Significant electrolysis progress on early 1600s sword basket hilt in first 24 hours

[Bill D. (VA)]

Although I have a great deal of experience in using this method of cleaning, I may be in over my head on this one. Usually an object of this size will take several days to 2-3 weeks to clean, but when I pulled it out this morning after less than 24 hours in the tank it was much further along than expected. When I initially turned on the battery charger yesterday it was pulling less than 1 amp which was safe and slow. But this morning for some reason it was close to maxed out at 6 amps, and all but the most stubborn of the corrosion had been removed. And possibly a very small amount of the base material was being lost already. So it looks like I'm going to need some professional help on this as what was originally believed to be a heavy, solid chunk of iron is much more fragile that I thought. Maybe its metallic composition is different too. Anyway, I'm just going to leave it soaking for now until I can figure out how to proceed. In the meantime, here are a few pics I took this morning which look vastly different from those in my original post just 24 hours ago. The first 2 pics are from yesterday so you can see the changes. If anyone here has professional experience with iron preservation of this type I'd love to hear your suggestions on how to handle this artifact. I have my own sources too so hopefully someone can come up with a workable solution, and that may include handing the artifact over to someone who is capable of doing the job right. This is one I definitely don't want to screw up. Thanks.

 

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[PeteWmass]

have you ever tried oxalic acid - not as strong as citric (which eats into the base metal) - works pretty good - especially things that are rusty - but not terribly corroded (I actually use it to clean old tinscans I find while digging in dumps- it eats the rust but leaves the paint that is left - also works for license plates - toys - etc) - might be worth a shot.....

 

[joeyfresh]

Looking good Bill. Hopefully your other sources will lead you in the right direction. The composition and state will determine the appropriate action. That's a keeper so you don't want to experiment.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using TreasureNet

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Looking good Bill. Hopefully your other sources will lead you in the right direction. The composition and state will determine the appropriate action. That's a keeper so you don't want to experiment.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using TreasureNet

Thanks Joey. I'm working on making contact with some experts, but I have to be careful who I talk to. You know what I mean.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

have you ever tried oxalic acid - not as strong as citric (which eats into the base metal) - works pretty good - especially things that are rusty - but not terribly corroded (I actually use it to clean old tinscans I find while digging in dumps- it eats the rust but leaves the paint that is left - also works for license plates - toys - etc) - might be worth a shot.....

Thanks Pete. That might be interesting to try sometime, but I don't want to experiment on this rare artifact. I appreciate the input.

 

[cw0909]

ive never used this product, but if it does what it says,it maybe what your
looking for, they have a dry coat to not sure it would apply to your hilt
i know your concerned about the rest of the good metal being messed up
in the vid there is a flimsy rusty part,(see my jpgs) the rust remover left
the flimsy metal intact but took the rust, some links and a b4 after side
by side of your hilt

flimsy backside of truck bed sidewall




vid
How To Remove Rust From Antique Toys Without Harming the Paint: Time Lapse
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCkV34WXIYtT64q_H5tIQywzfDMcr7vHG
[h=1][/h]