don't want to mix it in with my boxes and buckets and drawers of other items... the gun parts and such are well cleaned and preserved, I find a good soak in gun oil does a great job and some like the pieces of cast iron cooking items I painted with a black rust inhibiting primer too a before an after with my bullet mold... I was really happy with how it came out