How many? Cleaning and reusing items

Dantheman

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I was just wondering if any of you cleaned and reused or make crafts out of your finds? I would only do this with non historically relevant items while preserving the.

I have pulled up old bricks and large pieces of iron which I cleaned, coated, and epoxied to tiles for keepsakes for the owners. I usually date and but the location on them as well. Makes for a neat paper weight or shelf item to show some history. I will also coat some old iron with Rustoleum and use as door stops. I made this keychain last week after digging up an old copper (or bronze...not good at iding metal yet) ring that looks like you would tie a horse to it or would be on some horse related gear.


Copperish ring center top- Cleaned with wire brush, used a little brasso, then clear coat of rustoleum.
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Made into keychain. I took a wine cork and tossed some eye loops in each end with epoxy and bent around ring.
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I keep and use or sell everything of value I find...Lots of clothes and shoes and even the little fabric lunchboxes make for a great finds pouch...Its just amazing...
 

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I keep and use or sell everything of value I find...Lots of clothes and shoes and even the little fabric lunchboxes make for a great finds pouch...Its just amazing...

Now that is an idea. I have come across so many shoes especially at the dumps I have come across.
 
I was just wondering if any of you cleaned and reused or make crafts out of your finds? I would only do this with non historically relevant items while preserving the.

I have pulled up old bricks and large pieces of iron which I cleaned, coated, and epoxied to tiles for keepsakes for the owners. I usually date and but the location on them as well. Makes for a neat paper weight or shelf item to show some history. I will also coat some old iron with Rustoleum and use as door stops. I made this keychain last week after digging up an old copper (or bronze...not good at iding metal yet) ring that looks like you would tie a horse to it or would be on some horse related gear.


Copperish ring center top- Cleaned with wire brush, used a little brasso, then clear coat of rustoleum.
picture.php


Made into keychain. I took a wine cork and tossed some eye loops in each end with epoxy and bent around ring.
picture.php

Hi Dantheman :hi5:

Nice finds !

Regarding the keychain ring, since you mentioned not being good at iding metal yet, perhaps the following will be of help. Attached below is a chart listing a few Non-magnetic metals.

(a)..Take a strong magnet, preferably a neodymium magnet and you can get these free out of a discarded computer hard drive (You Tube video's are available and free on the web showing how to remove these super high-powered magnets from a hard drive....just type something like "Removing neodymium magnets from a computer hard drive." into your search engine window.), (b) remove the ring from the keychain and tie it to a thin piece of sewing thread or low-pound plastic fishing line, (c) and then hold the upper end of the ring line in one hand and the upper-end of a line tied to the magnet in your other hand, hold both lines about a foot apart and wait until the magnet and ring stop oscillating, then slowly move the magnet toward the ring, (d) if it sticks to the ring, there is at least some amount of ferrous content (Iron) in the ring and most likely it is NOT one of the metals in the Attached chart.

The reason for using a neodymium (strongest type of magnet normally available to the average citizen.) is that it will be attracted to metal even if the amount of iron content is almost nothing. For practical purposes, you can estimate the amount of Iron content in the ring by how far away the magnet was when it started to be pulled toward the ring by magnetic force and how hard it grabbed-on (light and easy, or with a sudden snap!).

Now, (e) if you estimate from the above explanation that the iron content is on the high side, then your ring is probably iron and NOT brass which is most frequently used for bridles and halters for horses and halters for cows, on the other hand (f) if your test indicates the Iron content is very low (light and easy magnetic attraction), my guess would be brass, or maybe copper especially if the ring had green corrosion when found. Suffice to say it's probably one or the other, brass or copper based on this latter example (f).

Hope this helps.

ToddB64
 

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Hi Dantheman :hi5:

Nice finds !

Regarding the keychain ring, since you mentioned not being good at iding metal yet, perhaps the following will be of help. Attached below is a chart listing a few Non-magnetic metals.

