preserving our shells

[Fred]

Hi folks
I have been collecting shells for quite a few years and I was wondering if anyone had experienced problems with brass corrosion or rust. I was thinking of rubbing my shells with furniture wax or car body wax just to seal them from the atmosphere. Has anyone any ideas to prevent brass cases from avccumulating finger marks, apart from laquering them.

Fred

 

[Chris 42 RQ]

Rusty fingers !

Hi Fred I wonder if you suffer from the problem that I have-namely "Rusty Fingers" you only have to touch either a piece of Steel or Brass and it almost corrodes before your eyes !:tinysmile_angry2_t:

I always handled my collection with those cotton gloves you can get or failing that the disposable plastic gloves that seem to be everywhere.

The other option I used was to keep everything lightly oiled and that seemed to work well even on Brass.
Try not to use oil ike WD40 as that will dry out and leave a very hard to remove layer of grunge that is very difficuly to clean.

Chris :tinysmile_shy_t:

 

[StielGr]

You need to be very careful with oil as it can very dangerous for some items, especially paintwork and stencil writing.
The other thing is I certainly would not recommend lacquering the brass.

I have just started using this product:
http://www.picreator.co.uk/articles/3_renaissance_wax.htm
For the most I try to avoid any treatment and only use it if I think it is completely necessary.

PC

 

[Fred]

Thanks for the input. I will give that renaissance wax a try, its probably better than furniture wax. Only a barbarian would polish and laquer a historically important cartridge and it only offers limited protection. If the laquer is sprayed on, there are tiny pinholes in the coat caused by bubbles which will eventually tarnish.

Fred

 

[waffenamt]

Is wax ok on the stenciling though?

cheers

waff

 

[Fuzeman]

Hi Paul
The military laquer their brass cases used for parades etc with a special laquer formulated for this purpose , it can be easily removed with thinners too.the company selling it is called frost ltd their website is WWW.frost .co.uk they are very helpful and specialize in restoration, they also do high temp clear varnish which dos,nt tarnish .
I varnished some brass two years ago which stands on the window sill and its as good today as when i first sprayed it

 

[waffenamt]

Your a star yet again Steve!
I still have items soaking in that smashing Pen-oil you tipped me off about!

best

waff

 

[Fuzeman]

Hi Paul
Helping one and other is what makes the world a happier place !
Here endeth the first and last lesson , according to St Stephen.