To do or not to do (removing rust)?

[Patrick Chadwick]

Yeah, it takes years of practice to get as sloppy as that!

[Harlan (Deceased)]

(Question for moderators: how do I make a link to a previous contribution?)

Hi, Patrick.

Just go to the thread where the post you're referring to is.

Then at the top of the page where the URL is, move your mouse up to anywhere in the long string and 'Left Click' in it anywhere.

After you left click, the whole string will darken. Then 'Right Click' and a box will drop down.

'Left Click' on the word COPY.

Then go back to the the thread where you want to make the link, and in the dialogue box, 'Right Click' and a drop down box will appear -

'Left Click' on the word 'Paste' -
This will make a link in the thread so people can just click on it and be taken to the original thread you're referring to, so you don't have to re-post the whole thing. Showing links to the original thread also often helps because it captures posts in the original thread's page that might help to explain the information with-in the original context.

The "left Clicking' and 'Right Clicking' is easier to do than it sounds, and only takes seconds in actual practice.

I hope thiis is what you meant and helps,
~ Harlan

[Patrick Chadwick]

Thanks Harlan, that is just what I wanted. Let's see if it works for me!

https://www.milsurps.com/showthread....ight=Argentine

It does!


Patrick

---------- Post added at 12:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:45 PM ----------

OK Meatmarket, I think the Rolling Block thread provides very good examples of "before & after" photos of a rifle that started off looking like scrap and ended as a respectable shooter.
An unthinking person might have just used wire wool on everything. Bubba would have used a wire brush in an electric drill. Or sand-blasted the lot. But the series on the Argentine Rolling Block demonstrates that such mechanical brutality is not necessary. Care and time produce better results. QED, thanks to Joel. It is just a pity that we never heard from Joel again.


Patrick

[MeatMarket]

Thanks Patrick, I'll look over that article. On another note, I just posted another thread about the same bayonet here: 1913 bayonet scabbard. Info please? asking about the unique scabbard that it came with. Any thoughts?

[MeatMarket]

Great news. There will be no restoration needed on the bayonet. The pictures on the auction listing only made it look rusty. I just got it in the mail today and it's in great condition, just a bit of pitting on the tip. The "rust" was just discoloring in the metal. The tang is solid, the wood is sturdy and well preserved, and there's an edge that's been put on a long time ago, possibly (hopefully) while it was in service during the Great War. The edge has the same aged color as the rest of the blade.

[Patrick Chadwick]

What a relief! You have a perfectly OK Pattern 13 bayonet, made for the P14, which became paired at a later date* with a P13 scabbard that was altered for use with the M1917 rifle. Or to be more correct, for US use - the rifle doesn't care what the scabbard is!

*Not in the factory, otherwise it would have been marked US and the British acceptance marks would have been lined out.


Patrick

[Johnny Peppers]

Which is why I seriousy recommend first using the electrolytic meethod. Any brush will brush everything, so there isl always likely to be some microscopic abrasion which - as has been pointed out - will become noticeable if you overdo it . But electrolysis only affects the rust, and preceding + following ultrasonic cleaning shakes off the loose flakes and sludge. Please give it a try.


Patrick

DWM and Erfurt made hundreds of thousands of P.08's during WWI, and guess what was used to remove the rust of the rust bluing process? Not electrolytic, but steel wool. The electrolytic process can remove the rust down to the bright metal in the rust spots, and you want the patina of the rust left in the pits.

This one was finished some 110 years ago by being scrubbed with steel wool, and it doesn't look too shabby and shows no microscopic abrasion.