(a)..Take a strong magnet, preferably a neodymium magnet and you can get these free out of a discarded computer hard drive (You Tube video's are available and free on the web showing how to remove these super high-powered magnets from a hard drive....just type something like "Removing neodymium magnets from a computer hard drive." into your search engine window.), (b) remove the ring from the keychain and tie it to a thin piece of sewing thread or low-pound plastic fishing line, (c) and then hold the upper end of the ring line in one hand and the upper-end of a line tied to the magnet in your other hand, hold both lines about a foot apart and wait until the magnet and ring stop oscillating, then slowly move the magnet toward the ring, (d) if it sticks to the ring, there is at least some amount of ferrous content (Iron) in the ring and most likely it is NOT one of the metals in the Attached chart.

The reason for using a neodymium (strongest type of magnet normally available to the average citizen.) is that it will be attracted to metal even if the amount of iron content is almost nothing. For practical purposes, you can estimate the amount of Iron content in the ring by how far away the magnet was when it started to be pulled toward the ring by magnetic force and how hard it grabbed-on (light and easy, or with a sudden snap!).

Now, (e) if you estimate from the above explanation that the iron content is on the high side, then your ring is probably iron and NOT brass which is most frequently used for bridles and halters for horses and halters for cows, on the other hand (f) if your test indicates the Iron content is very low (light and easy magnetic attraction), my guess would be brass, or maybe copper especially if the ring had green corrosion when found. Suffice to say it's probably one or the other, brass or copper based on this latter example (f).

Hope this helps.

ToddB64

This is a great list! The powdery patina (normally I would not take off if something like a coin or more significant) brushed right off. My guess is copper. The first photo is what is came out of the ground without anything done to it. No rust or anything other than that patina. It was close to a foot down in marsh land by where a structure was. Anyone reading this may cringe if they are a purist but I took a light wire brush to it and coated with Brasso to see if it would shine up. It did not and kept its greenish color. I liked how it looked and tossed on a coat of the clear stuff. It has a mark where it may have been soldered or connected to something. Solid all the way around. The area was farm land and a waterfowl hunting ground. The mistake I made was trashing the rusty ring in the photo. I have started using electrolysis and that may have had a chance. Just for a trinket or something.

Oh, I took a heavy duty magnet and no pull so I doubt any iron. I should pull one like you mention about the hard drive.
 
Before electrolysis and after. Just put a handle on it last night and hope to it another 100 years hard use.
 

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Hi again Dantheman ! (and any others interested.)

This is an addendum to my post #4.

First, there must be some amount of iron in a metal alloy for the metal to be attracted to a magnetic fields lines of flux.

Prior to the modern technology of using plated harness rings for livestock, solid brass alloys were typically used, however, as you thought, it's entirely possible your ring is made from the Red brass high-copper alloy C23000 listed below, which figures 83.95% - 85.95% copper, the highest copper percent of the three brasses listed and maybe your magnet just wasn't quite strong enough to detect the small 0.05% of iron.

If you go to the Source Link below, you will see there are only (3) types of Brass metal containing iron that might cause some attraction to a powerful enough magnet, the amount of attraction depending on the percentage of iron in each case.

I copied and pasted these three types of brass below for your review and this information is by a highly credible source and was just updated January 27, 2019.

SUBJECT: Brass Alloys containing iron

SOURCE: https://www.thoughtco.com/common-brass-alloys-and-their-uses-603706

Aich's alloy
60.66% copper, 36.58% zinc, 1.02% tin, and 1.74% iron. Corrosion resistance, hardness, and toughness make it useful for marine applications.

Muntz metal
60% copper, 40% zinc, and a trace of iron, used as a lining on boats

Red brass
American term for the copper-zinc-tin alloy known as gunmetal considered both a brass and a bronze. Red brass usually contains 85% copper, 5% tin, 5% lead, and 5% zinc. Red brass may be copper alloy C23000, which is 14 to 16% zinc, 0.05% iron and lead, and the remainder copper. Red brass also may refer to ounce metal, another copper-zinc-tin alloy.

