Relic restoration

[Torch]

Extra washing soda has increased cleaning rate considerably..check on it every second day though....

[GasMasksUK]

Looking at it now you would have never guessed what it looked like before Really good work, just gotta do the rest of them now

Thanks

Danny

[Steve T]

Truly remarkable restoration Torch.......remarkable.

I just can't believe the condition of the rifle now.....it is just so damn good !

Steve T

[don_kihotis7]

Guys i have a few questions if you can help me out.
1. Since the (-) cable has to be attached to the rusty relic i want to clean, then this means that i can only clean one item at the time? Or maybe I can throw in a few more relics inside the bucket even they won't be touching the (-) cable?
2. If i want to clean a M24 stickgrenade canister which has the explosive material inside, but not the fuze or anything like it, will the electrolysis affect it and eventually explode?
3. Does this method help clean aluminum shells of flares or bronze shells of bullets?

[don_kihotis7]

4. Also can this adaptor do the trick or is it too small?
5. I have read that 12Ampers is ok, but how many Watts?

[davejb]

First things first, you really dont want to pass an electrical current through an explosive, secondly the explosive material could be highly unstable, and just by handling it it could ruin your day permanently, thirdly you could find yourself in all sorts of trouble for having an explosive device in your possession, i would think it comes under the Terroism Act, your best bet would be to call the authorities and tell them you dug it up then found it was a potentionally live grenade and have them remove it

[AMTG]

G'day Torch,

Really fantastic job there, there's still so much stuff lying about in the west and the territory! Only wish I could have towed the 25pdr we found near an old airfield in h territory whils on Army exercise a few years back...though I have found my fair share of stuff while scouting about! Came across a coupla 50cal barrels and other bits nd pieces!
Keep up the good work, they ill look great in anyones collection....I'm jealous!

[Torch]

Was very fortunate I got them when I did as if I hadn't I can't imagine the merridin army musuem bothering with them,would more than likely ended up being another piece of lost history..will be great to get moving around the west and upper east to try and sniff out some more unique areas and possible chances of recovering some more relics!
To help answer your questions don_kihotis7 the most important answer is pretty much the same as davejb's above,please don't mess around with any live items,we as collectors are all glad of the people who appreciate the same things we do and respect the fact like us you want to save items from inevitable destruction but we really don't want to lose you to some silly german grenade or somesuch. To help answer the rest of your questions you can clean as many items as you can fit into your vessel as long as you keep them all separate,you must realise though that if you have large items and a relatively small power pack that the current passing through multiple items rather than just one will reduce the cleaning affect unless of course if you add more packs to increase your overall current output,i've never tried cleaning soft metals by electrolysis but you would certainly have to be very careful and I would imagine you'd need to use an anode of roughly the same material so that the anode can be sacrifised at a greater rate than the relic you're trying to clean,as for the adaptor I have certainly read about people using computer chargers etc for electrolysis treatment but i'd imagine the amperage output would be very low,very very cheap battery chargers are the best but you have to ensure you don't get one with cross connection protection as this doesn't allow you to use it for electrolysis,hopefully this was useful..be safe

[don_kihotis7]

Hi guys and thanks for the replies.
I have done a lot of search and found some good articles.
The only thing now is wether to use stainless steel for anode or iron. It's a controversial issue.
http://www.antique-engines.com/electrol.asp
http://www.woodcentral.com/cgi-bin/r...cles_363.shtml

[Estland]

Very good result!