experiment begun
kai,
Thanks for info and the link to the site. I bought a battery charger today and, at this writing have an African arm dagger bubbling away in a solution of water and epsom salts (magnesium sulfate USP). I didn't have any washing soda (sodium carbonate) but I figured for the purposes of conductivity that a salt is a salt is a salt. Judging from the rust scum floating on the surface of the solution, the process is working. this evening I will remove the dagger from the solution and give it a quick scrub down with an abrasive pad to see how much rust five hours in the bath will remove. I took "before" pictures of the blade. It looks as if it was stored in a New England boat house for a few winters. It is rust city. When I first picked up the piece in the dealer's booth, it was rusted shut in the scabbard. When I finally managed to work it free, the dealer took one look at the blade and gave it to me for free. At one time this was a good quality piece so hopefully I can restore it to some semblance of its former condition. I don't think I can do much to degrade it further.
Sincerely,
RobT
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