[meteorite-list] Old rusty iron (off topic, sort of)

[Göran Axelsson]

Hi,

Just wanted to show this that I got today on another mailinglist. It's a 
picture of a few viking age iron objects recovered this summer. It is 
really rusted and what do they do to conserve it?
Yes, distilled water to leach the chloride out of the objects.

Water by itself is not a danger to iron, it is what's in the water that 
is the danger.

http://saltosobrius.blogspot.com/2006/02/viking-period-horse-gear-revealed.html

And I still think that ferric chloride for etching is bad. Do a test 
with a dry grain of ferric chloride salt, put it on a paper and leave it 
for a while. When you check it in a couple of weeks it's all dissolved 
into a yellow spot and absorbed into the paper. Unless you live in a 
very dry place.

At least prime the iron by wetting it in pure water or alcohole so the 
solution isn't drawn into small fractures by capillary force.

/Göran