click on the images to enlarge.
Finally finished this long and robust job! You can see how highly reflective the nickel plating is...how nicely the sword knot is reflected in the front flat part of the bell.
Second picture from the top shows other items which go along with the sword repair...the backstrap, the bezel, back nut all needed to be polished and plated as well. I cut new leather bumpers from a piece of kid leather, and slide them on. The leather bumper keeps the sword from going "click" when it is slid into its scabbard. A "click" would mean a dent, and possibly a chip in the nickel.
Pictures number three and four show the sword all assembled together, and pic four is just to give you a glimpse of how ornate the etching is on the blade.
And the bottom picture is backstrap and handle...the operator's eye view so to speak.
So, just to repair the bell of the sword takes up to 40 hours to disassemble the sword, strip the old plating, deepen the decoration, sand out the dents and scratches, polish it up to a mirror finish with tripoli and rouge, clean, and electroclean the piece, nickel plate, and then re-assemble the sword. More if I have to cut new scabbard screws, or do any scabbard or blade work at all.
And the guys will use them and they will look just as bad in about 5 years.
4 comments:
Facinating read. I followed you here from Malta. Lots of time and love go into your work.
Indeed.
Bill is a very caring craftsman.
I love the new format, Bukk!
It must take so much to create these works of art.
Well, I don't create them so much as re-create them. Often they come to me VERY badly damaged, and require a lot of restoration.
No single step or stage is very difficult. Just there are LOTS of steps, and they must all be done right.
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