Medieval bronze pin restoration.

[bagerap]

I was working on some ormolu clock mounts for a client when I remembered this pin. It had been on my desk for years and I already had the tools out, so why not.

It's an onion head bronze cloak pin, probably from around 900-1100 CE and was dug in the New Forest around 30 years ago.

 

First I soaked it in lemon juice and gave it a light scrub with a worn toothbrush. Then a go over with a nearly threadbare wire brush, the more shagged out the better in these circumstances.

Next comes an initial polish with a series of rubber discs and rods, followed by a light spin on the buffing machine. This is the tricky part because I don't want to end up with something that looks brand new. Bronze is a wonderful material because it polishes up as shiny yellow as gold, imagine Bronze Age armies lined up for battle with their armour glinting in the sunlight. I just wanted this piece to show its natural beauty without looking like it had just been made.

What do you think?

[Diaconis]

What a lovely piece👍🏽

I wouldn’t have gone past the lemon juice stage myself,   but still looks great all buffed up. Well done.

[copper123]

Cannot see any difference between the pics , were the later cleans pointless ?

[blakeyboy]

Was the wire brush steel?  Brass brushes work wonders, particularly if you choose the correct one as

regards the softness....

[bagerap]

Soft brass brush in this case, sometimes use a slightly firmer nylon bristle.

[blakeyboy]

Exactly.  You have to work out whether the sides of the bristles are knocking off deposits that will crumble bit by bit,

or the tips are eroding a deposit slowly, therefore requiring a bristle whose material hardness lies between the hardness

of the deposit and the metal substrate.  That's why brass works so well on bronze, but is a big no no for copper.....