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30th January 2023, 06:26 PM | #1 |
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Join Date: Jan 2023
Location: United States
Posts: 3
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Sword cleaning - mistakes to avoid
Hello,
I thought it would be helpful (and perhaps a bit therapeutic) to speak of some of the mistakes which can happen during attempts at preservation. I feel many of our mistakes go unspoken, but talking about it and providing examples can help others in the future. There are many wonderful resources and topics for cleaning procedures already, but they do not cover every mistake or always provide visual aids. I will begin with a mistake I've recently made: While cleaning surface rust (oil, autosol, paper towel, 0000 steel wool) I have taken off more of the oxidation than I would have liked. It's only visible from certain odd angles (last photo), which is how I made the mistake.If anyone has similar "I wish I had known that sooner" experiences, please feel free to share. Best regards, John |
31st January 2023, 03:30 AM | #2 |
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Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: In the wee woods north of Napanee Ontario
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Reminds me of swords I've seen with griner marks or other power tool marks such as swirls. Very difficult to remove such markings. If you're not mechanically inclined and competent, allow another to clean your swords.
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31st January 2023, 09:53 AM | #3 |
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Join Date: May 2014
Location: Ireland
Posts: 542
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Welcome to the forum John, good thread Idea.
My Tip would be do nothing with an item for at least 2 weeks, just look at and study, to rush in invites errors. I then soak in diesel all swords with no organic component for a week and than give them a gentle rub to see what lies underneath, Looking forward to seeing how this thread develops. Regards, Ken |
31st January 2023, 10:37 AM | #4 |
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Join Date: Sep 2021
Location: Leiden, NL
Posts: 487
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I'm usually pretty conservative with them but at one point early on, I tried brushing a bit of the deepest black off of a fingerprint on this tulwar. Now I'm left with this ugly sheen whenever the light hits it at a certain angle. It glares at me from a distance as if to say "You did this to me! Behold your shame!".
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31st January 2023, 07:34 PM | #5 | |
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Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: In the wee woods north of Napanee Ontario
Posts: 391
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Quote:
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31st January 2023, 08:36 PM | #6 |
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Join Date: Sep 2021
Location: Leiden, NL
Posts: 487
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I'll try that, thanks!
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2nd February 2023, 07:06 PM | #7 | |
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: Czech Republic
Posts: 841
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Quote:
(If you want to unify the appearance of the surface, good results can also be achieved with sandpaper stuck to a soft sponge) |
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Tags |
cleaning, mistakes, patina, preservation, restoration |
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