Haha thread necromancy! :lol:

Well, I decided (after much deliberation) to take the galv off with the vinegar method, and as you can see by the pictures, it did what we all knew it was going to do! So, so far so good! I Soaked it for 18 hours or so.
Now good sirs a further question if I may; What would be a good way of removing this lovely rust? I know that one could put it in a bag, but 15kgs of metal and sand, methinks it may be a tad heavy. :\
I thought rent a cement mixer for 24 hours and set it on slow or what not.
Also, is there a recomended sand grit I should use, 'cause currently I got some clean sand from the beach and picked out the bark and such, it's still got some shell grit in there, but if chickens can eat it, I hope it wouldn't affect metal.

T'anks again guys.

Sam.

P.S. The chemical reaction look pretty cool. And yes, I held my breath when I looked :)

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Sorry aboot the shoddy quality...

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I'm not sure how to go about doing the helmet, 'tis a work in progress...

Sam, you can compete with Vecna.

For the rust, I had seen using sand-guns for very hard jobs (like the sanding of a tank), but maybe you can have access to one small...

A cement mixer (if you can find one without the internal blades) can be a good idea, or you can use a cask or a barrel and start a run competion between the bystanders during a fair (you can always count on the will "to be medieval" of some naives :lol: ).

For the shell grit, I doubt very much it can affect the steel much more than the sand. Certanly you don't expect to have a shiny and spotless look to all yours rings after the sanding, no?

Cheers Gabriele, and no, I certainly don't expect that :lol:
I should probably say that I'm going to spray the buggery out of it with WD40, which is an anti-rust lubricant spray.
And also, can anyone give me the aprox. time it might take to get a good clean with any method?
I assume one would have to change the sand after a while, if not, I'll do it anyway, I didn't lug two sandbags home for nothing! :cool:
Woohoo, over 100 posts! When did that happen! :lol:

Get a cherry cask and fill it half with sand, half with the armor. Then roll it down a steep hill. This is one way of doing things.

M.

There is an easier and more fun way.

Take your maille, put it in a goodly sized box, add sand or even cat litter. Go to your local park. With a roll of duct tape adhere the box and contents to one end of a seesaw. Either you or the kids, hop on the other end and have some fun. Check periodically, but you should have good results after 1/2 hour to 45 minutes.

Hello Sam,
I made myself a, well, basically a shawl out of galvanised wire some years ago (to accent a leather jacket I'd hacked one arm off of - yeah, watched "Highlander" too many times - I do a mean Kurgan voice impression, too, despite being about 14" shorter than Clancy...), stripped the galv. off using vinegar, then cleaned off the rust simply by "kneading" the thing around in some fine play sand for an hour or so, while chatting with friends. Kind of that "wax on, wax off" hand motion. Really didn't take very long, but I was only working with one layer. When I finally got tired of powdery red rust sifting down from my shoulders, I dismounted the mail, gave it a light cleaning just to knock off the loose stuff, and "sealed" it by letting the mail warm up in the sun, then thoroughly working a beeswax candle all over it and into it. That took some time, got my hands all grungy, but in the end the mail took on a burnished color just slightly redder than chocolate brown, and never seemed to corrode any further (despite being worn in all kinds of weather while motorcycling). Plus, girls loved the way I smelled (a welcome change!).

Best,
Eric W. Norenberg

Eric, the beeswax you use in what form? Solid, liquified or you start from a candle (I doubt, being made for the most from paraffin)?

I had a fine grit of aquarium sand I now use to get the rust off.

I think I can get my hands on some tabernacle's candles... They must be of pure wax.
Thanks for the info, I have some galvanized project that I would like to maintain shiny.