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To Clean Or Not To Clean - This Is The Question


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1 hour ago, GB_Amateur said:

BTW, I failed to mention how impressive your MS-60 grade from PCGS for a coin that you found in the ground.  (I wouldn't get it regraded if I were you. ?)  You must have quite a collection of coins recovered to have so many rare finds.  Good stuff and I look forward to your next discovery.

 

The next time I have the PCGS graded 1906S Barber dime out I'll post a photo of it.  It's a darn shame none of my semi/key date coins have come out like that one, but it is what it is.  I figure it was a 1906 San Francisco earthquake loss.

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I have an ultrasonic cleaner and use a cleaning solution called Yellow Magic in it. It does an ok passive job on de-crapping the finds but as with many solvents you have to be careful that they don't react with the metal your cleaning and in this case aluminum or aluminum bronze may react and degrade.

I also have a vibratory tumbler and loaded it up with extra fine walnut shell to clean my chump change I pull out of parks. It is large enough to clean more than 10lbs at a time and does a descent job. Surprisingly it didn't seem to take any detail off the coins and did take the dirt, corrosion and patina off without polishing them. I wouldn't do that on extremely rare coins simply because im chicken $@#% and don't want to destroy a good find.

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Yes kac  I always wondered about  that cleaner stuff is it any good?  It all looks a little expensive to me about $45 a Litre I think. I just use water or sometimes mix it with vinegar. I do have a homemade recipe if you would like to try it. https://ultrasonic-cleaners.org/how-to-make-homemade-ultrasonic-cleaner-solvent.html Tried it once or twice but not what I really  expected. This Blue stuff here is supposed to be pretty good, maybe I'll try some and let you know what I think about it, fairly cheap too. 2 x 8oz for $9 US iSonic and it's a concentrate 1:20 ratio.  

81a3qGBwWXL._SX425_.jpg

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Be honest the really fine walnut shell did a good job on the slag change. I don't think it was strong enough to actually take any of the metal but did take dirt and some of the patina down making dates visible. Typical of any tumbling media is they only get the high spots and can't clean close to inside edges or inside of lettering.

I have Yellow Magic because I use it to clean the raw resin off of my 3d printed parts as an alternative to Isopropyl Alcohol that is typically used. IPA when mixed with raw resin makes a toxic mess that is difficult to dispose of and not very environmentally friendly.

I do know it isn't so good on aluminum so after use you need to rinse the part off which you should do anyways. 

I also have tried laundry soda which I had used for reverse electrolysis and seems to do ok as a degreaser. I think the big trick is as long as the cleaner is potent and has a very low viscosity they should work in an USC.

I'll have to check out the blue stuff and see how it does on my 3d parts.

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8 hours ago, Lobo Lover said:

Yes kac  I always wondered about  that cleaner stuff is it any good?  It all looks a little expensive to me about $45 a Litre I think. I just use water or sometimes mix it with vinegar. I do have a homemade recipe if you would like to try it. https://ultrasonic-cleaners.org/how-to-make-homemade-ultrasonic-cleaner-solvent.html Tried it once or twice but not what I really  expected. This Blue stuff here is supposed to be pretty good, maybe I'll try some and let you know what I think about it, fairly cheap too. 2 x 8oz for $9 US iSonic and it's a concentrate 1:20 ratio.  

81a3qGBwWXL._SX425_.jpg

It looks like the same thing as Ezest.  It's not inexpensive, but it does a pretty good job when you get crudded up silver.

Always wanted to try an ultrasonic cleaner, but figured they probably wouldn't do a very good job on crusty coins?

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Ultrasonic cleaners won't take corrosion off. They only take dirt off. I never tried my pickling solution which is a mild acid, might give that a try on some slag change.

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