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Post by Dave Kelly on Dec 20, 2015 17:34:21 GMT
I'm running a facebook page in addition to my original posts here. Starting to lose track of what's where. :( This is actually an intro to a recently received Carabinier from SBG member Doug Colosio. He had barely just posted it and I snatched it before anyone else had a chance. This is the mightiest of the French double fullered straight swords introduced by the Gendarmerie in 1788. It has a highly refined spearpoint, the blade is 1 meter long (39.5 inches) and 3.25 lbs weight. PoB is still 4.25 inches from the guard. Sword came to me as was. Blade was near fine condition. The scabbard a G+ and the hilt VG- ( hours of sanding and cleaning has got me a respectable VG sword. ) Needs more cleaning before I try to polish. Need to do a mind meld with Ulahn to understand the process of restoring scabbards. He's leaked me a few photos of what's been consuming him in his loft. The results are humbling and stunning. s747.photobucket.com/user/kelly1863/slideshow/French%20M1854%20Carabinier%20Pallasche%20D%20Colosio
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Uhlan
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Posts: 3,121
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Post by Uhlan on Dec 20, 2015 20:54:59 GMT
Hello Dave.
You wanno go Spock on me?
Looked at the pictures and it seems like you did the heavy lifting already and with good results too. It is always a surprise to see what is lurking underneath the rust. This one looks better than I thought it to be. Depending on the depth, most, if not all, of those black spots can be removed quite easely. What will be left are clusters of small pits. Those can go very deep. Remember you have only 1.5mm to work with..... A good going over with 40 to 80 grid will remove most of the spots and shallow pits. From there you work your way up again: 120-180-240-400. Finish with that red-brown 3M sanding mat. By the way, saw pictures of a scabbard in original polish. Looks like they did not go further than semi gloss, precisely what you get with the 3M mat. I will email you and show you how to do it. It is easy but takes a lot of stamina and will power and coffee and a Windlass free space were you can work and let the project rest inbetween sessions. Also the steel-grit-oil dust is something you do not want in the house. And there will be a lot of that! Said he who sleeps just aside of the black trail that leads from the workshop, through the bedroom and down the stairs. Ah well, I've seen much worse....
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Post by Dave Kelly on Dec 20, 2015 22:42:12 GMT
Hello Dave. You wanno go Spock on me? Looked at the pictures and it seems like you did the heavy lifting already and with good results too. It is always a surprise to see what is lurking underneath the rust. This one looks better than I thought it to be. Depending on the depth, most, if not all, of those black spots can be removed quite easely. What will be left are clusters of small pits. Those can go very deep. Remember you have only 1.5mm to work with..... A good going over with 40 to 80 grid will remove most of the spots and shallow pits. From there you work your way up again: 120-180-240-400. Finish with that red-brown 3M sanding mat. By the way, saw pictures of a scabbard in original polish. Looks like they did not go further than semi gloss, precisely what you get with the 3M mat. I will email you and show you how to do it. It is easy but takes a lot of stamina and will power and coffee and a Windlass free space were you can work and let the project rest inbetween sessions. Also the steel-grit-oil dust is something you do not want in the house. And there will be a lot of that! Said he who sleeps just aside of the black trail that leads from the workshop, through the bedroom and down the stairs. Ah well, I've seen much worse.... The Vulcan mind meld is so handy, like cross loading computer data bases. I usually give up on sword cleaning about the 8 hour mark. It's only been the last few years that I've got some sense of which sanders and lubes actually work. But still give up at about 12 hours. Look at my efforts compared to the pros and get discouraged. I'm the ignorant lordly type who likes to play with the stuff, not get mechanical on creation and repair. Excuse I use for not having started down this road 25 years ago. Appreciate the guidance almost as much as your inspiration ;). ( Not to mention finding someone as grumpy as myself... bwaaaahahahahaha)
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Post by paulrward on Dec 21, 2015 5:08:23 GMT
Hello Mr. Kelly ;
The scabbard is looking very good, you have indeed done most of the heavy lifting. One thing you might want to try is cleaning the scabbard with a product called 'Liquid Wrench' . This can be purchased at most hardware, auto supply, or DIY stores, and comes in small, rectangular yellow cans similar to the small cans that '3-in-One' oil comes in.
