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Post by Bushido on Jan 31, 2016 21:09:42 GMT
Hey all! Thought I'd share my latest project. I was recently promoted to Sgt 1st class (NCO of the Swedish Airforce) and as a kind of commemorative gift to myself I bought me a swedish officers sabre model m1893. It was made by Erik Svalling, son of Gustaf Emanuel Svalling, most likely sometime around 1900, and originally intended for cavalry officers these sabres are nowadays used by the airforces officers and NCOs for parades etc. I found my sabre at an auction house, and it cost me roughly $350. Sadly it wasn't in the best condition, and since I plan on wearing it for a wedding ceremony this summer I need to give it some TLC and make it look presentable. I realise by doing so I will most likely reduce the value of the sword, but since I'm planning on using it rather than selling it (and since it's only a massproduced semi modern sword and not a priceless antique) that doesn't really matter. What matters more is that it looks presentable, and I fear that if left in its current condition it will most likely deteriorate even further. Anyhow, here are some pictures of the sword in the condition it was in when I bought it: The handle is in decent condition, some nicks and bends in the guard plate but in total ok, although the tassle is in really poor condition but I would've had to replace it anyhow due to the fact that it's golden and not silver as would be NCO standard. The worst part is the blade sadly, quite a bit of rust and pitting in the area around the tip... Around a third of the blade is affected with the rust lessening towards the handle. This just won't do for celebratin a wedding, and to know how bad/deep the rust really is it has to be removed so I know how much of the blade will have to be reground. I started by wrapping the blade in rags dipped in a weak rust eating acid. This revealed deep pitting and scarring and a lot of pores in the front portion of the blade, and some along the length of the blade further up as well. To be honest it was worse than I had imagined, but too late to turn back now...
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Post by Bushido on Jan 31, 2016 21:17:03 GMT
Since I don't want to remove more material than necessary, all of the work will be done manually on this sword. Time to bring out the sand paper... Spent about six hours gently sanding away the worst rust and scars, and the result is as follows:
As you can see I haven't been able to get rid of everything just yet, but at least it's coming along. I'm currently debating with myself on whether it's better to leave the deepest pores and maintain as much material as possible, or if it's better to go all out and grind away every last trace to hinder the rust from returning. Thing is removing all of the rust down to the deepest pits might mean changing the geometry of the blade, and I'd prefer to keep it as close to original as possible... Luckily my sabre is of the blunt unsharpened kind used for parades (many of these were sharpened prior to WW1), so there is a bit of spare material. But it's not infinite I'm afraid...
More to follow, thanks for looking!
Cheers, Anton.
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Post by chrisperoni on Jan 31, 2016 21:33:12 GMT
That is a beautiful sword. If you can make sure the rust is not active then it won't continue to spread and it'll be ok to leave some of the deeper pits. Plus then the blade maintains some of that antique character while still looking cleaned up/polished. I like the worn but cared look. I wouldn't want to alter the geometry either.
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Post by Bushido on Jan 31, 2016 22:01:22 GMT
That is a beautiful sword. If you can make sure the rust is not active then it won't continue to spread and it'll be ok to leave some of the deeper pits. Plus then the blade maintains some of that antique character while still looking cleaned up/polished. I like the worn but cared look. I wouldn't want to alter the geometry either. Thank you, I'm quite fond of the looks as well! :) And I totally agree with you, some patina on an old sword can indeed be very charming. But the risk of the rust spreading is a concern, it would be sad to leave it, polish eveything up and then have to redo it later having to remove more material than I could've gotten away with now... But yes, blade geometry is my main concern so the deep pit on the tip for instance will have to be left there as I can't get to it without removing far too much material. I'll continue the polishing tomorrow as soon as I get some new wet sanding papers in a finer grit, once I get the sword polished most smaller pits should blend in a bit more and as long as the rust doesn't spread that should be fine :)
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Post by Dave Kelly on Jan 31, 2016 23:14:48 GMT
Your work looks super! Don't worry about the smaller black spots. That's pretty much stabilized corrosion. Use any of the silicon impregnated military gun lubes to keep that stuff suspended. Don't worry about cleaning up a sword to serviceable condition. You started with a G- piece and a good polish on a servicable sword can make it a Fine sword again. ( Market for Swedish isn't all that great anyway; they are undervalued.)
I have an 1893 set, officer and enlisted. Adore the officer sword.
