Ave!
Any questions? With me?? Are you kidding???
1) So you don't use it in any cleaning role per se? In other words to remove dirt. Just during post cleaning polishing? Or can you clean stubborn dirt off with it?
2) What brushes do you use with it, and when?
3) Do you then remove the residue somehow or does it evaporate or stay as a wax-like polish?
4) In terms of polishing I was recently speaking with a museum restorer who sometimes uses very fine grain grey sandpaper (usually wet) to polish / gently smooth green cu-alloy patina. I assume the pre-lim replaces such a technique?
Shawn
The test coin shown below is a worn 32mm
Byzantine Follis that came from a wet environment and is covered with a thin hard/porous green
patina.
In order -
1) Prelim is not recommended for cleaning dirt (it will remove dirt, btw, but there are better ways for this). Rather, it seems to
work best on similar patinas as noted above, either for copper
alloy coins or artifacts.
2) Once all/nearly all dirt has been removed, Prelim can be
applied in two ways: 1) Add a small dab to a dry thin cotton towel and apply to the coin/artifact, bare down hard with up/down, left/right and circular motions for a minute or two. (this method was used in the coin example). 2) Or you can do the same with a stiff bristle cut-down tooth-brush or a similar round stiff-bristle brush in a Dremel tool. FYI - the using Prelim in a Dremel tool is messy (wear an apron or similar) but seems to be the best way to apply Prelim as the short bristles tend to get into all the cracks and crevasses that a towel application does not.
3) Once you have either of the above, set the coin/artifact aside and allow the paste to dry...just like
car wax. Once the paste is completely dry, use another dry non-metal brush to buff off the paste. Not all may not be removed at this point, so feel free to use soap, water and a toothbrush to remove any residual remaining paste. You can repeat all of the above as many times as you like without getting down to bare metal, but just keep a close eye on your progress.
4)
I assume the pre-lim replaces such a technique?
Absolutely. Using any
type of sandpaper on a coin just seems a
bit too harsh. Never tried sandpaper on an artifact, so I cannot comment to it's efficacy.
Prelim is just another product that anyone can add to their cleaning arsenal. In some cases it will not
work at all, while in others it's a real
boon. In all cases it will not do any harm when used as recommended above. Seen in the coin below, after just one application, the details are beginning to appear, the brown
patina is
still intact and the porous green
patina has been smoothed and brightened.
Last thought concerning Prelim - not sure why, but after use, it tends to give a more heightened appearance after applications of
Ren Wax.
Best regards to all,
Kevin
