Reusable toothpick?

lol it does sound silly after the fact and out of context of coin cleaning.

Stabilized wood toothpicks sound expensive to even make sense lol, and of course plastics would exist... A reusable substitute would be more of what I'm looking for... I do run out of toothpicks often as I CRH often. I could buy a lot at one time dedicated to the hobby, but if I could spend the same amount on one substitute that will last I would.

 

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I could send you a hunk of tamarack and you could splinter it yourself, maybe. That's some hard stuff.

 

Thanks for the gesture - I think I can find something like that around here.

Good idea to test out.

 

I've been dealing with this problem too. I just reuse toothpicks as much as possible. Sometimes I cut them down once the end is too dirty.

 

You want hard and common wood oak or yellow pine both love to splinter too and the splinters of either can be areal sob to remove as my hands can attest. As to lignum vitae its a tropical vine actually I had a log of it 3' long and about 12" diameter. I couldn't even pick it up!! Was a 200 piece that had probably been stored in a shipyard then never used and forgotten. It felt petrified. In case anyone wonders I'm a professional woodworker so I'm very familiar with all species used in furniture and construction in America especially 200 years ago as I do restoration work

 

I understand that some coins can be helped with thorns or toothpicks but I have seen many that have been damaged by folks trying this method of cleaning. Be careful with the coin you pick to try it on and have a steady hand. No vodka before you try it.

 

Lol vodka helps steady my hands

 

Very cool to hear you do that kind of work.

I know that lignum vitae is one of the hardest and densest woods known to man. I hear they even used it as shaft bearings back in the day on nuclear submarines - it'll last for ages and take a beating! I'm sure a pen or small toothpick-sized one will feel "unusually" heavy.

 

Sidetracking a bit here, but thought this might be of help to the OP.

When I'm working with the type of coin you described, I use a toothpick on the gunk that collects in and around letters and numerals while the coin is still soaking in the acetone. Often just a gentle nudge is all it takes for the gunk to dislodge and float away, thus lessening the risk of damage one might inflict by poking and prodding with a toothpick.

Unfortunately, you must use a wood toothpick, because a plastic one will melt in the acetone.

 

Good idea. I already do that with q-tips, but I find that it's hard to get leverage to hold the coin still. Maybe I can use a q-tip to hold the coin still with the other hand. The toothpick can be cleaned in the process, too.

I may just end up getting a hardwood knitting needle like the one below in the same diameter as a toothpick, since I would still probably use up a lot of toothpicks and the length would make it easier to clean while in an acetone bath and outside of it. The hardwood needle will stay clean by nature of this process, too.

 

I use Bamboo Skewers (available at the Supermarket) that come in a package (usually 100). I had tried Toothpicks but found them too soft for moving stubborn crud. The bamboo Skewer has an advantage in that it is initially longer (8" or 12") and can be broken/cut so that it mimics a pencil in the hand, thereby offering a great deal of control over the operation. The Skewers usually come with a very fine, sharp tapered point that can get into most receses of the Details, and around Lettering and the Rim-Field junction where most of the crud tends to congregate. While Bamboo is a hard material, I have yet to leave any scratches on any coin. I always do this operation under magnification and use an approach where I come at the deposit on an angle of about 30-45 degrees, so that the force applied is more of a shearing type of operation. The Bamboo Skewer does last a long time.

 

I should give bamboo skewers a try. I found some for less than $2 for a pack of 100! Almost half a foot long, too. But, if they do last a long time, 100 sounds like a lot.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/100X-Fruit-...214?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item566e5528c6

Or, pay double for bamboo knitting needles... may as well get the skewers:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Knitting-Ne...t=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item43aa03046f


Or both.

 

Yes a toothbrush will leave scratches,and when they talk about a rose thorn most neglect to mention a Green thorn

 

I actually noticed some scratches on a coin I was working with. As someone just mentioned, be very careful or you'll wish that crud was back on the coin and the scratch wasn't. Magnification would be ideal and a lot of patience