What’s the best way to clean this up?

[sckimbershot]

 

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[ncsuwolf]

Nice find. For any iron, my opinion is electrolysis. If you don’t have a rig already, or know someone who does, here is a link for how I built mine. I used a 5 gal bucket.

How To Derust Cannon Balls

A Detailed Tutorial on Electrolytic Removal of Rust From Iron Artifacts: How To Derust Iron Cannon Balls, Shells and Grape Shots p37

www.metaldetectingworld.com

You can YouTube yourself to death in this topic, each person has their own idea and everyone else’s will kill you (slight exaggeration).

Key points….i use a car battery charger (older one) set on 2 amps, arm and hammer powdered laundry soap, and flat bar for anodes.

Never use table salt or stainless steel, and do it outside.

Good connection to target…and a little trial and error, you’ll be fine.

Would start with something else for practice until you get it right.

Oh….soak it in water for a few days beforehand, then go over it with a toothpick and brass brush to get off any scale or dirt. Will speed the process up.

 

[cudamark]

Evaporust.

 

[Nathan W]

Great find!

 

[The Rebel]

A soak in White vinegar or molasses will clean it.

 

[sckimbershot]

Nice find. For any iron, my opinion is electrolysis. If you don’t have a rig already, or know someone who does, here is a link for how I built mine. I used a 5 gal bucket.

How To Derust Cannon Balls

A Detailed Tutorial on Electrolytic Removal of Rust From Iron Artifacts: How To Derust Iron Cannon Balls, Shells and Grape Shots p37

www.metaldetectingworld.com

You can YouTube yourself to death in this topic, each person has their own idea and everyone else’s will kill you (slight exaggeration).

Key points….i use a car battery charger (older one) set on 2 amps, arm and hammer powdered laundry soap, and flat bar for anodes.

Never use table salt or stainless steel, and do it outside.

Good connection to target…and a little trial and error, you’ll be fine.

Would start with something else for practice until you get it right.

Oh….soak it in water for a few days beforehand, then go over it with a toothpick and brass brush to get off any scale or dirt. Will speed the process up.

Thanks, I’ve done a lot of electrolysis work—I’m concerned with screwing up the patina. I’ll soak it in water and try to remove the heavy crud.

 

[ArfieBoy]

Cool finds! Thank for posting and congratulations!

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Electrolysis..

 

[ncsuwolf]

Thanks, I’ve done a lot of electrolysis work—I’m concerned with screwing up the patina. I’ll soak it in water and try to remove the heavy crud.

Youre beyond my knowledge base outside of electrolysis, however as you are aware because of your experience, if you don’t stop the rust somehow you’ll end up with dust eventually. I’ll be interested to hear/see what you end up doing. Please share pics afterwards.

Edit….here are some pics of a plate I did a few years ago. I may be (am) biased, but think it turned out fine.

 

[oldmxrat]

That's a really cool find and high up on my bucket list, congrats!

Electrolysis will give you the best results, IMHO. Evaporust and similar products remove that "patinated" look, electrolysis doesn't, and leaves things looking like the old relics that they are. An after rub down with oil or a dip in hot paraffin will keep them looking nice.