Reading lettering on rusty metal?/Wind Power

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Well, first, we had a great day yesterday. Bought some old windchargers at an auction. We got roughly 4 chargers, made up of parts from at least 5 machines, and hope to get a working 10' diameter blade charger and a working 4' diameter blade charger out of the mess (one of the machines appears to have been stored at the bottom of a hog wallow). Lots of missing parts, and lots of damaged parts, but for about $100 for all, we can cope.

Included in all this were 5 tails. Do any of you know any tricks for bringing out the lettering on badly rusted metal? On some of them we can read a few letters, on the others we can only tell that there was lettering there. There is no significant raising or lowering of the lettering that would enable us to try rubbing. It would help tremendously if we could at least figure out what brands they are. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), June 18, 2000

Answers

If the letters were painted on and not decals I would try a mild acid wash or the flame from a welding torch to make them readable. ............................................JAY

-- Jay (jay@townsqr.com), June 18, 2000.

Gerbil: Congrats on a really good score! I'm jealous. Any idea on the rated output of the respective machines? Volts? Watts? How you gonna do the tower(s)?

-- john leake (natlivent@pcpros.net), June 19, 2000.

John, I don't know how jealous you'd be if you saw this pile of bullet-riddled rust! On one of the tails for a big charger it says 1000 watts. I'm pretty sure one of the big machines can be put together, the other one is worse than tough. The rating of the little ones is just a guess-maybe 300-500 watts? I'm guessing the wind chargers probably date from about 1925-1940. So when I can I'm going to check the ag college library's old magazines and see if I can find any articles or even ads to help me figure out what I have.

In all the bits and pieces, there is only one "control box". I recognize the fuses and holders, an amp gauge, a switch, but there is a mysterious black box (serious) on the thing that I have no clue about. If I can get it off and opened, I'm hoping I can figure out what it is and duplicate it so I have one of this control boxes for each charger. But I'm excited about all this-first time I've ever seen any at auction, and then to get so much stuff, even if it is in rough condition was a real thrill.

As for towers, depends on what can be scrounged. I got two roof-top towers for the smaller chargers. I believe they can be used, although one of them doesn't seem to belong to either of the generators. When I got home, I took a good long look at the old TV antenna on the house roof. I suspect that is on an old wind charger tower. I'll scramble up there when the wind goes down and have a look. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), June 19, 2000.


Try gently scrubbing them with water and a rough cloth, then look at them and feel them. You may see shiner sections, or at least a difference in surface texture. This could vary too depending on whether the surface is wet or dry. Also let it dry in the sun - the (previously) painted surface may dry differentially from the plain surface. Also, you may actually be able to feel smoother sections where there was paint, even though it's gone now.

As above, but put detergent in the water.

As above, but just on the painted section, using methylated spirits.

As above, using kerosene.

Beyond that, my ideas start getting destructive. Instead, I'd contact a museum restoration section and see if you can ask their advice.

Also, you may be able to contact your local electricity authority and ask their advice - say you're interested in local history and old machinery, you've found some old wind-chargers, and you wonder if there's anyone there who may know anything about them, or be able to direct you to someone who does or some source of information. Worded carefully enough, it's all true. Again, though, also think state museums and colleges and universities.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), June 19, 2000.


Well...here's my nickels worth.... If ya can't interpret the old lettering make your own..... "Gerbil's Wind and Power" Established for the NEW Mellinium and you could show a little gerbil running in one of them things that go round and round.....

-- Doc (thisisDoc@aol.com), June 25, 2000.


Hi, Gerbil,

Not the answer to your question, but I've read that it's not a great idea to put one on your roof, as they can be very noisy inside the house.

For reading the writing, would a black light maybe hel

-- jumpoffjoe (jumpoffjoe@yahoo.com), July 29, 2000.


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