Dave Kelly's Hanwei Renaissance Side Sword Redone.
Aug 15, 2014 13:52:49 GMT
Post by Uhlan on Aug 15, 2014 13:52:49 GMT
This sword came from Mr. Dave Kelly, who bought a bunch of maltreated cum semi
antiqued ( read ,, tortured'') swords at Ebay not too long ago.
Mr. Kelly is a very reliable trading partner and without hassle the sword arrived at
my door in record time, well packed and in a good box.
The grip was gone and the polish was gone too, so there was work to do, but
for the pittance Dave asked for it, there was nothing to complain about.
Thanks Dave!
What had to be done:
The blade.
Polished out all little pits and scratches.
Gave the fullers the original mirror finish and the blade a 60 grit all over.
Made a new grip.
I used some parts from an old Victorian side table leg. Hand turned a long time ago,
it had that right, because imperfect, old fashioned hand made look I was after, plus
the wood had dried out, so it should not shrink any further.
Shortened the waisted piece and glued the two wooden risers, that came from the same
source, on it. Thus this is a three part grip, about 5 mm longer than the original.
Drilled the tang channel. Waxed the tang with mold release wax, shoved the new grip
in place, closed all apertures with sculpting wax and filled it with epoxy.
The next day the grip was removed, the sword cleaned and the leather applied and
painted black.The ergonomics of this grip are very good, both for pistol or hammer
grip and transitions from the one to the other are very easy. To me it feels
comfortable, with or without gauntlets.
The guard and pommel.
Some blemishes were polished out, some were left.
Tried a new brush plate formula on the stainless steel and it worked.
First plate was copper. Second was silver.
Now the antique look is enhanced by the soft sheen of the silver, which will oxidize
over time to even better effect.
The scabbard.
Looking much too ordinary and scruffy, a dive in the junk box was called for.
From an abandoned ,,gonna build my own Kyu Gunto '' project, these fittings had a
near perfect fit on the Hanwei scabbard from the off.
They came from a Marto Kyu Gunto and are made of zinc, with a plated bronze finish,
ready to be silvered.There is zinc and there is zinc. These fittings have good quality.
Only the drag had to be removed from the chape and I sawed off the top of the scabbard
mouth piece to get more space between it and the second fitting and to remove any
visual connection with the Japanese sabre it once served.
The reason I did not use them at the time was that the pattern was not a good copy
of the originals. Here the theme fits in perfectly, also in the time scale.
They could have been imported by a Venice merchant via, lets say, Istambul,
could well have been Turkish or even more exotic, Mughal from India, in origin.
A rich merchant could have picked them up at any up market sutler.
The zinc carrying rings were taken off and blued iron ones added.
Before the fittings were placed, the scabbard got a new coat of black leather paint.
The grip leather got one thinned coat of Polyurethane and the scabbard some more,
to lacquer the fittings in place and give the thinny scabbard a little more body.
The result is a semi old, Japanned leather look and a thin coat of wax was applied
to the uneven surface of the lacquered leather to enhance this.
Summary.
Well, that's it. An hour fun here and there after work, for three weeks, gives a new
lease on life to a mistreated sword that deserved much better. Though I have my
qualms with the pommel shoulders, as explained here: www.sword-forum.com/
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=22265&sid=6128dd71557ce60ce4b577889213a868 ,
Hanwei did a good job of it with this weapon. It is strong, light, safe to use after
some work and has good balance.
A serious side arm for serious gentlemen.
Cheers.
antiqued ( read ,, tortured'') swords at Ebay not too long ago.
Mr. Kelly is a very reliable trading partner and without hassle the sword arrived at
my door in record time, well packed and in a good box.
The grip was gone and the polish was gone too, so there was work to do, but
for the pittance Dave asked for it, there was nothing to complain about.
Thanks Dave!
What had to be done:
The blade.
Polished out all little pits and scratches.
Gave the fullers the original mirror finish and the blade a 60 grit all over.
Made a new grip.
I used some parts from an old Victorian side table leg. Hand turned a long time ago,
it had that right, because imperfect, old fashioned hand made look I was after, plus
the wood had dried out, so it should not shrink any further.
Shortened the waisted piece and glued the two wooden risers, that came from the same
source, on it. Thus this is a three part grip, about 5 mm longer than the original.
Drilled the tang channel. Waxed the tang with mold release wax, shoved the new grip
in place, closed all apertures with sculpting wax and filled it with epoxy.
The next day the grip was removed, the sword cleaned and the leather applied and
painted black.The ergonomics of this grip are very good, both for pistol or hammer
grip and transitions from the one to the other are very easy. To me it feels
comfortable, with or without gauntlets.
The guard and pommel.
Some blemishes were polished out, some were left.
Tried a new brush plate formula on the stainless steel and it worked.
First plate was copper. Second was silver.
Now the antique look is enhanced by the soft sheen of the silver, which will oxidize
over time to even better effect.
The scabbard.
Looking much too ordinary and scruffy, a dive in the junk box was called for.
From an abandoned ,,gonna build my own Kyu Gunto '' project, these fittings had a
near perfect fit on the Hanwei scabbard from the off.
They came from a Marto Kyu Gunto and are made of zinc, with a plated bronze finish,
ready to be silvered.There is zinc and there is zinc. These fittings have good quality.
Only the drag had to be removed from the chape and I sawed off the top of the scabbard
mouth piece to get more space between it and the second fitting and to remove any
visual connection with the Japanese sabre it once served.
The reason I did not use them at the time was that the pattern was not a good copy
of the originals. Here the theme fits in perfectly, also in the time scale.
They could have been imported by a Venice merchant via, lets say, Istambul,
could well have been Turkish or even more exotic, Mughal from India, in origin.
A rich merchant could have picked them up at any up market sutler.
The zinc carrying rings were taken off and blued iron ones added.
Before the fittings were placed, the scabbard got a new coat of black leather paint.
The grip leather got one thinned coat of Polyurethane and the scabbard some more,
to lacquer the fittings in place and give the thinny scabbard a little more body.
The result is a semi old, Japanned leather look and a thin coat of wax was applied
to the uneven surface of the lacquered leather to enhance this.
Summary.
Well, that's it. An hour fun here and there after work, for three weeks, gives a new
lease on life to a mistreated sword that deserved much better. Though I have my
qualms with the pommel shoulders, as explained here: www.sword-forum.com/
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=22265&sid=6128dd71557ce60ce4b577889213a868 ,
Hanwei did a good job of it with this weapon. It is strong, light, safe to use after
some work and has good balance.
A serious side arm for serious gentlemen.
Cheers.