Liquid wrench is a mixture of light oil, kerosene, and acetone, and is used to unstick rusted nuts and bolts. You will want to keep it away from the leather of the hilt, or a leather scabbard, but otherwise it will not harm metal.
What it DOES do is to penetrate under rust, and allow it to be scrubbed off. The best way that I have found is to use either a coarse cloth, such as a terrycloth washcloth, or a fine scotchbrite, and, after wiping on a liberal amount of the Liquid Wrench and allowing it to sit for 5-10 minutes, vigorously scrubbing the surface with the cloth or scotchbrite. Then wipe off the surface with a paper towel. You will often find you have a lot of orange rust on the paper towel after you have wiped it off. You can then repeat the process,until you stop getting rust on the paper towel. That is the sign that you have removed all the rust that Liquid Wrench will take off. Again, a very nice job on the scabbard, and a very nice sword as well. I really like the long, straight, killing swords.
As Robert Heinlein wrote; " I .... buckled belt and scabbard to my bare waist, wanting the touch of it and feeling like Captain John Carter, Jeddak of Jeddaks, and the Gascon and his three friends all in one....."
Respectfully ;
Paul R. Ward
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Post by Dave Kelly on Dec 21, 2015 10:03:37 GMT
Hello Mr. Kelly ; The scabbard is looking very good, you have indeed done most of the heavy lifting. One thing you might want to try is cleaning the scabbard with a product called 'Liquid Wrench' . This can be purchased at most hardware, auto supply, or DIY stores, and comes in small, rectangular yellow cans similar to the small cans that '3-in-One' oil comes in. Thanks for the tip, Ward! Have been using Strongarm Brand penetrating oil. Would never have thought to try LW. Have had good luck with 3M sanding sponges. Stand up better than paper.
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Uhlan
Member
Posts: 3,121
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Post by Uhlan on Dec 21, 2015 18:19:23 GMT
Send you a load of emails with the how to and lots of pictures. Forget about the 3M sanding sponges. You realy need 3M 80 grid paper on a roll. It last longer than a sponge. When you work with oil the sponge gets eaten away real quick. Long streaks of black plastic stuff all over. It melts away. I have done 10 scabbards now and that 80 grid works like nothing else. Contemplating doing a video of a how to. Well...maybe next year. Have 6 of those big pallash waiting. Should have stuck with collecting old books. Grumble..mumble...f$%king Dave Kelly..mumble..grumble...maniacs the lot of them... mumble...
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Post by Dave Kelly on Dec 21, 2015 22:44:36 GMT
Send you a load of emails with the how to and lots of pictures. Forget about the 3M sanding sponges. You realy need 3M 80 grid paper on a roll. It last longer than a sponge. When you work with oil the sponge gets eaten away real quick. Long streaks of black plastic stuff all over. It melts away. I have done 10 scabbards now and that 80 grid works like nothing else. Contemplating doing a video of a how to. Well...maybe next year. Have 6 of those big pallash waiting. Should have stuck with collecting old books. Grumble..mumble...f$%king Dave Kelly..mumble..grumble...maniacs the lot of them... mumble... You weren't supposed to do this until after you got beyond the 1822s. Do appreciate the incredible effort at trying to speed read me into your expertise.
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Uhlan
Member
Posts: 3,121
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Post by Uhlan on Dec 21, 2015 23:13:36 GMT
Well, now you can go out shopping for the right stuff before Christmas and show us the results directly after Christmas, hehehe...
The stick method works very fast if you get the hang of it. Try not to do long sessions. Two hours with a break in the middle works best for me. Next day another two hours and so on. That way you stay sharp and the project does not turn into a score. Be easy on yourself. Two hours of total consentration will wear you out and doing that extra mile when your energy is gone will influence the outcome in a bad way. But by all means find your own rhythm.
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