The Armour Archive

Hi folks. I'm currently taking the rust off of some finds in excavated condition with an electrolytic bath... and it occurs to me that this is a service that some of you who either don't want to thin your metal with buffing, or else are simply really shot for time, may be interested in.

So I'm testing the waters: how many of you are sufficiently screwed for maintenance time that you always find yourself looknig at a rusty harness two weeks before War time, with almost no chance to get your kit clean?

I am not yet certain what a fair price would be -- it would certainly depend on the size of the piece, and would obviously include shipping costs.

Opinions?

Sounds interesting....
Question....what effect does the bath have on leather strapping that might still be attached to the armor?

I would have to test that out. Obviously, it involves the piece being put underwater, so unless it's oil-tanned, it's obviously not going to be great for it. Whether it's largely trivial or a real problem... that I don't know. Given the very large range of leathers and other materials that can go in the bath, I'm not sure I could be responsible for the affects: it'd almost certainly be an understood disclaimer prior to doing business. Optimally, the strapping would be undone prior to soaking in the bath.

Hey Russ, what are you using as an anode and cathode? Also, what is the PH of the bath?

THanks!

Trying to steal my business before I get it, eh?

It's a heavy-duty battery recharger with a slightly basic solution.

Russ Mitchell wrote:Trying to steal my business before I get it, eh?

It's a heavy-duty battery recharger with a slightly basic solution.

LOL!


Not at all...I thought that if you answered those questions it would help determine the effect of the treatment on the leather.

I'd TEND to think that restrapping would be so much work that only the badest of the worst would be in need of this kind of service. Just a thought. Of course, my buckler is getting there... I really need to clean it up and blue it soon.

How the strapping gets handled is definitely the big and bad part of it... for some things, unstrapping/restrapping is dirt simple... for others... I had been working under the assumption that folks removed strapping when they polished their armor anyway, so that the holes also got cleaned... not so?

But yes, this method will rescue something that would require vast amounts of polishing otherwise. Not rocket science, just potentially a time-saver.

well, i did some electrolysis on a rustified helmet... it came out good for what i was using as an electrolyte. I wouldnt trust it not to damage leather, and to be honest, brass/latten/etc is right out.

And i'm not gonna divulge his business secrets. lets just say its fun, and generates hydrogen gas....

-+G

Rev. George wrote:well, i did some electrolysis on a rustified helmet... it came out good for what i was using as an electrolyte. I wouldnt trust it not to damage leather, and to be honest, brass/latten/etc is right out.

And i'm not gonna divulge his business secrets. lets just say its fun, and generates hydrogen gas....

-+G

Hydrogen, eh? I am guessing the PH was pretty much on the acidic side and yeah, it WILL damage leather.

I made one of these last year.

The process did not destroy my new leather straps (I oiled them first) but the sodium bicarbonate solution leaves a nasty film on everything it touches. They wrinkled up a lot on the "smooth" side and the "rough" side was really slimy.

Note that this is also not "auto-polishing"; it will only lift rust and not dirt, crud, etc. Because it lifts out all of the rust the surface of my helm was very pitted and required polishing with rouge on a cotton wheel to get smooth again.

This process is a real hassle and is definitely worth paying someone to do. I'll never mess with this again unless I have something that is seriously rusted.

It takes hours, ruins the plastic bath container, and at the end your steel piece still needs to be at least cleaned with WD-40.

Best,
Karl

actually the ph has little to do with the process. the hydrogen generation comes from the electrolysis.

and Karl, there's a better substance to use than bicarbonate. much better actually. I've got a nice rig setup to do small parts (bargrills, etc) and it borders on amazing. I will ditto on the "not an auto polish" comment. We've got a helmet that is rust free, but otherwise really looks like it was dug up yesterday. (its a moden piece)

-+G