To Tumble or Not To Tumble...
- Thread starter Greeneman215
- Start date
joee5
Elite Member
You keeping it for yourself and want it to look nice, but you may regret it as I did with the WW2 badge I recently found. If I could go back a few days, I woulda left it the way it was. Just my opinion is all
Kreeper
Full Member
I found a button similar to that and I have soaked it in mineral oil and used a toothpick and soft toothbrush on it and that has really helped clean it up. It looks like yours could benefit from that type of gentle cleaning. No way I would tumble that at this point.
Icewing
Elite Member
I'm also opposes to tumbling such items, practically any store with a hardware shelf should have little three packs of scrub brushes that look like heavy duty toothbrushes. From there you can experiment with what kinds of cleaning agents you use to get your desired effect. Finishing with mineral oil is always a good way to protect it from further oxidation.
T-Man
Elite Member
Dsm Mechva just posted a thread recently using scrubbing bubbles. His results look really good. I've not done it personally but would try that approach before taking a chance with a tumbler. http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=224474
I've had some pretty good success with Naval Jelly on old buttons. When I first used it on some crusty civil war eagles I thought it may be too harsh and eat away at it, but to my surprise not only did it clean off the caked dirt and gunk but it also brought out some of the gold gilting that I hadn't seen was left on them. I just poured a dab on both sides and let it coat itself then let it sit for 15-20 mins before washing it off with a toothbrush. They come out pretty decent.
QuarterHoarder
Senior Member
Pretty ironic post as I had the same dilemma regarding almost the exact same button a few nights ago. I decided to tumble mine and the before/after results are below. Tumbled it for about 4 hours with just water, some aquarium pebbles, and a little dawn dish soap.
Attachments
I wouldn't tumble it.
It will hurt the button, everything tumbled looks tumbled unfortunately.
You obviously like it enough to ask if you should tumble it, therefor it's valuable enough that you shouldn't. Make sense? lol
If you want to "preserve" it, enhance features, or plain just want to mess with it get a mixture of mineral oil and beeswax. This is sold as a wax for salad bowls.
You could optionally set it in some acetone first, gently pressing on it with a paint brush to remove loose soil and organics. Then apply the wax/mineral oil mixture.
It will hurt the button, everything tumbled looks tumbled unfortunately.
You obviously like it enough to ask if you should tumble it, therefor it's valuable enough that you shouldn't. Make sense? lol
If you want to "preserve" it, enhance features, or plain just want to mess with it get a mixture of mineral oil and beeswax. This is sold as a wax for salad bowls.
You could optionally set it in some acetone first, gently pressing on it with a paint brush to remove loose soil and organics. Then apply the wax/mineral oil mixture.
hikerdude
Forum Supporter
Tumble it
I tumble everything. I have not found anything that is valuable yet. I do find silver coins, but none are rare. I think most stuff is ugly when it comes out of the ground and needs cleaning up. I suppose if I found a 1916d dime, I would mail it off to a grading company and let them do what they think is right.
HH everyone
I tumble everything. I have not found anything that is valuable yet. I do find silver coins, but none are rare. I think most stuff is ugly when it comes out of the ground and needs cleaning up. I suppose if I found a 1916d dime, I would mail it off to a grading company and let them do what they think is right.
HH everyone