Hmmm. I need to look at current knots in Swedish service. I could use a few for some new acquisitions ( 1853 and 1864 Cav Enl...)
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Post by Bushido on Jan 31, 2016 23:53:39 GMT
Your work looks super! Don't worry about the smaller black spots. That's pretty much stabilized corrosion. Use any of the silicon impregnated military gun lubes to keep that stuff suspended. Don't worry about cleaning up a sword to serviceable condition. You started with a G- piece and a good polish on a servicable sword can make it a Fine sword again. ( Market for Swedish isn't all that great anyway; they are undervalued.) I have an 1893 set, officer and enlisted. Adore the officer sword. Hmmm. I need to look at current knots in Swedish service. I could use a few for some new acquisitions ( 1853 and 1864 Cav Enl...) Thank you so much Dave, That really means a lot to me coming from you! I think I can get my hands on some Break-Fre CLP, is that something like what you refer to? Thanks again, I really appreciate it and I'll do my best to make this a fine, servicable and sustainable piece once again :) I quite like the simplicity of the enlisted version as well, with the plain pierced guard plate and single blood groove. Really pretty as in a "less is more" kind of way. Even if the officers version is a bit more fancy of course :D As far as I know the portepé model m1797 in gold (officers) or silver (NCOs) is what we currently use, that's the kind I'm currently looking for to replace my old rotten one. There's also the m/30 for the small pilots dagger. If you don't mind I'd really like to see your Swedish swords, care to share some pics or point me in the direction of where you've posted some already? :) Cheers!
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Post by bfoo2 on Feb 1, 2016 3:01:29 GMT
Great work!
Are you planning on doing some work on the guard? It looks in good condition now, but some Brasso (brass polishing compound) will remove whatever little tarnish there is and make the thing shine.
Coincidentally, I also recently did some work on a Swedish 1893 sword (enlisted, not officer). Here's the brass polish at work. Unfortunately, my scabbard is nowhere near as nice as yours (which retains it's blackening very very well)
Before
After
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Post by Dave Kelly on Feb 1, 2016 3:11:27 GMT
Break Free does it. I use Militec ( USMS and CIA use). Several gun oils have adopted similar ingrediants. Unfortunately the 1893 enlisted pallasche is a clumsy beast. Awful balance. Needed more fullering. While you get yourself sword knots I may need to send you some funds to get me a couple of officer knots myself. Traditional enlisted knots were supposedly reindeer buff lanyards. I have 3. There is a dealer in Australia who sells replica buff british knots on ebay. smaller than Swedish knots but wear well in a pinch. Do you know this web site? www.schweden-kavallerie.de/Just shot these. Night time and light is poor. I really haven't kept my swedish swords photo archive up to date. Have acquired '53 and '64 dragoon sabers and a late century infantry office pipeback saber to go with my infantry chasseur officer pipe back, my 1869 Dragoon and the 1893 set. Best I can do for now. Time to shut down and go to bed. Work comes early.
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Post by bfoo2 on Feb 1, 2016 4:15:59 GMT
More Swedish goods than an IKEA display. Which one is your favourite, Dave Kelly?
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Post by Dave Kelly on Feb 1, 2016 11:24:31 GMT
More Swedish goods than an IKEA display. Which one is your favourite, Dave Kelly ? The 64-69 and the 93 officers. 53 is pretty good but the hussar like short handle limits manner of use.
