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Post by dougman on Apr 23, 2012 17:13:49 GMT
I know the absolute worst thing you can do is try to restore an antique...but this puppy is in some severe need of love. The blade and the handle appear to have been painted, but it looks very professionally done. All the screws seem to have been painted thoroughly and then reassembled. Here's a pic of the full sabre: It was made at the Springfield Armory, according to one stamp on the blade. The 1914 stamp below the SA indicates that it was made in 1914, right? And, it's got a full serial number...but I have no idea what to make of the serial number. I read (I think on here) that the serial number indicates which company the sword was issued to, and that'd be something I'm definitely interested in knowing...then I could hopefully track if the sword had seen combat. The final picture I took today was of the whole handle assembly. You can see the two screws for the grip, and the third screw in the pommel, as well as a bit of the rust that's on the whole sword. Right now, I've got the handle soaking in some PB Blaster to hopefully loosen the screws...my future plans include hitting the whole sword with some mineral spirits or acetone to remove the paint, then following up with some rust treatment, and hopefully finding an appropriate Bakelite grip (or otherwise crafting one out of wood). So, with that in mind, any help would be much appreciated regarding the stamps (serial number and date), how to disassemble the handle, and if I'm taking the right approach in repairing/restoring the whole sword. I'll probably keep this thread updated with pictures as I go along. (edited 5/4 for photobucket links)
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Post by dougman on Apr 24, 2012 18:26:44 GMT
Little bump. I've had the sword bathing in PB Blaster and Liquid Wrench, in a seemingly futile attempt to loosen the handle screws and the pommel screw, but boy are those rusted on there! Is there anything else I can do to loosen the screws, or should I just keep bathing them in chemicals?
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Post by dougman on Apr 27, 2012 14:57:31 GMT
Alright, I showed this to a local military antique dealer, and he recommended doing a full-on paint removal. He gave me a round number for a value, but he said he wasn't comfortable buying the sword in the condition it is in.
Can anyone validate these claims, and point me in the direction of a good tutorial for paint removal?
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Post by Dave Kelly on Apr 27, 2012 20:51:27 GMT
Might send a PM to Paul Ward and see if you can get his attention. He is an M1913 afficianado and has done restore work on his weapon.
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Post by dougman on Apr 30, 2012 23:11:28 GMT
Done! Mr. Ward sent me a very comprehensive, detailed instructional on fixing the sword up.
I might add that it was your thread, Dave, that actually led me to joining this site...The one where you compared a Springfield Armory M1913 to a reproduction by Windlass.
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Post by Dave Kelly on May 1, 2012 9:57:06 GMT
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Post by William Swiger on May 1, 2012 16:08:40 GMT
Dave is the sabre man!!
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Post by dougman on May 2, 2012 1:37:12 GMT
Small victory of the day..Through some creative use of a pair of Vice Grips and some pliers, my dad was able to finagle the handle/grip screws loose. They're now sitting in a jar of mineral spirits. I've been wet-sanding the blade, keeping the paper lubed with mineral spirits as well, and it's already looking worlds better. So, I'll keep this thread updated with pics as I go along. Attachments:
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Post by dougman on May 12, 2012 3:57:48 GMT
Couple weeks later bump.
I was trying to remove the pommel screw. As per Paul Ward's instructional, I was drilling out the screw and using a screw extractor. However, the tip of the extractor broke off...and still remains embedded in the pommel screw.
I've got the blade mostly stripped of paint; gotta work on the pitting in the steel a little. And, I've gotta work on stripping the paint from the handle and re-bluing it...but, ideally, I'd get the pommel screw out somehow before that.
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Post by paulrward on May 13, 2012 17:16:11 GMT
Hello Mr. Dougman ;
Do you have a Dremel type hand held power tool ? If so, with a metal cut-off wheel, you might be able to cut a slot in the screw extractor, and back it out. Then, drill a larger hole, and use a larger screw extractor. Let me know how it turns out.
Respectfully;
Paul R. Ward
PS - My offer still holds. If you can't get it out, you can send it to me, and I will get it out and replace it with a new screw.
PRW
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Post by ChrisRiley93 on May 17, 2012 0:39:55 GMT
I have nothing much to add here besides this:
Restoring an antique is the worst thing you can do if you do it horribly. If you restore it well, then you add to the value.
