Wildcat1750
Gold Member
- Nov 18, 2012
- 5,015
- 4,107
- 🏆 Honorable Mentions:
- 4
- Detector(s) used
- AT PRO/Ace 250w8.5x11" DD Coil/
Garrett Pro-Pointer/Garrett Pro-Pointer AT/
Vibra-Tector 730/
Radio Shack Discovery 1000 (Tracker IV)
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
With the snow here to stay for a while in New England my activities have turned to relic clean up. I am new at this and have only attempted rusted iron so far. Now it is time for brass…
A few weeks ago I found an interesting looking, but toasted, brass plate close to where I found an ox shoe and an antique fire place bellows nozzle. In addition to turning brown it had a crust on it that may have come from being in a fire.
First I soaked the piece in a paste made from lemon juice and salt. This removed the crust and turned the surface a yellowish color after much scrubbing with a denture brush. In the end I was left with a rather disagreeable mustard color with a gritty surface with the texture of fine sandpaper.
I carefully examined the surface for markings and found none. Next I buffed the surface with a wire wheel which brought back a nice metallic shine to it and then straightened the plate in a vice. I’m not sure yet if I should attempt this method on better brass relics but I like the results and the wire wheel did not seem to wear down any of the surface markings.
I’m still curious as to the purpose of this plate and what it might have been fastened to.
Should I apply anything to the surface now to preserve the shine?
A few weeks ago I found an interesting looking, but toasted, brass plate close to where I found an ox shoe and an antique fire place bellows nozzle. In addition to turning brown it had a crust on it that may have come from being in a fire.
First I soaked the piece in a paste made from lemon juice and salt. This removed the crust and turned the surface a yellowish color after much scrubbing with a denture brush. In the end I was left with a rather disagreeable mustard color with a gritty surface with the texture of fine sandpaper.
I carefully examined the surface for markings and found none. Next I buffed the surface with a wire wheel which brought back a nice metallic shine to it and then straightened the plate in a vice. I’m not sure yet if I should attempt this method on better brass relics but I like the results and the wire wheel did not seem to wear down any of the surface markings.
I’m still curious as to the purpose of this plate and what it might have been fastened to.
Should I apply anything to the surface now to preserve the shine?
