Numismatic and History Discussion Forums > Uncleaned Ancient Coin Discussion Forum

Andre's pencils, any opinions?

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Virgil H:
Hi Ken,
I can't really answer your question as I have not used a dental pick with diamond. I have a dental pick, but I don't think it is more than steel and I like these pencils better than the dental pick I have I think because I feel I have a bit more control. One thing about these pencils, and I am not yet claiming to be an expert at cleaning, is that they are not faster than other tools I have used but I feel they are more forgiving. They are pretty precise I think. I am always super careful and I may be too careful at times. I think that, for me, they are probably more forgiving than an exacto blade, but I am not sure they are better. I need more experience to know. I use exacto, but am more worried about damage with those. I have found no magic bullet for cleaning, but these pencils are good tools I think and reasonably priced. The one I really haven't used is the brass chisel. I haven't found a coin that seemed to be suited for that one. The hard steel and soft steel wool ones are what I use. Personally, I can't really tell the two hard steel ones apart

Cheers,
Virgil

cmcdon0923:
I just bought a set from  popular online "auction" site.

I plan to use them to clean up a couple slightly to moderately crusty ancient oil lamps.

Anyone have any experience or suggestions for using them on terracotta (be gentle is a given)?


Craig

Virgil H:
I have no advice for terracotta other than what you already know, be gentle, I would imagine that terracotta/clay would scratch very easily. I wonder if the little steel wool tool might be a good one to start with, as well as maybe a nylon brush plus scapel used very gently for chunks of crud. I use the graphite (?) looking tips on coins, they might work on fired clay, as well.

Virgil

cmcdon0923:
I'm also assuming the steel wool pencil will be the most productive one.  I can see the others being useful for removing chunks of dirt/clay that are attached to the lamp.  I will absolutely, positively, be extremely carful as I begin the process.  I'll post some before/during/after images in the OIL LAMP thread when I begin.


Craig

Mayadigger:
Ave!

Not convinced as to efficacy of a steel wool pencil on terracotta. Too much fibrosis, ha ha.

On the other hand, scratch brushes, brass and fiber, can work wonders.
Sometimes even the smallest brass brush is too large to reach into tiny details on coins and artifacts... Yes, or no?
The size of an ink pen, there is a twister on the end that allows you lengthen or shorten the bristles to your exact needed specification.
I use the brass pen as noted above and the fiber pen as a duster as I progress.
Also, the fiber pen, when the length is reduced to only 1-2 millimeters, can be used as a spectacular scrubber on dry (not wet) soft-dirt coins and especially on silvered issues.
FYI - The steel pen IS NOT suggested for any use on coins or artifacts!

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