Can I please have your opinions and views of this one please ..... and maybe a cost if it passes the test .....
Regards
David
Regards
David
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I am thinking !!
but wait for the experst !
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A good one David, but I can't make out the damage on the front
Zinc pest perhaps?
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original with beginning zinc pest on the front
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Thank you for your comments pzb14 but what may I ask is zinc pest ... ?
I have seen this on a few gau badges too. Is it a re-action with moisutre or am I barking up the wrong tree ... ?
Regards
DavidComment
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zinc pest
Hello David,
here's excerpts from WAF to save you some time searching... basic way of looking at it is when a piece of metal begins process or rust.. well, this is for zinc...
Im Still A Firm Believer In Neutralizing It With Vaseline For A Couple Of Days. I Then Remove The Area With A Non Abrasive Silver Cleaner And Finish It Off With Snake Oil. For Me This Always Has Worked And Then Storing Them In A Humidity Controlled Environment.
Snake Oil Is A Liquid Preservative That A Lot Of Gun Dealers use To Prevent Rust. A Big Gun Dealer In Texas Recommended It And I Ran With It. The Plus About It Is, Its Not Water Based And Has No Harsh Chemicals. When Its Actually Left To Dry It Gives It A Nice Seal From Moisture. Its Always Worked For Me And I Swear By It. Those That Know The Pieces In My Collection Or That Came From My Collection Know The Quality Which I Collect. The Vaseline Use I Learned On The Forum And Tried A Long Time Ago When I Just About Collected Anything- Even The Zink Pest Worn Pieces. I Was Astonished How Well Vaseline Worked. I Hope This Helps.
I always wash my badges with a mild soap and tap water. Then I dry them and put them in distilled water to neutralize the sodium and other salts that are in the tap water. After drying it I apply a thin layer of vaseline with a soft brush. Vaseline and ren wax are the best way to stop the crystallization or any sort of zinc pest in my opinion, so I don´t really think you will find any more damage in the future.
I see again that the zinc pest topic has brought great debate. I agree with Chris‘s statement on the impurities in the medal. As a conservator I have being saying this all the while. Zinc pest is a form of inter crystalline corrosion. This corrosion process of the zinc is greatly accelerated by the presence of moisture in warm air. Humidity of 50% or greater has been shown to accelerate the process of zinc pest that is why I have been recommending the use of a dehumidifier.
It is believed during WWII most alloys did not meeting strict purity standards of today. Rather a quick hasty means of production. It is believed that even the impurities in the water could be blamed for helping to create an atmosphere of zinc impurities. Thus results in a very micro cracking along the grain of the zinc alloy. That why it is not recommended to wash any medals that contain zinc.
It is virtually impossible to say with any certainty that all World War II medals will suffer zinc pest. I have seeing some pre-war zinc made items that do not show any signs of zinc pest. Some items were cracked by mostly due in part to very cold temperatures, and poor storage and handling practices.
Zinc can be alloyed with aluminum, magnesium, copper, lead, and cadmium. Usually at levels of less than 1%-3%, this is due to these metals' extremely low solubility. During WWII larger concentrations of low grade iron, lead, cadmium and tin could have had a greater adverse effect on corrosion which results in structural weakening of the die casted metal.
Greasing, oiling zinc is not going to prevent, or stop any corrosion from happening. It all goes back to the manufacturing processing that can’t be wished away or clean away.
All very good points, and all good information. Thank you, all, for your efforts in sharing with me. I believe the coatings we put on these badges, whether oil or wax, are useless (and even fatal) if we don't completely heat away all moisture from the badge before applying. Trapping the moisture within nullifies all of our efforts to dehumidify the environment, completely. I actually agree with you, Paul, if we keep the atmosphere our badges are kept in at a controlled humidity, this is the very best we can do. And, we're assuming the badges we buy have never been treated with anything before. We'll never know for sure. But, we can treat them as if they hadn't.
Hello everyone, again:
I hate to revive this again, but I must add at least one more thing. I do ultimately also agree that it's best to apply nothing to badges, medals, leather, etc., etc. The only product I ever use on anything is Ren-Wax, and I apply that only to my dagger blades. I personally use nothing else on anything else in my collection. I only control the humidity, keeping it at appropriate levels, and that alone has so far worked for me just fine. I have personally found that applying any substances to other items does little more than cause additional problems for me, one way or another. Sometimes a negative effect for me is little more than the unattractive color of the metal beneath the corrosion, once it's been removed by another substance. Other collectors may not be bothered by such things at all, and may instead just be happy to think that they have stopped or, at least temporarily arrested, the corrosion. Much of that is all a matter of debatable and subjective perspective to say the least.
However, anytime anyone else insists that they've done this or that, to seal out humidity, which they swear has had positive effects for them over time, I usually don't say anything to discourage them, even though maybe I sometimes should. Since this is all such an experimental thing at times, with different people reporting different results, and different people having a different tolerance for such results, I am often more confused in the end than I am refreshed with new knowledge.
To end this all, however, I will always relent to the advice of Paul R, since he is the only one here who has a career working in conservation, in a research-based environment, truly testing it all. Such research is always, of course, where some of the best and final facts will be found.
Robert, You want to keep the humidity between 43%-45% 24/7. I would advise purchasing a humidity gauge to help maintain the humidity check it twice daily. Yes, I encourage all collectors to buy a humidity gauge and check it twice daily to keep down the moisture. If you go the bulk silica beads 1/4 lb is way good for a safe. Remember to dry can also cause shrinkage to wood, glue to crack, laminate(paper or wood) to pull apart.The fans is a great idea. It helps keep air moving. Polarfleece is polyester. It repels water/moisture, especially when it's new, unwashed. Paul
Here is another product which I just bought, silica jel paks which can be microwaved for just one minute to dry X 10,000+ times. 45 grams apiece. The dealer said a gunsafe 3' X 3' X 5' required 120 grams of descecant to dehumidify adequately. The 4-pak has 180 grams, for just $22.50.
http://www.desiccantsonline.com/inde...&productId=287
Muslin is fine, of course. However, as an alternative, I would also suggest wrapping items in fleece. Fleece not only attracts NO moisture, it also repels it. Fleece is also safe for archival purposes and does not "out-gas".
http://apps.webcreate.com/ecom/catal...goryFullID=165Comment
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..oh
...forgot to add.. these excerpts are regarding how to get rid of the darn thing
my personal favorite is snake oil.. very effective & i also use it for my guns.. so 2 for 1!
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zinc pest
Gosh ....
Thank you very much Darius ..... That's so helpful.
I have made a copy and kept it in my files as so often you see items like this that all they need is a little restoration.
This snake oil seems to do the trick. Is the other one you have commented on been polish and restored with the same stuff ?
Thanks again Sir very much appreciated.
Kind Regards
DavidComment
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