German stick grenade parts need cleaning/restoration or not?

[ackb10]

I got a couple of different parts for the German stick grenade which I have thought about cleaning from some of the rust.

I havent done too much restoration work on my grenades so far but recently I tried oxalic acid on the steel part which is placed in top of an m24 grenade. The acid actually did a pretty good job I think. I thought the steel was in pretty bad shape but under the rust and dust it had about 2/3 of its original green paint. I have thought doing the same job with the two following grenade cups. On from ww1 and one m24.

 

[ackb10]

Nr 1 WW1 cup.

As you can see this one is pretty rusty and there wont for sure be any paint left underneath if I try to restore this one. But I thought I want to do something to it anyway. Also to secure that the rust wont stay that much alive:-D

My question is what would you guys do with a cup like this one to restore it? Would you clean it with oxalic acid or would you use another method like electrolyses? I have never tried the last option but I heard it should be pretty effective.

 

[ackb10]

Nr 2 - M24 cup



This cup is in much better shape with a lot of the original green paint. But there is rust on it and I thought about cleaning it with the oxalic acid. Have I heard right when I say that the oxalic acid shouldnt do any damage to the paint? Would you also choose to clean it with oxalic or would you just clean it with some kind of oil product or would you just leave it alone like it is?


Hope that some of you can come up with some good advices :- )




Cheers Alex

 

[usa1918]

There is a product called Evaporust that I have used here in the States. The stuff works great. Does not touch paint or metal and is non-toxic

 

[siegfreid]

Oxalic acid is fine for heavily rusted items BUT very dangerous & needs to be used with care . Bare in mind it's extremely poisonous . I would personally use Hydrochloric acid , if you can get it & whilst this is still hazardous , it's not as toxic . It's usually available as drain cleaner . Your S/G head that still has paint would be better just cleaned with oil . Hope this helps .