I hope you pursue obtaining a neodymium magnet, as they are the best for testing coins and metals in general. If you are still having trouble obtaining one from a discarded computer hard drive after asking family and friends if they have an old computer tower sitting around that they have been meaning to dispose of, then you could always purchase a neodymium fairly cheap at https://www.kjmagnetics.com/.

If you get one, be sure to keep it away from any electronic equipment with data stored on magnetic media, as it can wipe it clean!

However, you can make an inexpensive storage container for a neodymium that will reduce the outflow of magnetic lines of flux by using a cast iron pipe with both ends threaded and caps screwed on the ends. Magnets have a positive pole at one end and a negative pole at the other end. The majority of magnetic lines of flux will seek the path of least resistance and travel in the pipe walls to make connection with the opposite pole of the magnet, thus reducing the amount of flux lines that escape through the walls into the outside air.

The thicker the pipe walls, the less flux lines will escape outside the container. The thickest walls I could find for my container were about 3/8" from a local lumber and hardware store, who also threaded the ends for me, but you might find thicker walled pipe at a metal recycler or junk yard.

Here are a couple of links that will give you animated visuals and text describing what I've explained above. On each website just scroll down to the sub-title indicated.

http://www.coolmagnetman.com/magshield.htm Sub-title: Containing the Field

https://www.kjmagnetics.com Sub-title: How thick should my shield be?

If you keep the container several feet away from any equipment with magnetic media, there should be no problem. Safety precautions on the use and handling of neodymium's are available on the Internet and should also be on the K&J Magnetics website hyperlink above.

Good luck!
ToddB64
 
Hi again Dantheman ! (and any others interested.)
ToddB64

Thank you for the info! I think I will look into one of the old computers at work. I would love to add to the learning of the metals. I could pull one from an old hard drive but sadly no old ones hanging around. I may be able to pull one from an old work one soon but depends. You post is much appreciated.
 
Before electrolysis and after. Just put a handle on it last night and hope to it another 100 years hard use.

Nice! I oddly enough found an axe head today (bottom photo). I love electrolysis! I have just started using it but it works great. I plan to do the same. I found a few other tools I may use as well.

Before for two items I used electrolysis on.
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After electrolysis
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AND... be sure to keep powerful magnets away from wind-up wristwatches. You know... the kind your parents, grandparents used before quartz movements
 
I have a little box I could put it in. Good advice.

Hi Dantheman ! :tiphat:

Regarding your "little box", see the answer below that I put in quotation marks to question #6 at sub-title General Magnet Questions > 6. What materials can I use to block/shield magnetic fields?, at the following Link: https://www.kjmagnetics.com/faq.asp#shield

Answer:
"Magnetic fields cannot be blocked, only redirected. The only materials that will redirect magnetic fields are materials that are ferromagnetic (attracted to magnets), such as iron, steel (which contains iron), cobalt, and nickel. The degree of redirection is proportional to the permeability of the material. The most efficient shielding material is the 80 Nickel family, followed by the 50 Nickel family."
(Permeability: the ability of a material to be penetrated by something.)

Dan, in addition to the metals mentioned in the above paragraph in quotation marks, there is a composite product named "MuMETAL" that is more efficient in some circumstances at shielding magnetic field lines of flux that could be used to line a box, but it's expensive and that's why I settled on cast iron pipe with threaded C.I. end caps, as a redirecting material, albeit less efficient, but better than nothing if kept several feet away from equipment sensitive to a Magnet, especially strong magnets like computer hard drive neodymium's. However, steel works better in other circumstances. The following Link page is a great eye-opener on the best choice of MuMETAL vs Steel plate: https://www.kjmagnetics.com/blog.asp?p=mumetal

For a non-critical test, you can use a pocket compass to judge the strength of a magnet, depending on how far away from the magnet you must hold the compass before the needle is no longer affected. There are probably YouTube videos on the Web that you can view by using a random-word query, that will give you more details on how to perform this simple test.

Have fun ! :ewink:
ToddB64
 
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