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Post by Bushido on Feb 1, 2016 11:59:02 GMT
Great work! Are you planning on doing some work on the guard? It looks in good condition now, but some Brasso (brass polishing compound) will remove whatever little tarnish there is and make the thing shine. Coincidentally, I also recently did some work on a Swedish 1893 sword (enlisted, not officer). Here's the brass polish at work. Unfortunately, my scabbard is nowhere near as nice as yours (which retains it's blackening very very well) Before After Thanks a lot! I hope to be able to give it at least some spit and polish, but I don't know how far I dare to go as there are some spots where the brass almost seems to be flaking making me believe it might actually be plated and not solid brass... And I wouldn't want to rub through if it's only a thin layer... It's mainly on the back ridge of the handle rather than on the guard plate itself that I've noticed this flaking. Perhaps you know better than I if it is actually solid or what's going on there? Your sword looks really nice, god job! I hope I can get mine to shine like that too! :) The blackening is ok, a little bit of surface rust here and there but overall ok. Sadly there's a big dent in it on the side facing outward when worn (off course...) but not much to do about that sadly... Again, really nice polish on that sword, well done! :)
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Post by Bushido on Feb 1, 2016 12:07:28 GMT
Break Free does it. I use Militec ( USMS and CIA use). Several gun oils have adopted similar ingrediants. Unfortunately the 1893 enlisted pallasche is a clumsy beast. Awful balance. Needed more fullering. While you get yourself sword knots I may need to send you some funds to get me a couple of officer knots myself. Traditional enlisted knots were supposedly reindeer buff lanyards. I have 3. There is a dealer in Australia who sells replica buff british knots on ebay. smaller than Swedish knots but wear well in a pinch. Do you know this web site? www.schweden-kavallerie.de/Just shot these. Night time and light is poor. I really haven't kept my swedish swords photo archive up to date. Have acquired '53 and '64 dragoon sabers and a late century infantry office pipeback saber to go with my infantry chasseur officer pipe back, my 1869 Dragoon and the 1893 set. Best I can do for now. Time to shut down and go to bed. Work comes early. Great, I'll stop by work and get some right this afternoon! Thanks! I can imagine, because the enlisted versions blade is quite a bit longer too if I'm not mistaken? Must be extremely point heavy... Sadly I've no idea where I can get the knots, I was hoping you might have some tips *laughs*. I'll try stopping by our quarter master while I get the Break-free, perhaps they know who delivers the knots for the parade regiment and if it's possible to place an order. I'll keep you posted on the development! That's a very nice website indeed, I had not seen it before so thanks for posting it! Lots of pretty swords there! And your collection is awe inspiring as always, absolutely fantastic... I'm not even going to deny it, I am very jealous :D Everything looks just amazing, I salute you good sir!
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Post by Bushido on Feb 1, 2016 12:13:28 GMT
Now then, back to work on my own sword. The guard is next up until I can get my hands on some medium grit wet sanding paper to continue work on the blade. My sword seems to have led a rough life as the guard plate was badly bent out of shape when I got it:
The remedy for this was a gentle but firm whacking with a wooden club in all the right places *laughs*
It's still not quite perfect, but I didn't dare go beyond this point from fear of weakening and cracking the metal from shape hardening... It'll have to do, I think it looks better than before at least. Now for the polish, stay tuned! :)
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Post by Bushido on Feb 1, 2016 12:19:44 GMT
Here's the flaking I mentioned earlier:
At least that's what I think it is, but I'm not really sure... Perhaps it's just very localized tarnish? The edge around the spot seems rather sharp though which leads me to believe the surface layer has actually fallen off... Do you know anything about this Dave? Is the end cap and back ridge also solid brass, and do I dare polish it?
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Post by Bushido on Feb 1, 2016 16:39:28 GMT
I took a chance, and it turned out quite nice if I dare say so myself!
I also struck gold at the quartermaster and got both some Break-Free and a nice silver knot model m/1797 in exchange for my rotten gold one! Sadly he didn't know who the manufacteurer is, but I still need to go back there and get some other stuff so maybe someone else will be on duty who knows. I'll have to get back to you about that Dave.
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Post by Bushido on Feb 1, 2016 21:29:12 GMT
Aaaand... It's done! I think it's done at least. Some minor pores and scratches still remain, but as I said I prefer to maintain material and blade geometry rather than removing everything down to the last little pit so it'll have to do. The result:
What do you guys think? :) Personally I'm rather happy, it feels like a completely different sword from the one I brought home from the auction house. :)
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Post by Dave Kelly on Feb 1, 2016 22:29:44 GMT
Well Done! Looks lovely. Ready for parade.
No problem on the knot. Finding them is always a problem. Saw a Paki retailer who had them cataloged, but had to buy in bulk; 125 minimum :(.
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Post by Bushido on Feb 1, 2016 23:06:32 GMT
Well Done! Looks lovely. Ready for parade. No problem on the knot. Finding them is always a problem. Saw a Paki retailer who had them cataloged, but had to buy in bulk; 125 minimum :(. Thanks Dave, I'm really glad you like it! Ouch, that is a pain... I'll check again with the quartermaster and see if he can find the dealer for me tomorrow. Someone must be making them, they can't all be NOS I mean..
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Post by newfoundviking on Feb 1, 2016 23:23:59 GMT
Looks really really great, nice job!
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Post by Bushido on Feb 1, 2016 23:54:32 GMT
Looks really really great, nice job! Thanks! :)
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