Help with W&B etching preservation

[ThomasD87]

Hi guys. I just got this off the bay at a really great price! It's a 7/8ths Wade and butcher with a merchant ship(open to opinions to what kind of ship this is also) etching on it. As you can see it isn't in the best of condition, there is rust on it. What would be the best plan of attack to keep the etching on there, but to clean it up as best as I can? Thank you for you time!

Great shaves!



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[Kees]

I am afraid you are going to lose the etching if you want to clean all the rust and pitting up. Make a start with a fine buffing compound and see what happens.

[ThomasD87]

I actually went about cleaning it up earlier. And I'm pretty happy with the results of the clean up.

Surprisingly I was able to keep all the fine detail in it. Even though in the picture it looks like I've lost the details, it's just because it's so shiny in those areas that it looks washed out. There are little lines on the ship that are still visible, even after all of the clean up.




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[BeJay]

You can get a little more aggressive on the rust with some oil and fine steel wool. Won't hurt the etching and should get most of the rust.

[jmercer]

A 9h pencil was mentioned awhile back. The pencil is harder than rust but softer than the steel. I've had some luck with this focusing on a pit. No idea about using it around etchings though.

[ThomasD87]

A 9h pencil was mentioned awhile back. The pencil is harder than rust but softer than the steel. I've had some luck with this focusing on a pit. No idea about using it around etchings though.

I actually used a pencil to get some of the rust out. It worked nicely!


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[RezDog]

There is also some chance you can enhance what is left of the etch with bluing and high grit sandpaper on a hard backer. I can't look for it with this device but Geezer did a post some time ago that may have been called revealing etchings, and the process is in that thread. It is worth a look.

[ThomasD87]

There is also some chance you can enhance what is left of the etch with bluing and high grit sandpaper on a hard backer. I can't look for it with this device but Geezer did a post some time ago that may have been called revealing etchings, and the process is in that thread. It is worth a look.

Thanks for the advice, I'll have to look up that post later tonight


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[JP5]

I actually went about cleaning it up earlier. And I'm pretty happy with the results of the clean up.

Surprisingly I was able to keep all the fine detail in it. Even though in the picture it looks like I've lost the details, it's just because it's so shiny in those areas that it looks washed out. There are little lines on the ship that are still visible, even after all of the clean up.




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Looking good! Less is definitely more. I used heavy buffing compound with a drill on the tang of a Masonic W&B and accidentally hit the edge of the etching. If I had to do it over I wouldn't have worried so much about getting the etched side perfect.
Seeing some new recommendations I haven't seen discussed before. I will have to keep those mind.