Polish L-guard sword: restoration project

[Jeff D]

Originally Posted by Evgeny_K

Jeff and dear all,
I've just remove mellowed rust after 3-4 weeks of soaking in the distilled water. Blade is not cleaned out to shiny naked metal (as it might seem from the photographs). I've leave some rust in the deep caverns. Next step is process the blade in the tannin solution.
Regards,
Evgeny

P.S. I've got another saber from Moscow region (Mozhaysk). Polish or Russian I'm not sure. Will be glad to get any advises from you how to deal with it.

Hi Evgeny,

My personal opinion is "Less is More". This is a 400-500 year old weapon it should not look new. I know the temptation of using modern power tools, sandblasters, and chemicals, I have tried all of them on old rusty tools as experiments, the results have been less than optimal. You clearly have some knowledge of restoration, but I would implore you not to experiment with these sabers, they are too valuable (even in artifact condition).

All the Best
Jeff

[David]

Originally Posted by Jeff D

Hi Evgeny,

My personal opinion is "Less is More". This is a 400-500 year old weapon it should not look new. I know the temptation of using modern power tools, sandblasters, and chemicals, I have tried all of them on old rusty tools as experiments, the results have been less than optimal. You clearly have some knowledge of restoration, but I would implore you not to experiment with these sabers, they are too valuable (even in artifact condition).

All the Best
Jeff

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What he said...

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by David

^ ^ ^ ^ ^
What he said...

Salaams David~ Fair enough except that in their "as found" (excavated condition) they were being devoured by active rust. By expertly removing the salt and deactivating the rust and giving the tannin a shot i think it is salvageable and worth then rebuilding the hilt around. I can't see another alternative. It is difficult to take the rust off a little bit...

Less is more we all know that but this is a basket case scenario... You either give it a go or its smeared in grease and left.. no one likes to do that especially when theres a chance to rebuild a hilt around a salvaged blade... I say give it a good try; lets see the final result but don't expect miracles in the blade area.
Meanwhile and perhaps more importantly our library of "restoration knowledge" is being added to...
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[David]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

Salaams David~ Fair enough except that in their "as found" (excavated condition) they were being devoured by active rust. By expertly removing the salt and deactivating the rust and giving the tannin a shot i think it is salvageable and worth then rebuilding the hilt around. I can't see another alternative. It is difficult to take the rust off a little bit...

Less is more we all know that but this is a basket case scenario... You either give it a go or its smeared in grease and left.. no one likes to do that especially when theres a chance to rebuild a hilt around a salvaged blade... I say give it a good try; lets see the final result but don't expect miracles in the blade area.
Meanwhile and perhaps more importantly our library of "restoration knowledge" is being added to...
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

Ibrahim, i would love for you to point out where exactly i ever stated that it was a bad idea to stabilize the rust so that no further deterioration could take place. I agree with the "less is more" approach in these particular cases, but i never stated that one should do nothing at all. I will maintain however that it is never a good idea to go at a blade with steel brushes on a power tool. When i look at the before and after on this particular blade i can clearly see additional loss along the edge near the tip of the blade, damage which was not there before the restoration began.

[Evgeny_K]

Originally Posted by David

When i look at the before and after on this particular blade i can clearly see additional loss along the edge near the tip of the blade, damage which was not there before the restoration began.

David and dear all,
Previously posted photos were taken a year before I got this saber.
Metal loss is a result of the corrosion effect.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

[QUOTE=David]Ibrahim, i would love for you to point out where exactly i ever stated that it was a bad idea to stabilize the rust so that no further deterioration could take place.


Salaams David~ I can't because you didn't. Regards Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

GREAT THREAD !!!