Matching Buckles - how to clean buckle prong?

[brianc053]

Hi everyone. I haven't found much recently; I've had a bit of a dry spell.
But today I found matching buckles at a house in the historic downtown of my town, and one of them appears to have the prong intact.

First - isn't it weird that I found two matching buckles about 30 feet apart and at different depths? What are the chances, I wonder?

Second, how do I clean the buckle with the prong so that I don't destroy the prong? From looking at it I think that's a "concretion" around the prong; you can see a little piece of almost-pink quartz stuck to the concretion in one of the pictures. I don't want to damage the prong, if it's possible to save it.
Should I soak it in something? Hydrogen peroxide? Vinegar? Just soap and water?

Lastly, is there any way to estimate a date on rather plain buckles like these? I'm guessing they could be from almost any time (much like horseshoes), but if anyone has ideas on estimated age I'd appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks everyone!

 

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[Professor of Engineering]

Very nice! Those iron parts are tough to clean. I have clean similiar looking relics with vinegar, but watching over a few days. The key is to cafefully pick away the rust as it loosens up.
Good Luck on the restoration project.

 

[villagenut]

I do not think there will be a "prong" to save . That concretion has most likely been the result of total absorption of the rusting cycle. I find lots of type B cut nails that look like a glob of rusty nail, but they snap like a pretzel. Cant hurt to try though, maybe a soak in ACV but electrolysis would prove futile if you ask me. If it were forged iron, there is a better chance of conservation. Hope it turns out well

 

[Digger RJ]

Nice!!! Congrats!!!

 

[Wildcat1750]

Nice buckles...Not sure if there's much left of that prong but it never hurts to try!

 

[brianc053]

UPDATE: I tried to use apple cider vinegar to clean up the prong, and it had some effect but also started eating into the (brass?) buckle itself, so I stopped after about 2 days.
I was left with still a lot of concretion, so I just started using manual methods to try to clear it. I started with a stiff brush but that didn't do much, so I ended up using needle nose pliers to try to get down to the (iron?) prong itself. Ultimately I felt like I was just carving my own prong out of the concretion; as you guys suggested, the prong was basically gone/changed over time (as you described villagenut). And as the "prong" got smaller it broke off, so I just gave up.
Oh well, it was worth a try.

Any guesses at age, or are buckles too hard to figure out because the design hasn't changed much in so long?

- Brian

 

[Erik in NJ]

I do not think there will be a "prong" to save . That concretion has most likely been the result of total absorption of the rusting cycle. I find lots of type B cut nails that look like a glob of rusty nail, but they snap like a pretzel. Cant hurt to try though, maybe a soak in ACV but electrolysis would prove futile if you ask me. If it were forged iron, there is a better chance of conservation. Hope it turns out well

Agree. Why did they make so many of the "prongs" (tongue?) out of iron and not the same material as the buckle? i found a small buckle recently with the tongue make of the same material and the buckle is as good today as it was over a hundred years ago or whenever it was lost.

 

[ajaj]

With iron like that, you don’t do anything to it. I know you put it in Apple cider vinegar, but it’s time to count your wins, losses, wins, losses, etc. preserve the brass; electrolysis and other means shall just crumble the iron.

aj