Tom´s Restorations

[bill from lachine]

Tom,

Well done on the cannonball restoration.

 

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[A2coins]

Excellent work

 

[WannaDig3687]

Very cool, Brother Tom! Thanks for taking us through the process!

~Sis

 

[Tom_Restorer]

Friends, the cartridge case from the wreck of the Princess Maria has arrived so let´s get start again

Two tubes was broken off so I tried to clean them and look whats inside.

Both sides was filled with a layer of incrustations. As it is may to see on the step by step photo (first image on it) the bullet was covert with a kind of fabric to press it tight into the gun. After removing the Bullet, there was some remains of gunpowder.

Tomorrow I will post pics of the case in-situ and after removing the leather case.

 

[bill from lachine]

Tom,

Well done looking forward to the step by step restoration.

 

[Blak bart]

Friends, the cartridge case from the wreck of the Princess Maria has arrived so let´s get start again

Two tubes was broken off so I tried to clean them and look whats inside.

Both sides was filled with a layer of incrustations. As it is may to see on the step by step photo (first image on it) the bullet was covert with a kind of fabric to press it tight into the gun. After removing the Bullet, there was some remains of gunpowder.

Tomorrow I will post pics of the case in-situ and after removing the leather case.

Is that the powder charge in the last pic Tom??

 

[Simon1]

Looks like you have your work cut out Tom. Any idea on how long this project may take ?

 

[Tom_Restorer]

Is that the powder charge in the last pic Tom??

-

Yes Buddy!

I guess the brass tubes was installed in a holder. There are traces of very thin metal around the tubes. May the Bullet and charge was put together in some kind of paper for quick loading.
Nothing of the paper is left. Only traces of the fabric around the bullets.

 

[Tom_Restorer]

Looks like you have your work cut out Tom. Any idea on how long this project may take ?

-

Not as long as the iron grenade.
On this piece just the incrustations has to be removed. A reconstruction of the thin metal from the tube holder is not possible so far I can see. It is to fragmentary, deformed and thinned out from the corrosion. May I make a reconstruction out of wood or acrylic for the tubes. The leather case is completely deformed. The original shape It is in fact very flat (approx 1.5") and with round sides. The leather was preserved by my friend with some kind of oil or fat which is not easy to remove. This oil/fat has to be removed before I can clean the surface of the leather and bring it back in original shape and to sew the seams in the original way. (I did this with medieval to Tudor shes many times)

 

[Simon1]

The leather will be soft enough to sew in the seams again ? I read up on the Princess Maria. Interesting, and then the King is accused of looting it with his Royal yacht. You never know who the Pirate is going to be.

 

[diggummup]

Great thread!

 

[Tom_Restorer]

The leather will be soft enough to sew in the seams again ? I read up on the Princess Maria. Interesting, and then the King is accused of looting it with his Royal yacht. You never know who the Pirate is going to be.

-

Not at the moment Buddy. Now it is very hard and breaks if you try to bent it but I will fix that problem

First the oil/fat will be removed, than I clean it with my special way and than it gets a PGE bath which makes the leather also a bit smoother again.

The leather is now bent and was under pressure for more than 300 years but I will get almost the original shape later.

 

[Tom_Restorer]

Great thread!

-

Thank you!

I just thought about if TreasureHunter can rename the thread into "shipwreck artifact restoration" because I will post more different type of artifacts here.
No need to open for everything a new thread

 

[Tom_Restorer]

Here are the in-situ photos of the cartridge case!

 

[Tom_Restorer]

Meanwhile, here is a photo of a way too much over cleaned (as usual!) Atocha coin and how it looks now after bringing back some natural patina.

There are some more details to see now like a slight double hit on the front and on the backside the date (16)21 is now visible too which was formerly overseen by the Fishers and not mentioned in the certificate.

It is btw a nice example for the dyslexic de Tapia. He turned the P of Hispaniarum on the left side backwards and also flipped the P from Potosi upside down

 

[Simon1]

Man that looks like a mess Tom until you realize it is 332 years old and then you go, wow, that looks good for it's age. It will be interesting to watch you work your magic on this.

 

[Simon1]

Nice job on that coin Tom, it certainly looks better with that natural patina.

 

[Tom_Restorer]

Nice job on that coin Tom, it certainly looks better with that natural patina.

-

YUP! The Atocha coins are all over cleaned in a tumbler after electrolysis. If they would have clean it on an other way (which I don´t tell here ) they would look much better.

 

[jfreakofkorn]

nice progress on the piece ...

 

[Davers]

Great Job on the Grenade , Coins & GL with the cartridge case.

I look forward to viewing the results.
Davers