Before and After Plates

This small page will show some plates in their condition as I received them, and then after cleaning.
This is not complete and does not go back in time and therefore does not show some
successes and some major failures of the past.

This page requires rewriting and the addition of more before and after pairs. Since I origially wrote it I have begun to use Oxalic Acid baths with great results.

I know that some collectors do like to leave their rusty plates in that condition for various reasons, but I have
always been at least tempted to improve things a little.    Over the past few years these attempts at improvement
have taken several forms.   In all cases I immediately wash all incoming plates in very warm water with Dawn and
if necessary scrub with a blue plastic scrubber. I have had some disasters just with that. Who would have thought that a plate that has endured the
weather out on the road would lose its paint in Dawn water?!!! But usually that is a perfectly safe process.
I should say that in a very few cases there is tar or other such residue,
so would use varsol or similar before the water wash in those cases.     Then for plates needing some major attention
I have used such things as Bar Keepers Friend or other powders for purely mechanical removal of rust,

Often, a plate will arrive without rust but have a dull finish, or it becomes dull after use of a cleaning powder.
I know some of you will consider this sacrilege, but in those cases I have used paste car polish and
brought back a lot of the shine and colour.

As for chemical methods of tackling rust, I have for a couple of years used Metal Rescue purchased at Canadian
Tire, and had quite good results. I buy the type in a jug for around $35 and it is does not require any dilution.
But it is quite expensive, and therefore I have now gotten on the Oxalic Acid bandwagon.   I purchased
a plastic container of this powder via Amazon in early 2024 and have tried it out a few times.   I cannot quite recall
but I think it was about $25 and in the three uses so far I have used only a small percentage of it.   Please do not ask me
for a definite formula for powder to water.    I have a small plastic basin not much bigger than a standard plate
and I have used more or less a tablespoon in enough water to completely cover a plate or two. The top picture below
is of my third oxalic acid attempt. You must keep in mind that in spots where the paint has been eaten
through, when the rust is gone there will not miraculously be paint recreated, so you will have dark bare
metal left in those areas, or possibly no metal at all.

NOTE THAT I AM PLANNING TO GO THROUGH MY PHOTOS TO SEE IF I HAVE OTHER PHOTO PAIRS TO SHOW YOU.


The 1935 plate shown above was bathed in an oxalic acid solution for less than 10 minutes! I could see the unwanted colour disappearing as I watched. Like magic. Makes me wonder if it really was rust on this plate.


As received in June 2024	After 3 hours in Oxalic Acid bath and a light scrub.
As received in 2022	This involved a few immersions in Metal Rescue plus use of Bar Keepers Friend powder, and then some light polishing. The edges were all rusty, with very little actual paint left so some fine sanding removed much of the roughness.
As received in 2022	For the 1937 plate shown above, I purchased and received the plate with a lot of regrets, as it was quite rusty in the background. But the yellow was still quite good, so I figured it was worth it, at least as a temporary filler. The plate was certainly rusty. I immersed it in my Metal Rescue rust removal bath for the better part of the day, and this is the result. Using just the photos as a guide you will likely say that it would have been better left as is. Certainly the yellow is a bit duller, so that is a negative. But the rust is gone and there actually is some black paint now visible, and the plate can be handled without a rusty residue coming off on your fingers. This is one of those iffy results and I can't say for certain what I think. I have since replaced this plate with a better 1937 example.
	I think this 1941 plate came out quite well. The light rust coating made the plate look like it had a pale orange background, and if accepting that to be the correct colour, it did look and feel pretty good. On cleaning in the bath for a few hours, it looked much different and the true colour was restored. Note however that areas where the rust had actually gone through the paint are now bare metal, whereas uncleaned it all more so blended in.



	This NS 1959 registered weight plate was bathed in oxalic acid. Some of the yellow colour was lost but not as much as this after photo (taken in different light) seems to indicate.