Electrolyte - I use distilled water and either salt or baking soda. Salt seems to clean quicker but the electrolyte becomes dirty much faster whereas baking soda cleans slower and the electrolyte stays cleaner longer. It is important to use distilled water so as to not add any minerals found in tap water to the coin. It is also important to change the electrolyte often and definitely when changing the type of coin being cleaned (ie: when going from copper coins to clad coins).
Container - A clear plastic measuring cup from the local Store will work. It doesn't really matter what you use so long as it doesn't conduct electricity. Pick something you don't want to use again. I stuck wire holders to mine to hold the anode and cathode apart at a fixed distance. Bend your spoon or fork double and slide it over the edge of the container where one side will be in the electrolyte and the other hanging out where you will clip the (+) anode side of the power supply. I also took a coat hanger and bent it into an L shape and and soldered an alligator clip to it. The alligator clip I soldered on holds the (-) cathode lead.
Power Converter - You will need a 110/120VAC to 6-30VDC power transformer. The more milliamps the power supply rates the more powerful your cleaner will be (the faster it cleans). My current one is a 15VDC 300ma. All this info should be printed somewhere on the converter. Once you find yourself a suitable one you will need to cut the end off of it. Strip it down to its two separate wires. It would be a good idea to put a fuse inline with the positive side. Solder alligator clips to each end. Drop the two clips into your electrolyte, don't let them touch or you will short out your power supply destroying it. Plug the power supply up. The clip that fizzes is the (-) or cathode. You will be attaching the coin to this lead. The other is the anode, you will clip it to the spoon, or fork.
Once you have all this put together you are ready to start cleaning. Clip the (+) cathode alligator clip to the stainless steel fork outside of the container. With the power supply unplugged fill your container with the distilled water. You need to fill it far enough as to submerge most of the fork Now attach the (-) anode alligator clip to the coin you are going to clean. It needs to make a good contact to the coin. If you don't want to damage the coin wrap it in a piece of copper wire and attach the clip to the wire. Now submerge the coin into the distilled water until the water just covers it all. You need to fix this position somehow. I use the alligator clip I have soldered to the coat hanger to do this. Now plug the converter into the wall. Nothing should happen now until you add the salt/baking soda because pure water doesn't conduct electricity. Now start sprinkling salt/soda slowly into the water, stirring as you go. You should soon see the coin start fizzing. The more salt/soda you add, the more fizzing it should do. This and the distance between the spoon and the coin is how you can regulate how much and hard you clean the coin. The more salt/soda you add or the closer you put the anode and cathode together the more current that will pass through the electrolyte. Just be sure and feel the power supply from time to time and make sure it isn't getting hot or you can burn it up. As I mentioned earlier be sure and practice on junk coins first. You will destroy coins until you get the hang of it.
Depending on the amount of corrosion on the coin, this cleaning will take several hours. Be careful not to clean to long or you will start removing metal from the coin. Remove the coin from time to time and rinse it. Once the electrolysis is done you still may need something to remove the residue left over. A toothbrush or a light rubbing with baking soda between the fingers.
After the Electrolysis I buff them with some White Rouge using my bench grinder with buffing wheel.
Polishing Compounds- There are 4 different levels of polishing compounds. Starting from the coarsest, they are;
* Cutdown Compounds- These include the brown tripoli and bobbing compound
* Intermediate Compounds- Gray tripoli, graystar, white diamond, crocus. platinum tripoli, yellow bobbing
* Polishing Compounds- Red rouge, yellow rouge, hard white, white rouge, black rouge
* Super Finish Compounds- Blue magic, green rouge, fabuluster, zam
This is my current set up.You need to be careful when using the Electrolysis and not leave it on but a few minutes because it will burn up your adapter if left on to long.I only use it about 5 minutes at a time.
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