preservation of rusted items help

[kration]

I'm looking for opinions on how to seal and preserve rusted items... I've seen dug civil war items that appear to have been coated with a type of varnish that seals the item.
Does anyone have any suggestions? What I actually have is several rare ration tins.
kration

[Jean-Loup]

If stored in a proper environment, the rust should not progress any further; though with some types of rust, pieces of rust will keep falling off every time you manipulate the object for a certain time.

JL

[Peter Wiking]

kration
The rust is not the problem. It is your environment you should worry about. Keep the items very dry and away from sticky fingers.

Peter

[WhitePhantom]

The only way that i know (and im an amateur so get confirmation from other more knowledgeable members) is storing it in a vacuum sealed cotnainer. Thats the best way. But that may not be possible so jsut control the humidity levels and keep the item away from intense light.

Hopefully Paul posts here and gives you some great advice!

[Paul R.]

Do you know if the rusted artifacts were professionally treated. Some items were treated with clear expoy resin years ago. I remember several printed articles telling how to apply a simple made recipe using things like a clear glue called (brand name) Duco glue, stodard solvent, and a few other nasty chemicals. If this is what was used for now. It is some what stable. This is an old medal/rust sealer. It is some what reversible. However I would leave it alone. To reverse it is not easy to do. If it turnes a milky color then I would say remove the coating. Keep them in low humidity 43%-45% year round. Paul

[Stahlhelm]

I would also leave rust-effected items alone (that is put nothing on them), and simply control the environment--specifially the humidity level. Rust can't progress without the proper humidity. Without that, it simply becomes inactive. Or you could, as I prefer, happily say that it dies. However, remember that with sufficient humidity, it does come back from the dead.

Chris

[Jean-Loup]

Basicaly, if an item is rusty or not is irrelevant. A mint item will rust if placed in bad conditions, and a rusty item will stop rusting if placed in a good environment.
I almost never treat any of my relics as I find it defies the purpose of owning relics: having an untouched piece of history; and I havent had any rust problems.

JL

[Stahlhelm]

Jean-Loup:

C'est exactement la meme chose que je pense moi-meme! Je suis d'accord, absolument!

I also don't like to mess with anything--especially in any way that alters an item's appearance. I prefer, when possible, to just control the environment to prevent further problems. In most cases, messing with something is a most regrettable experience.

Chris

[Mr. Scratch]

I'm looking for opinions on how to seal and preserve rusted items... I've seen dug civil war items that appear to have been coated with a type of varnish that seals the item.
Does anyone have any suggestions? What I actually have is several rare ration tins.
kration

Tannic acid and Renn Wax.

See here:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=274909