Restoration of a Sulawesi alameng

[Sajen]

Hi Jeff and Martin,

Thank you both! For the cleaning of the blade I used a rust rubber gum and at places where it was hard and encrusted rust I used a stone. No power tools involved!
I have used cold pressed linseed oil for years for wood, horn and other natural materials.

Attached are two pictures from "Senjata Pusaka Bugis" of a very similar sword.

Regards,
Detlef

[kino]

Originally Posted by Sajen

For the cleaning of the blade I used a rust rubber gum and at places where it was hard and encrusted rust I used a stone.

Congrats on your recent acquisition. It’s coming out very nice.
Thanks for sharing your restoration methods. For us that don’t know, could you please tell us what a “rust rubber gum” is? I like to other rust removal items other than sand paper.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by kino

Congrats on your recent acquisition. It’s coming out very nice.
Thanks for sharing your restoration methods. For us that don’t know, could you please tell us what a “rust rubber gum” is? I like to other rust removal items other than sand paper.

Thanks Albert! Attached is a pic of such a rust rubber gum, I buy them on Amazon. They work well by surface rust and a little bit deeper rust.

Regards,
Detlef

[kino]

Originally Posted by Sajen

Thanks Albert! Attached is a pic of such a rust rubber gum, I buy them on Amazon. They work well by surface rust and a little bit deeper rust.

Regards,
Detlef

Thank you sir.
I will get it and give it a try.

[Maurice]

Originally Posted by Sajen

Thanks Albert! Attached is a pic of such a rust rubber gum, I buy them on Amazon. They work well by surface rust and a little bit deeper rust.

Regards,
Detlef

I think you'll get the same effect as when using steel wool 0000?
(That's what I usually use)

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Maurice

I think you'll get the same effect as when using steel wool 0000?
(That's what I usually use)

No, it's better and much faster!

[JeffS]

Originally Posted by Maurice

I think you'll get the same effect as when using steel wool 0000?
(That's what I usually use)

Am I just not patient enough with 0000 (or 000) wool? I find it almost never removes anything but the most superficial rust, but I'm not sure if I give it enough time. Am I supposed to keep going even if I feel like I have not made noticeable progress after a few minutes? Also, I'm curious on the type of stone and method you (Detlef) use for deep rust pockets. If soft enough I will use a metal pick but often find rust crusts to be extremely hard and need abrasive anf/or repeated acid washes (vinegar) to remove.

[Maurice]

Originally Posted by JeffS

Am I just not patient enough with 0000 (or 000) wool? I find it almost never removes anything but the most superficial rust, but I'm not sure if I give it enough time. Am I supposed to keep going even if I feel like I have not made noticeable progress after a few minutes? Also, I'm curious on the type of stone and method you (Detlef) use for deep rust pockets. If soft enough I will use a metal pick but often find rust crusts to be extremely hard and need abrasive anf/or repeated acid washes (vinegar) to remove.

Yes, only for superficial rust ofcourse. And I use it combined with oil. Works perfect for me. If the blade has more rust than superficial rust, steel wool 0000 will not work anymore at some point.

[Sajen]

It's cleaned now, here are some pictures. The last two pics show it together with two other similar Sulawesi swords from my collection.