What is the sap like substance oozing

OnDiWave

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Apr 21, 2018
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Found this on the beach a few years ago.
The sediment & corrosion has started to crack off the bolt/nail.
I noticed today that there?s a sap like substance oozing out of it?!?!
What is it & do i need to do anything?

Thanks!
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Lenrac2

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Double bag it and take it outside. :laughing7:
 

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xaos

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Jul 3, 2018
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That is an old barrel still loaded...weeping nitro-glycerine...


hahaha...just kidding... weeping is a common form of oxidation of artefacts found in salt water...

the salt in the artefacts is reacting with the moisture in the air...

What you should do is get it into a bath of fresh water...
 

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TheCannonballGuy

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Xaos is correct... what you are seeing is not sap, it is very-rusty saltwater which is leaching back out of the iron/steel after decades of being submerged at an ocean beach. (This can also happen in freshwater locations.) For example, we civil war relic hunters very frequently see it happen on cast-iron artillery shell fragments we did on ocean beaches. If the frags are not properly cleaned and preservation-treated, they'll go to "weeping" very-rusty saltwater droplets, just like you are seeing.
 

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TonyK

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The last time I saw something oozing out of an object that size was on a former bombing range in Arizona. The UXO guys came out and blew it in place. Good luck! YPG_Geophysics_Photo9.JPG
 

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OnDiWave

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Xaos is correct... what you are seeing is not sap, it is very-rusty saltwater which is leaching back out of the iron/steel after decades of being submerged at an ocean beach. (This can also happen in freshwater locations.) For example, we civil war relic hunters very frequently see it happen on cast-iron artillery shell fragments we did on ocean beaches. If the frags are not properly cleaned and preservation-treated, they'll go to "weeping" very-rusty saltwater droplets, just like you are seeing.

Ok so what should i do? Soak it or use rust be gone or something else ?
 

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OnDiWave

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The last time I saw something oozing out of an object that size was on a former bombing range in Arizona. The UXO guys came out and blew it in place. Good luck! View attachment 1946553

���� it totally looks like a nail or something else though right?!
 

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Red-Coat

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When iron-rich items have been submerged in salt-water for prolonged periods, one of the corrosion products is ferric chloride, from interaction with the sodium chloride in the water. The problem is that ferric chloride is very hygroscopic (absorbs moisture from the air). Even after thorough surface cleaning, fresh-water rinsing and drying, any residual ferric chloride in pits and crevices will ultimately absorb moisture and form a viscous, sticky brownish liquid that may look as if it is weeping from the item. In solution (and especially in this concentrated form) it's highly corrosive to most metals and so will continue eating away at the item.

It's also mildly corrosive/irritant to the skin, so you don't really want to get that brown ooze on your hands.
 

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Mud Hut

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So nothing I can really do for it?

You can heat in a 200 degree oven for a few hours and then seal it with a good water-base urethane or a good wax like Renaissance Wax. Seal it when it is warm, but not hot.
 

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