Renovation of WWI steel

[Mark Finneran]

Any metallurgists out there?  I am looking to repair or renovate German WWI armour - to be precise MG armour and a sniper plate. Ideally to remove all corrosion/rust. Have the pieces as smooth and as original as possible in their original form and then correctly paint in the paint I have had made. Mark

 

[stripeyman]

My opinion; Sand blast which will remove all paint and corrosion. To then get a smooth finish use an Angle grinder with a soft discs, depending how bad the surface is start with a 36 grit disc and move upwards to say 60's, 80's, and 120's and it should be OK to start refinishing. As I said just my opinion but that is how I would do it

[mancpal]

Mark,

do you have any photos of the items? There have been a number of threads (some recent) about caring for corroded metal. The suggestions were numerous and varied but my favourite relied upon Molasses. Ive no idea if or how it works, I simply like the idea of somebodies wife coming home to find a field gun barrel on the worktop and all other surfaces in her previously pristine kitchen spattered with molasses. If this method is as I picture you may need the sniper shield for self-preservation.

If you go down the road of having them blasted be aware that there are different grades used, the  finer the blasting material the less deep the inevitable pitting  will be,

 

Simon

Edited 1 December , 2019 by mancpal

[Mark Finneran]

Fantastic both. All great advice and welcome. Pictures incoming.

Mark

[Mark Finneran]

Here are some views of the complete and functioning armoured plate:

 

[stripeyman]

I notice hat the loop hole cover is the same type that was fitted to the doors on the A7V.

[Paul Bradford]

On 01/12/2019 at 09:57, Mark Finneran said:

Any metallurgists out there?  I am looking to repair or renovate German WWI armour - to be precise MG armour and a sniper plate. Ideally to remove all corrosion/rust. Have the pieces as smooth and as original as possible in their original form and then correctly paint in the paint I have had made. Mark

 

Hi Mark,

 

I'm not a metallurgist and stand to be corrected, but think that sand blasting might be too abrasive. Bead blasting (polystyrene beads) is I believe less so and used in the renovation of vehicles. I'm sure that I saw on tv recently cleaning done with coconut shell for delicate items. Also, a vinegar bath is very good for soaking rusted items and removing the rust.

 

Good luck.

 

Paul

[Dave1418]

Hi Mark

there are many items you can use in a blasting machine, I’ve not heard of coconut but there are various others shells used such as walnut, etc, if you can find one an aqua blaster uses only water are are exceptionally good. 
Instead of grinding or cutting it back with a disc why not try to keep as much of the metal as possible and either fill the corroded areas with filler or a built it up with layers of primer and rub back the surrounding areas. The tread on restoring helmets will put you the right track with some excellent results 

Dave

[Mark Finneran]

These are all great suggestions and yes 'building up' is a also a great option. I have called these items steel but suspect they are actually iron, which brings other challenges. The aim is to ''return'' to original condition, which were smooth so a problem.  Here are the MG armoured items that will be 'returned to normal'.  The large Gunners shield and the water jacket armour.

[Joolz]

The thing with grinding/sanding away metal to 'even out' the surface, from the point of view of preverving a historic artefact, is that it is a permanent, one way process that physically changes the 'nature' of the artefact (it's thickness, surface details, signs of use etc.), For this reason, once the surface has been cleaned or stabilised/treated, then I would always favour using a body filler to smooth the surface. The integrity of the original artefact would be preserved and paint/filler can be removed if needed in the future. We are custodians of these items for generations to come and the Victorian idea of permanently 'improving' them (what we look upon nowadays as 'over restoration') is no longer seen as desirable. Whatever we do to these things needs to be sympathetic and reversible....

 

Anecdotally, I live in a city with a 900 year old cathedral towering over it. At the end of the 18thC, the entire cathedral was 'refaced', removing several inches off the entire external stonework. That's what they did in those days to 'restore' eroded stonework. We will never know what the cathedral looked like for most of it's lifetime, it's original appearance, and most of it's original decoration, has been permanently lost for future generations. A cautionary tale....

 

Julian

Edited 8 December , 2019 by Joolz
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