Electrolysis ??

[dragon6banger]

OK i put most of my iron finds though this my ? is they get this black looking stuff all over the items when it dries its like a powder or something anyone know of what I'm talking about? am i leaving it in to long pull it out sooner and check it ? I'd hate to be messing all my stuff up some stuff looks really good i just don't know.i don't know really what to look for. how long do all of you leave your items in ? or could someone just talk me through it all ?? thank you for all your help HH

 

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[BestAntiquities]

OK i put most of my iron finds though this my ? is they get this black looking stuff all over the items when it dries its like a powder or something anyone know of what I'm talking about? am i leaving it in to long pull it out sooner and check it ? I'd hate to be messing all my stuff up some stuff looks really good i just don't know.i don't know really what to look for. how long do all of you leave your items in ? or could someone just talk me through it all ?? thank you for all your help HH

It's been a long time since I've done iron but I'll venture a comment or two. The black stuff you see is residue of rust after electrolysis treatment. You should wire brush it off and wash the item and allow it to dry in a warm dry area. The iron will acquire a thin brown rust-like patina which is desireable for old iron relics. After cleaning the piece, some people heat the iron with a torch to dry it out and then when cool they paint it with flat black Rustoleum paint which drys very fast. I personally like the natural rust look for old relics but it's a matter of preference.
PM

 

[dragon6banger]

OK sounds good it sure is some tough stuff I'll try that thank you

 

[wormwhisperer]

I'm no expert on this but I have recently been doing some experiments with electrolosys for another purpose and I see the same kind of black material you are describing. In my experiments this material was virtually eliminated by using only distilled water (as pure as you can get) and no metal other than stainless steel. As far as I can tell the black material is the residue from impurities either in the metals (this prooved the biggest culprit) or from the water or catalyst used. I'm not sure if any of this info would be of an use to you in your apllication but thought I would throw it out there anyway.

 

[jerry s]

What solution are you using. Its some sort of "conversion" product but can't tell which w/o the solution.Conversion products are actually beneficial to prevent further corrosion but you have what is called a "Non-adherent product" due to a variety of parameters.

One could remove this by heated NaOH solution w/o electrical bias. Have you considered using a blackening (Parkerizing) agent when finished. This generally looks MUCH better than black rustoleum, but can be tricky. Companies such a EPI and Caswell will sell to the general public