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Old rusty padlock
- Thread starter Dusttodust
- Start date
Help Support Prospecting Australia:
Immerse it in molasses for about a month, seems to be a common recommendation here.
Thought to throw this in Borax at Bunnings about $8 bucks a kilo.
I was disloving some in a pot to make ant killer paste as soon as it hit boiling water it totally cleaned the stainless steel to a shine.
Pot is 12 months in use since but you can see the cleaned area.
Just a thought if you heated the lock up in the oven then dropped in a pot of borax/water mix it could work.
If you think the Find is Valuable then better advice i would seek.
Good one on the find Dusttodust all bought home from there was boot tacks, horse shoes & musket balls that i stupidly threw out.
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Did the ant killing paste work?
Borax is a good old-fashioned relatively safe ant killer: they eat it, it reacts with the acid in their gut and kills them. Other ants that eat the dead ones also die.
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Do you mix it with anything? Sugar, honey etc?
I think you just use water.
Depending on the type of ants.
In this case they were grease ants they would not touch the sugar / glucose mix at all.
i used a sieve to refine the Borax Powder grains down further then mixed it with butter and bread.
Tried a few different combinations like olive spread and fat from the baking pan.
Yes it does work and from what i could gather the ants dehydrate and they actually pop.
No i`ve never heard of grease ants before that maybe an American term.
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My first time ever detecting. I bought a Whites GMT DD E series and had a great time with my wife and friends. we also found bullets, casings, nails, and a horseshoe. Spent a few dollars in the town which it really needs.
The musket balls i found were on that western slope near town .Apprenty they let one off shot every evening at around Sundown i`m not shore of the exact time.
I`m only guessing but i`d say that hilly area has been worked over by VLF machines as like you i found lots of targets but no gold.
`i`m not shore but i think gpx machines would not run to well there with power lines & maybe some local folk kick`in in a genny once in a while.
SDC2300 / GPX 6000 / GPZ7000 my guess be the best detectors for that arera but i know nothing about Garrett and other brands.
There are nuggets around there that i know & some fairly nice folk to go with it.
the good old cheap brand white vinegar works well for rust like that
i use it constantly for cleaning badly or rusted railway spikes for blacksmithing ,i once used acid but found the vinegar is just as good but less tragic to the user
a wire brush in a drill or the bench grinder type will get a lot of the bulk dirt and rust from it (wear a good mask)
soak it for about 3 or 4 days ,give it a good wash with plenty of clean water, wire brush then rinse and repeat until you are happy with the results
i use it constantly for cleaning badly or rusted railway spikes for blacksmithing ,i once used acid but found the vinegar is just as good but less tragic to the user
a wire brush in a drill or the bench grinder type will get a lot of the bulk dirt and rust from it (wear a good mask)
soak it for about 3 or 4 days ,give it a good wash with plenty of clean water, wire brush then rinse and repeat until you are happy with the results
Getting back to cleaning the lock.
I swear by Grubstakes method.
Immerse in molasses and check after a couple of weeks. If not clean dunk it back in the molasses. Repeat and you will be more than happy with end result.
(Don't use, sandpaper, wire brush or any other abrasive method.)
I swear by Grubstakes method.
Immerse in molasses and check after a couple of weeks. If not clean dunk it back in the molasses. Repeat and you will be more than happy with end result.
(Don't use, sandpaper, wire brush or any other abrasive method.)
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It was common practice for the miners to fire off a musket every evening. They kept their muskets loaded at all times and apparently, when a musket stood unused all day, the powder packed- down inhibiting combustion. Since extracting the shot by any other means was very difficult, the miners would fire the musket in the air, clean the bore and reload so that there was reduced chance of a misfire.
Apprenty they let one off shot every evening at around Sundown i`m not shore of the exact time.
I`m only guessing but i`d say that hilly area has been worked over by VLF machines as like you i found lots of targets but no gold.
`i`m not shore but i think gpx machines would not run to well there with power lines & maybe some local folk kick`in in a genny once in a while.
SDC2300 / GPX 6000 / GPZ7000 my guess be the best detectors for that arera but i know nothing about Garrett and other brands.
There are nuggets around there that i know & some fairly nice folk to go with it.
This accounts for the large number of musket balls that abound round old, substantial mining camps.
