Spanish cavalry sword Pics!

Dear Sirs, ) and Especially Mr. MidgardElder ;

I wish to chime in, as I have restored a number of similar sabers in the past. First, this saber is part of what I call 'The Class of 1900', which also includes the Swedish 1893, the German 1889 Dragoon, the British 1908 / 1912, and the U.S. Model Model 1913. All of them have three things in common: They are long and straight, for thrusting on horseback, they are designed to be disassembled and repaired by loosening screws and nuts, and they are all of a style that I call 'utilitarian-ugly'! In other words, as the world drifted away from the old ideals of nobility to the new fashion of modern total war, the swords drifted along with them, losing their glamorous fittings and becoming pure killing machines. Which is one of the reasons why I really like them......

Now, as for the M1907 in question: It has some nicks on the edge, and could use a little cleaning. The question is, do you want a really bright, shiny clean sword, or do you want a wall hanger with all of the 'patina' intact? ( Patina is another word for corrosion and filth ! ) I am going to assume you want to go with option ( 1 ) and that you want to clean the sword up.

We start by removing the leather washer from the ricasso, and giving the whole sword a good wiping down with a course cloth and some odorless mineral spirits. Try to get any trace of oil, grease, cosmoline, dirt, and zombie guts off of the sword. Do not use the solvent too aggressively on the wooden scales, as they can be attacked by it.

It is time to discuss disassembly. For the M1907 Puerto Seguro, you will need two specialized tools, which you can make yourself. First, for the two scale screws, you will have to take a wide flat blade screwdriver, and file a square notch in the middle, so that it will go into the two slots on the split head screw, allowing you to loosen it. The second tool will be a similar one, but larger, to allow you to loosen the nut on the pommel of the sword. One way of making this tool is to take a wrench, cut off one end, and drill two holes in the shaft of the wrench with spacing that matches the spacing on the holes on the pommel nut. Tap the two holes, and run two screws into the two holes of a size that will engage the holes on the pommel nut. With the modified screwdriver, you now have two tools that will allow you to work on M1907 Puerto Seguros. And nothing else.

Using the screwdriver, remove the scale screws and the two wooden scales.

Now, wrap the sword in a small piece of suede leather to protect the blade, and place the sword vertically in a vise with the pommel nut 'up'. Use your Pommel Nut Wrench to loosen the Nut. This will be difficult, and may require the use of some penetrating oil ( such as Liquid Wrench ) and some gentle tapping on the nut with a brass hammer to get it started. Work slowly and carefully at this point.

Okay, you have it apart. Time to get started on restoration.

First, the blade. You have a few nicks. ( I count 5 ) Get either a VERY fine flat file, or a course carborundum stone, and make ONE OR TWO lengthwise passes down the cutting edge, holding the file / stone at right angles to the edge, so that you take off the very edge of the blade. This will dull the blade, and will NOT totally remove the nicks, but will reduce them slightly. Make sure that you go the whole length of the blade, in one long pass, so that you do not 'dish' the edge of the blade at any one point.

Then take some 400 grit carborundum paper and a small wooden block. Wrap the abrasive around the block, and polish the blade with long, lengthwise strokes. At this time, you can restore the edge that you dulled with the file, but work carefully! You do NOT want a razor edge. You want a keen edge, which will inflict a wound when striking at high speed. A sharp edge will blunt and nick too easily. You can, if you wish, put on a slightly sharpened edge in the 2-4 inches at the tip, where, in a fight, you would tend to score on an opponent with a slash.

When the blade is nice and bright, move on the 600 grit, and then to 1000 grit and 2000 grit, if you wish. ( The last two grits can be found at auto supply stores in their paint department.) Do NOT make any stroke across the blade, as you can introduce micro-scratches that can weaken the blade and cause it to break or bend. 2000 grit will generally give you an accurate military finish. If you are Japanese, or really anal, you can start at this point with the magic water stones and the give it a katana-like mirror finish.

You can clean the scales using '4-0' ( 0000 ) steel wood, buffing them until they shine, and using a metal scriber to clean out and re-define the checkering in the scales. When the scales are clean, you can re-finish them with a quick coat of Birchwood Casey's Tru-Oil linseed oil gunstock finish. ( you can get this at almost any sporting goods shop that carries firearms. ) It will dry very glossy, so after a day or so, buff it lightly with the 4-0 steel wool and then with a rough dry cloth.

The Guard on your saber is still blue, and if it has any scratches or thin spots in the blue, you can touch it up with a little 'Cold Blue' , which you can also get at the sporting goods shop. It is used for re-blue-ing guns, and is very easy to use. Wear rubber gloves.

If you want, you can polish the scale screws, the pommel nut, and the pommel. They can then be re-blued with the cold blue. If you really want to go crazy, while the sword is all apart, you can hunt up a local plating shop that does hot rods and choppers, and see if they will give these parts a polish and plate job. This will run some bucks, but would give you a very nice, officer-grade sword that will be a little less 'utilitarian-ugly'.

Re-assemble the sword with the two tools you have made, and away you go. You have a nice, combat ready sword, and a pair of specialized tools that can be used on nothing else in the world. So go buy another M1907 and go crazy!


Hopefully this will be of some use in either sending you on a pathway of sword restoration, or in coonvincing you to remain sane and normal.

Respectfully;

Paul R. Ward