Return in the British lines

[Flavio]

Hi guys, it's been a while since I write in the forum but until the bad winter season it is almost impossible to venture into English ww1 areas as the vegetation is at the limits of tropical forests and ticks, very annoying and even dangerous insects, act as master.

Sunday little trip to try out a new place, nothing special but what came out was a nice 1 kg spool of N.101 brass and a strange piece of metal of excellent quality, little rust and a lot of black color which I'm making emerge more and more with some targeted baths in oxalic acid.

Thank you very much and always grateful for your valuable and competent comments. 

Sorry, for those who don't know me, the places I frequent are the Asiago Plateau, Italy

 

Edited 14 November , 2023 by Flavio

[JMB1943]

Flavio,

You must have interesting challenges to clean-up and conserve your finds.

The 205 mm metal strip looks like it is a cast-iron piece; is it magnetic?

I believe that oxalic acid complexes with iron, so the black areas are presumably old rust; I’m surprised that the active-looking red rust has not also been removed.

Do you use 5-10% solution of oxalic acid for removal of rust?

The brass nose cone looks like it has damage from bouncing around on rocky ground.

Thank you for sharing these finds.

Regards,

JMB

 

[Flavio]

Hi dear, then a good piece of steel, black is the colour, I take controlled baths in oxalic to avoid losing the colour

[JMB1943]

Flavio,

These photos make me think that the black colour is due to a painted surface, not old rust.

Any comment?

Regards,

JMB

[Flavio]

In fact, as you have clearly highlighted, I am removing more and more of the rust present on the piece and little by little an accurate paint job emerges, it looks like English stuff, certainly not Italian.