Removing rust. -- myArmoury.com

Tony G. · Posted: Wed 27 Sep, 2006 12:16 pm Post subject: Removing rust.

Can anybody give me any infomation how to remove hard rust from a Burgonet.
Thanks Tony.

Henrik Bjoern Boegh · Posted: Wed 27 Sep, 2006 1:39 pm Post subject:

I'd suggest using 0000 steel wool...
Good luck!

Cheers,
Henrik

Tony G. · Posted: Wed 27 Sep, 2006 2:06 pm Post subject:

Thanks for that Henrik but this is hard thick rock solid rust that would need getting off with a hammer and chisel.
Only joking but its that hard and thick.

Geoff Wood · Posted: Wed 27 Sep, 2006 2:39 pm Post subject:

Martin Wilkinson · Posted: Wed 27 Sep, 2006 2:42 pm Post subject:

No idea how to get rust out of it.

But it looks like a nice piece.

Nathan Robinson · myArmoury Admin

why not leave it as it is?

Justin King · Industry Professional

Immersing it in white vinegar will etch it if it is steel, and this will cause the rust to pop off. I am unsure how this will work if it is plain iron. Either way it is not adviseable I think for an original piece. It is possible that the rust is deep enough that there will be holes/ large pits in the metal if it is removed. Regardless it will probably lose considerable value unless it is left as is or taken to a professional restorer.

Larry Davis · Posted: Wed 27 Sep, 2006 5:29 pm Post subject:

I have restored early armour in this state by using well worn glass beads or walnut shells (commercially ground) in a sand blaster.
Aluminium oxide might cut to fast and damage the piece.
Try the blast at a low pressure and work up. But remember that sand blasting will work harden or 'temper' the steel so be cautious!

Make sure to use a cabinet type recycling blaster for your safety.

I suppose one could use a fine grain of glass bead if one did not have a supply of used glass bead handy.

Most machine shops will have a blaster you could hire for a few hours, sometimes a case of beer works as payment.

cheers,

Larry.

Steve Grisetti · Posted: Wed 27 Sep, 2006 5:43 pm Post subject:

Another method of chemical removal might be Renaissance Metal De-Corroder. I recently posted this topic, requesting responses from forumites who might have experience with it. Unfortunately, there has been no experience feedback, so far, and I wouldn't want to try it out for the first time on a piece of any value, much less an historic artifact.

Chad Arnow · myArmoury Team

If this is an antique, I'd be wary of damaging it and destroying value and important clues by cleaning it. I'd consult a professional. Looks like a neat piece, though.

Risto Rautiainen · Posted: Wed 27 Sep, 2006 11:14 pm Post subject:

For any antique you need to be very careful. Professionals would be the best choise, but if you want to pursue this one by you self there is something you can do. If you want to retain it's value, then conservation is all you need to do. And for conservation you just need to prevent any further damage to the helmet. At this point it would be to deactivate and remove that nasty red active rust. First of all do not use anything that is harder than the material you are cleaning. This way you would end up removing the actual metal of the helm, not just the rust. This takes a lot of work but is the most gentle way. Soak an area of the helm with gun oil or similar, let it work it's way for a while. Get some sort of brush (brass, nylon) and start rubbing the rust off gently. Remember you don't want to scratch the metal. Repeat over the whole helm. You may need to do several passes and it might need a lot of time to soak in the oil.

PS. I've never done this but have read about it and talked about it with antique collectors.

Arne Focke · Industry Professional

I agree with Chad. You shouldn't clean an original, because of the danger of removing remnants of the original surface which might still contain valuable information.
That is why most preserved swords are worthless today from an archaeological point of view, simply because they were cleaned by eager collectors. Even Ewart Oakeshott admitted to have done this in his early collecting years.
Removing of rust should always be done by professionals, if at all.

Bruno Giordan · Posted: Fri 29 Sep, 2006 10:57 am Post subject:

Greg Thomas Obach · Industry Professional

how deep is the rust? is it sheet like or has it started pitting and drilling in..
-- sometimes with photos it'll look much worst than it is..

also.. i wouldn't leave it to actively rust .... or you'll be letting it continue on its course......

you have many ways to go about preserving it.. ... just choose a method that best keeps its original character...

- vinnegar or acetic acid.... will loosen off the flaky rust... works much the same way when removing firescale from a forged steel

- some pocket knife collectors....... emerse the whole pocket knife in mineral oil for a month.... then litely rub with a towel and a good bit of the scunge will come off...

on some steels..... i've used acetic.... removed some flakey rust.... then neutralized..... and then a tannic acid ( gallo ) treatment to stop the rusting.... turns the remaining lite rust a dark color .... stops most of the corrosion...

theres also an electolytic way...

and other abrading methods... with powders and laps

Greg

Geoff Wood · Posted: Fri 29 Sep, 2006 1:45 pm Post subject:

Bruno Giordan · Posted: Sat 30 Sep, 2006 10:41 am Post subject:

Don Stanko · Posted: Sat 30 Sep, 2006 1:11 pm Post subject:

So far Henrik has the best option, use #0000 steel wool. It will take a long time but that is how you do it. To help facilitate the loosening of the rust you can use the wool in conjuction with oil, break free, or Flitz. This will ensure that you are going slowly and do not attack the original metal too aggressively. Oakeshotte once wrote that in his early days of collecting he cleaned a medieval sword till it was bright and shiny. This was an action that he always regretted.

Take it slow and easy.

Tony G. · Posted: Sun 01 Oct, 2006 1:59 am Post subject:

Thanks all for you posts, I have been soaking the helmet in vinigar and each day , lightly scraping with strips of
sheet copper, and wire wool then a hard scrubing brush in hot soapy water, every day more flakes are coming off.
The pitting is not to deep and there are also remains of black pitch. I shall put on another picture in the next few days.
Thanks again for you help, Tony.

Nathan Robinson · myArmoury Admin

Bruno Giordan · Posted: Sun 01 Oct, 2006 3:20 am Post subject:

If you don't stop this kind of process you will end up with a strongly devalued piece, not only, you will likely set off chemical reactions that could give way to more rusting and deterioration.

Special chemicals are required not only for cleaning, which can be done only to a certain point, but for stabilizing the piece:

the real goal of restoration is stabilization, complete derusting in such cases is impossible without spoiling the surface, maybe yu will be losing other informatons, as well as original patina.

You are acting as a novice on a piece that requires careful professional attention.

As far as you have gone its value may have dwindled by more than half.

Possibly you have made more damage that one-hundreed years of bad storage.

Do not go on, if you wish to avoid turning into a wreck from a collector's and archeologist's standpoint.