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Post by dougman on May 17, 2012 1:12:28 GMT
That's my fear! But, I'm not really trying to make a profit...It's just a cool thing to have, and say that I restored.
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Post by ChrisRiley93 on May 18, 2012 0:26:20 GMT
Oh yeah, definitely. If you aren't planning on selling it, the only thing that matters is that YOU like it, no matter how good or bad the restoration will be.
(Not that I'm implying your restoration job will be horrible, I was just making an overall statement.)
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Post by dougman on Sept 5, 2012 1:02:56 GMT
Sorry for the lack of updates...I got a full-time job (yay!) which meant a full-time decrease in the free time I had to do things like work on swords (boo!). Paul Ward has been helping me via email through the whole process, and I've recently hit some major victories! I tried to use a screw extractor to remove the pommel screw...as per my previous post. I wound up boring out the head of the pommel screw and taking the extractor with it. I bought a few small punches and chisels to work the edges of the pommel screw head out, in an effort to totally remove the screw and back the pommel and handguard out You can see the pockmarks that the pin-punches made, but thankfully, I've got most of those cleaned up. I finally got the head totally removed, and got the pommel screw down to this point: The little groove around the screw had stopped shrinking and had reached a consistent diameter, so I knew I had reached the shank of the screw. A few taps to the inside of the pommel loosened the whole thing right off Right now, and I don't have pictures, I have taken all the components (handguard/pommel assembly, all the mounting hardware,and the blade) to a wire wheel to remove all the paint that was on there. It's all cleaned up VERY nicely. Some of the original bluing is still visible on the handguard One issue I"ve run into is that the handguard is still wedged stuck inside the pommel. And, I need some grips. So, my to-do list, as it sits now, reads: -Finish cleaning up handguard and pommel -Re-blue handguard and pommel -Purchase some grips -Remove rust pocks from blade -Reassemble
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Sept 16, 2012 11:39:36 GMT
Most restorers have run screaming away from this thread when you mentioned "sanding" the blade, even more so when you said "wire wheel" - liquid paint stripper and a softer brush to remove the paint, a little 0000 steel wool and oil perhaps on the blade, however if it's just for you then scrub away till it looks nice to you.
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Post by dougman on Sept 16, 2012 13:33:24 GMT
I actually tried liquid paint stripper to no avail. The sanding was actually to reduce the pockmarks from rust that were on the blade, and I did finish it up with 0000 steel wool with oil. It looks much better now than when I bought it...it's still got that old patina going on, but the paint that was on the blade is no more.
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Sept 16, 2012 14:07:47 GMT
That paint sounds like the old style machinery lead based stuff, very tough paint, since this is a "keeper" for you then by all means give it the look that makes you happy, a coat of waxed based polish will keep the rust in check to a degree.
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Post by dougman on Nov 8, 2013 4:01:13 GMT
Ok, so...better than a year into this, I finally saved my pennies enough to buy a NOS set of Bakelite grips online! Through the past year, I got laid off of a previous job, which left me with sufficient time to get the sword completely disassembled, strip the paint, and (quite poorly) attempt to re-blue the guard and handles. With quite a bit of long-distance help from Mr. Paul Ward, via email, I got the entire sword put back together...then, just today, I received the bakelite grips in the mail, and got the entire thing back in shape...All that's missing now are some Mexican bandits
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Post by paulrward on Nov 9, 2013 4:03:07 GMT
Hello Mr. Dougman ;
Got your PM - How about some photos of the sword ?
Respectfully ;
Paul R. Ward
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Post by dougman on Nov 9, 2013 4:31:48 GMT
Photobomb incoming! From this: Something I thought was a foolish purchase from a gun show To this: The grips installed with the OG hardware: Kinda cool, artsy perspective shot: One of the most bawd-awss knicks on the blade (tells me this sword has some sweet stories): And, finally, the black spooge that came off of the grips onto my hand: It has been an absolute blast working on this...finding out the story of the Patton sabre, and that mine is one of less than 1,200 still known to exist; learning where and why these sabres were used. Thanks to two guys in this thread, and a third who, to my knowledge, isn't here(That is, Mr. David Kelly, Mr. Paul Ward, and Mr. Ken Andrews (an email contact)).
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