The horrors of what may be hiding inside your armor. After my "Blue CLR" incident that rusted my armor literally overnight, I thought I may need to eventually take it apart and check it over for a thorough cleaning. My instincts were right. There was a *lot* of hidden rust!
When assembled, I had cleaned it up, and used the tiny wire wheel on the dremel to get along the edges. The rust on the lames was not visible from outside the armor.
Now, proper articulation does not have large gaps in the armor, so the fact that this rust was not cleanable or visible with the armor assembled is a testament to how well Allan's armor moves and functions. I also took the leather off so I could add a rust-resistance coat underneath of it, and to replace those rivets with brass too.
Moving onwards, after I disassembled the armor (and burned myself 3 times, but that's another thread...) I started the cleanup. The good "Grey CLR" and a couple passes with some Scotch-Brites got some of it off, but there was very slight pitting and some very stubborn rust from those hidden areas I couldn't clean. I had to take some 150 grit sandpaper to it to remove the rest of the rust and get it nearly smooth again. I didn't sand too much, as it will be "hidden" inside the articulation, so there is still some tiny pitting. Photos from before the sanding:
I also wire wheeled the inside of the armor to take care of the underside rust, and take off the paint. The armor was originally uncoated, so I was only able to spray the parts I could get to with it assembled. I took advantage of this opportunity to coat it all with Rustoleum appliance epoxy once it was cleaned up. Thank goodness I only have one other cuisse and a pair of greaves to do!
The Rustoleum appliance epoxy (I got it at Home Depot - should be easy to find)
Before reassembly, I'll polish it up some more (220 grit, possibly 320 or 400) and then reassemble it with brass rivets so that it matches most of the rest of my pieces. The finer (higher #) the sandpaper / polish, the more rust resistant the armor will be, and brighter/shinier too - which is not historically inaccurate! That subject alone could be a whole other thread.
Insides done:
Finishing assembly:
While I had it apart, and waiting for the paint to dry, I started prep on swapping in the new hand-made buckles from Allan / MercTailor. Since they are D-buckles, and I prefer the "8" style with the strap keeper, I made up some floating strap keepers of my own. It's wire rod from ... yeah, Home Depot ... that I flattened out and shaped accordingly. Far from beautiful, but functional, hand-made, and probably reasonably accurate?
Paint dry, buckles ready, keepers ready - let's rock!
Epoxy painted inside, new straps and brass hardware:
Reassembled, with brass hardware:
Huzzah! Now for the next leg...
