Restoring chandeliers and lamps

[Mark A]

Hi chaps,

I was given some lights to clean up and rewire two years ago by a relative, and only now getting round to it. The wiring part of it I'm fine with, but the cleaning up and modifying part I'm not too sure about.

Firstly, this monstrosity:

It's made from steel and has become a bit rusty in places. Can something so delicate be de-rusted electrolytically? I'm very familiar with the process so it would be my preference over de-rusting chemicals.

Next we have this example of illumination perfection (straight out of Beauty and the Beast):

The cables were originally ran around either side of the central clock thing and held in place with steel wire. Where it divides into three arms the soldered joints were wrapped in what felt like cloth soaked in some sort of resin as it unravelled when I took it apart. If I were to replicate the wiring exactly is there something I can cover the soldered joint in? I suppose another alternative would be to run six cables around the light, three either side, and do away with any need for joints though it would be less discreet.

Lastly, these:

They are made for wall mounting, but apparently she wants them to be each fixed to some kind of clamp. Any ideas regarding clamps? G clamps and F clamps look too industrial, and a wooden handscrew too twee.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[AndyT]

If I was restoring the first one, I think I would want to go over it by hand with an old toothbrush and some Zeebrite grate polish. It's messy stuff, so wear nitrile gloves, but it would let you bring the different parts up to a matching finish.

I used it on an old plane here post684402.html#p684402

 

[Mark A]

I'm not familiar with Zeebrite - how would it affect the decorative gold-painted leaves? For all the other parts it does look ideal.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[AndyT]

No, keep it away from the gold paint, unless you want to make it look old and dirty!

I've assumed you want a careful approach, with the lamp still looking old, but it strikes me that this piece might be relatively new, so maybe another option is to wire brush the rust off and respray the whole thing.

 

[AES]

Re the 1st pic, if it was me, and IF my tank was big enough to submerge the whole caboodle, then I 'd go for electrolytic de-rusting (remove the wiring first of course). When re-wiring, any joints on the chandaliere could be soldered (sleeves if necessary) then insulated with heat shrink sleeving (remember to slip the length of sleeving on to the wire BEFORE making the final Connection! DAMHIKT).

I'm not so sure about the other two items. I've not heard of AndyT's zeebrite myself, so can't comment. Perhaps if the items are of some value you could find a local metal shop who does sand blasting? (they could cover the gold/brass bits to protect them from the stream of abrasive - which BTW, Need not be sand, there are all sorts of abrasive materialls which they can use to ensure that delicate parts are not damaged),

The only other thing that occurs is to get all the crud off by Hand (wire brushes, abrasives, etc - a LONG job), then paint (spray or aerosol) though that may not suit the finish you're after.

HTH

AES