Cleaning medals?

[tblakemore]

Hi all,

Just got back from Afghanistan, took a look at my GCS that I had in my Small pack and the finish on the back is fading off!!! What is the way to clean/polish medals? What can be done if there is part of the finish getting faded? Is there a place that can get it fixed?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Yrys]

I didn't find any thread with "cleaning"  and "medals" when I searched,
but there is 26 pages of threads about "medals" with  a search in the home page,
if nobody make a reply to your question. May be something about it is there...

 

[JSR OP]

I wouldn't worry too much about it.  Once you have it court mounted to wear, you won't be able to see the back anyways.

 

[tblakemore]

Ok, I'll see how it goes. Thanks for your help.

 

[Flip]

Tristan,

I've done a lot of metal plating - but mostly for technical purposes.

If the problem is that gold or silver has been worn off, it can be re-plated - It's best to mask the front as the color
of metal plating may not match. 

If the problem is tarnish, especially on silver items - you can immerse the object into an ALUMINUM pan or pot
with a BOILING solution of baking soda in water. The object must come into electrical contact with the Aluminum
to reduce the oxides. Aluminum foil will work in a steel, glass or teflon covered pan.
You do not need any special powder or metal platefrom the home shopping network..

This does not remove any metal from the object - I use it on my silverware etc.
Much easier on the plated surface than polishing by hand.

In both cases, care must be taken to preserve any enamels or paints etc.

Birk's Jewellers used to arrange decorative plating.
I'd be a little cautious about going to your local bumper and chrome shop.

Good luck either way.....

 

[Grunt_031]

If you want it plated, Willian Scully Ltd in Montreal is the best I have found. He has been doing it for years and is very reasonably priced.

 

[tblakemore]

Here is a picture of what the back looks like. Would this metal plating be a safe way of repairing it?

 

[1feral1]

And thats new???

What crap plating!

One would think it would be of a material which was not plated, like a CD for example.


Good luck!

Wes

 

[Flip]

Yup - that's worn plating.

Some medals are finished base metal - like anything bronze. The VC comes to mind.

Gold colored medals and insignia are typically brass with a thin coating of nickel for wear resistance and brightness.

The Gold plating goes over that.  The gold plating can be bright or frosty and can vary widely in color, thickness and
hardness depending on what's required  in the specifications for the object. 

I believe you would need 24K plating and for the front to be masked to preserve the original finish.
I would expect the gold thickness to be at least 2 to 5 microns for wear resistance.
Most jewelry is only plated 1 or 2 microns and is gold nickel alloy plated.

 

 

[1feral1]

My Cd polishes up well, and I keep all my medals clean and shiny. No fingerprints.

That GCS is impressive, but it looks like the cheapest bidder got the contract, and thats sad.

Wes

 

[tblakemore]

Well, I would like to get this fixed, so I'm guessing my best bet would be to take it to a local jeweler and they would know what to do? Or is there a system in the CoC to get this repaired?

Again thanks for all your help everyone.

 

[Flip]

Wes,

I looked up the Veterans Affairs website and found that the CD is actually
gold over a base metal (in this case silver or copper zinc alloy) and gilt.

That means gold cladding stamped onto the base metal - not plated.

You do hit a nail on the head though - finger prints and rubber bands are very corrosive.
I had once seen some dinner knives corroded and pitted very deeply ( could not be repaired ).
Someone simply put a rubber band around them and dropped them into a drawer.

Those little plastic Zip Lock bags for storage might save some time or grief.

 

[tblakemore]

Ok, so I took my medal to a local jeweler but he needs to know exactly what the GCS is made of. He needs to know the "inner" metal and the outer coating (and what the finish type is). He said he could do a High Gloss/shine finish but it might make it too shiny.

I searched the DHH website, but it doesn't give that information on the type of metal used. CoC wouldn't help at all, they just told me to go to the DHH site.

I just can't believe there isn't a system in the CoC for this, I doubt I am the first with this problem...

Any suggestions?

 

[tblakemore]

UPDATE : I called the DHH and they will replace it for free, the only catch is that I probably won't be getting it before my next formal parade!! They said it could take a few weeks (good), to a few months (bad).

Contact info for those intrested :
1-877-741-8332

Address to send medal or inquiries :
Directorate of History and Heritage 4-3
National Defence Headquarters
MGen George R. Pearkes Building
101 Colonel By Drive
Ottawa ON Canada
K1A OK2

 

[Franko]

Worse comes to worse go and see a company who does court mounting and ask for it to be gold dipped.

Looks sharp and it never dulls.

My 0.02 Duram worth

Regards

 

[1feral1]

UPDATE : I called the DHH and they will replace it for free, the only catch is that I probably won't be getting it before my next formal parade!! They said it could take a few weeks (good), to a few months (bad).

The thing I have about replacements is its not the original one you got, and for me that loses it.  I will remember our medals parade, those original medals were pinned on me, along with the Army's Combat Badge, right in our FOB as all that 'racket'  blasted around us in the distance.

Also if its a replacment medal, does it not sAy D or R on it (duplicate or replacement) along with your name etc? Thats what they do here. You only get one chance at your first original medal(s).

I would keep that that medal of yours no matter what!

Wes

 

[tblakemore]

Yeah, I hear you. The only thing is that I would like, is to have a jeweler repair it (put a new finish on it) but I can't find any info on what the finish is. Would a High gloss/shine finish be too much?

I know what you mean about keeping the original, but I don't want to show a faded medal either.

I'll try a bit more to find some more info on the finish, but I most likely will end up taking it back to the jeweler and get the high gloss plating on it.

 

[1feral1]

The gold dip sounds right, and i think thats what I would do.

 

[tblakemore]

Well thanks for your help, it is greatly appreciated.

 

[Flip]

Tristan,

Can you wait a day or so?

I may be able to find out who the original manufacturer is and get some data from him.
( I suspect I know the guy ).

That way you don't have to experiment with your medal at all.

The jeweller is probably wondering if the base metal is a copper alloy.
The answer is 90% yes.

It sounds like the jeweller has hard gold plating solution suitable for jewelry.
It may not be the best option.

Let me look into it.

Regards.