Preservation

Conservation of Iron Objects
Removed from salt water after extended submersion....
Location, Recordation, Extrication, Preservation
Follow the Paradigm...This page is designed as a learning experience. For information and procedures you must Clickat the designated pictures.
This site is designed by R.F.Boileau. All pictures and contents are for public viewing only and are not public domain.

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Pictured on the left; Grenade: Circa 1700's
A hollow iron ball which was filled with gunpowder and
plugged with a wooden peg. A gunpowder fuse was run through the pegs center. Some grenades were wrapped with burlap and had protruding iron spikes. This type of grenade was fired from a catapulting Crossbow. Other grenades had a small eye through which a rope could be attached allowing them to be swung and thrown overhead. Then there was the standard grenade that would be lit and hand tossed onto the deck of a victim ship.
Suggested Reading; Conservation of Marine Archaeological Objects. Editor, Colin Pearson, Butterworths

Electrolytic Reduction; a simple, cost-and-labor effective procedure for the preservation of iron which has been removed from salt water after extensive submersion time.

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