tin gone rusty

[aloyalistdawg]

Hello Gang
Well I have a Rev. war tin canteen that has gone a little rusty inside.. ok can I save this beast.. any ider's on how to?
My best regards a Loyalistdawg :hatsoff:

 

[Twice boom]

Are you planning to drink out of it....

The product that comes readily to mind is something the auto body guys use to stop future rusting. You can find it at Lowe's or any auto supply house..

If you were to fill the canteen and pore this stuff out immediately if might do the trick for you.And might prevent further rusting..

 

[Swampman]

It won't hurt you. Don't leave water in your canteen, and don't store it with the cork in. A little melted bee's wax sloshed around in a very warm canteen until it cools, will help prevent it.

 

[aloyalistdawg]

Hello Guys
Yes I do 1776 re-enacting and we go through lots of water actually...
best regards a loyalistDawg :hatsoff:

 

[boar]

Put some vinegar in it. Vinegar will turn rust black. I have used it to free rusty bolts. I have used in in rusty bores. After you dump it out put some baking soda water in it to sweeten it and neutralize it. That stuff for the car body is called metal prep. I used it back in 60's. Dilly

 

[ameling]

Household Vinegar will flake any rust off of the metal. But it will also pop it out of any "pits" that have been created by that rust. I've used a vinegar soak to clean rust off of 18th and 19th century tools, as well as 1st century Roman artifacts. It will clean it all off - right down to scouring out the pits in the metal. Then just wash well.

Then you need to coat the inside with something that will "slow down" any future rusting. Note - I said "slow down". It's hard to stop that rust - especially with any food grade chemicals. You need to NOT STORE water in your canteen, and thoroughly dry it when not in use. ANY moisture will start that rust up again.

The big problem with many tin items is that they are made from modern electroplated tin. The "tin" coating on the sheet iron is just waaaaay too thin! So any nick/scratch gets through that coating, and rust can start forming on the sheet iron underneath. That is why more tinsmiths are starting to use HOT-DIPPED tin. The sheets of iron are dipped into molten tin to get that coating - instead of being put into a liquid bath with electricity passed through to "plate" the tin onto the iron. That Hot-Dipped tin coating is many times thicker than the electropated tin. And it will resist rusting a whole lot better over time. Once you have seen/used an item made from hot-dipped tin, you will realize why it had such a good reputation years ago.

But some tinsmiths decided to use a more modern solution to the rusting problem. They started making tin items out of Stainless Steel. It's harder to work with the hand-cranked mid/late 1800's tinsmithing machines, but it also resists rusting far longer. And most people can't tell the difference - without a very close examination.

Rust on "tin" items is just a fact of life. You can slow it down, but otherwise you just have to live with it.

Just my humble thoughts to share. Take them as such.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[Coot]

After a good cleaning, how about coating the inside with brewers pitch?

 

[mazo kid]

I know the electrolytic method will remove rust from exterior surfaces; maybe inserting an electrode through a cork in the canteen mouth would remove the internal rust. Do a search, lots of good diagrams and it is cheap and easy.

 

[longfowler]

I would definetly NOT use metal prep if I had to drink out of it later, that stuff is BAD medicine!
the biggest print on the label is "DO NOT TAKE INTERNALY!" it's only a little less toxic than drinking battery acid.

 

[Captain outwater]

I would let it throughly dry out, then line it with parafin wax. That will protect the inside and not add any taste.
just melt some wax, pour it in, slosh it around to cover the whole inside surface, and pour out. Wipe any wax from the spout, and you are done.

 

[aloyalistdawg]

This is awesome and some good iders , well we should open more repair your kit forums to help each other.. Well down to the fix it room I will try some of these out cheers.. my deepest respect a "Loyalist Dawg" :hatsoff:
"GOD save the KING" :hatsoff:

 

[brubincam]

-----if you pee and it's brown--you probably didn't get the rust out----- :blah:

 

[aloyalistdawg]

LOL ok i will watch next time :hatsoff:

 

[shooyer_250]

sorta of the subject, i found a nice looking copper canteen for sale and emailed the seller for details, i also asked if the canteen leaked,,,,his reply was...i have no way to pressure test tyhe canteen, but i'm sure it's a very old and probably valuable canteen, sorry i have no way to test it for leaks... :youcrazy: