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Post by viece on Feb 23, 2018 19:05:14 GMT
This post been incorporated into an article on SBG!
Hi all-- Here's a Deepeeka Viking sword I recently got in order to abuse. I find the real Viking field/river finds incredibly evocative but can't afford even the most fragmentary and beat-up examples, so I decided to make one. I recognize that some people will be offended by the whole idea but we all have our tastes (for instance, I love coconut but my wife can't stand even the thought of it). Anyway, the four panels in the picture show the original and then 24, 48, and 72 hours of white vinegar + salt spray. The hilt is covered with cling wrap and duct tape to protect it from direct moisture and vinegar and whatnot; I'll mess that up with dirt and sandpaper later. After each day of aging, I wiped off the surface grunge to expose the new pits, discoloration, etc. before re-spraying. It's now shallowly buried in wet soil. For whatever reason, the harsh LED lights in my garage make it look much more orange than it looks in person. It looks more dark brown-red. I'll post more after a week or two of marinating in the mud and see how that goes. For the end stage, the final cleanup and stabilization, I'm interested in suggestions about how best to clean off the chunky rust without polishing off the texture of the damaged metal underneath. In other words, I don't want to polish with abrasives or anything but just take it down to gray, pitted, unevenness like the incredible neo-antiques from Raven Armoury. Any tips? Thanks all!
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Post by Svadilfari on Feb 24, 2018 0:43:51 GMT
Interesting experiment. I may try one at some point myself..if I can get the courage up to de-modernise a sword. However, personally..I think your "antique" would look more realistic if you stripped off the grip before antique-ing. You don't see many "genuine" viking-age swords with surviving grips ?
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Post by viece on Feb 24, 2018 1:54:12 GMT
Interesting experiment. I may try one at some point myself..if I can get the courage up to de-modernise a sword. However, personally..I think your "antique" would look more realistic if you stripped off the grip before antique-ing. You don't see many "genuine" viking-age swords with surviving grips ? You have a great point. I still want to be able to comfortably play with it, though. I'm not going to try to pass it off as a real antique, so I'm ok with logical inconsistencies in its fictional backstory...
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Feb 24, 2018 2:16:22 GMT
You might try a solution of baking soda and water to neutralize the acid in the aging process, stopping the rusting. To clean it up use WD-40 with a very mild abrasive such as 000 steel wool. Very fine sandpaper with the oil also should work. I’d start with 1000 grit. If that’s too fine try the next coarser grit up. The aging looks good so far.
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Post by MOK on Feb 24, 2018 3:25:27 GMT
I'd just leave the grip unmasked, expose it to all the dirt and rust and chemicals from the aging process. With any luck it'll darken and "weather" to match the rest of the sword without you having to do anything to it specifically.
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Post by viece on Feb 24, 2018 14:40:15 GMT
Thanks. I will try the baking soda at the end, and may unwrap the grip midway through the burial. I plan to turn and rebury a few times to keep it from being excessive on one side vs the other.
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Post by viece on Feb 26, 2018 22:09:57 GMT
Update: 3 days vinegar/salt spray, then 3 days buried in wet soil. I like the way it's coming along. Still a lot of bare steel showing, so I think I will do a little more vinegar.
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Post by Jordan Williams on Feb 27, 2018 1:24:19 GMT
3 weeks or months in wet soil might do it well
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Veerdin
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Post by Veerdin on Feb 27, 2018 15:07:44 GMT
Just bury it in a peat bog and come back in about 600 years, then you'll have it looking right!
In all seriousness, though, I recently cleaned the rust off an antique scythe I picked up from a collector, and even though I was using some pretty course sandpaper and abrasives, when I'd cleaned the rust off, the base metal was very pitted and dull, if you get it really heavily corroded, then even tough abrasives won't get rid of the pitting.
I'd say leave it in the solution for around a week or two, or bury it in some acidic soil (just be sure to mark the place first! Don't want to lose your sword!) And be sure to mar it up with something before each bath, give it some nicks and scratches to really give it that "ancient, battle-worn sword" look.
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Post by Gunnar Wolfgard on Feb 27, 2018 16:47:59 GMT
I like the idea of a excavated museum look sword for display. DSA use to sells some but didn't have a Viking sword, they only have a 12th C Medieval sword and Viking axe left in their clearance sale. I agree with Svadilfari remove the grip all together or maybe only leave traces of wood because that would make it look more realistic. I don't know if I would do anything to stabilize the aging process let it keep aging.
But if you're not looking for a museum display sword then what Pgrandy said is right. Baking soda in water will neutralize the acid in the vinegar. Use to use white vinegar to clean salt water corrosion off customers scuba equipment then baking soda in water to neutralize the vinegar. Whatever you're shooting for it's looking real good so far.
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Post by viece on Feb 27, 2018 22:13:22 GMT
Thanks for the suggestions so far!
I knew about the DSA excavation series and was interested, especially at the half-off clearance price. However, DSA told me the excavation series medieval sword is not functional and is for display only. I admire their honesty about that but it's not for me. I like the idea of a rusted beater that's still tempered and fully useable. So that's why I'm making this one.
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Post by uptothehilt on Apr 2, 2018 23:26:20 GMT
Hi Viece,
I like your idea that I just read about in Paul's latest SBG issue !!
I have a collection of the Darksword Armoury 'Excavation' series swords. These 'aged' swords come with a dry powdery feel to them that I brushed off with a nylon brush and a rough piece of cloth. Looking at numerous museum images of actual excavated medieval swords, I wanted to obtain a similar preserved look. Unable to find any Renaissance wax, I decided to try some Johnson's floor polish in the big yellow tins. After applying a liberal layer over the entire sword, I worked it in with a nylon brush and after a two hour drying, I polished the surfaces with a soft cloth. It took eight coats with each sword to achieve the surface appearance that I was looking for. The swords ended up with a nice semi gloss dark brown patina.
Below are three photos. The first one is before the polish treatment.
Doug.....
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Post by viece on Apr 3, 2018 3:20:34 GMT
Doug -
Thanks for the tip! I like the look of the swords in the bottom photo. My Viking sword and a cutlass are now buried in the yard.
Side note, now that I'm messing with these techniques and getting more familiar with various deterioration vectors, I'm amazed to see how many half-$emprinied fakes are on ebay. I guess I was naive.
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Post by uptothehilt on Apr 3, 2018 4:12:54 GMT
Hi Viece,
When I received one of my 'excavation' swords a couple of years ago, it had a small scrape that revealed bare metal !! I made up a mixture of salt and malt vinegar and covered the bare metal with it and wrapped it in plastic wrap and tape so it wouldn't evaporate. After about a week, I unwrapped the plastic and the result was very close to the original 'excavation' finish. I rinsed off the mixture and let it dry. I then did the Johnson wax treatment and the scrape can no longer be seen.
I spoke to Eyal at Darksword Armoury a while ago and I got the impression that they covered the swords with some corrosive mixture similar to ours and then literally buried them for months. Based upon the pitting etc on the surface of my swords, I can well believe this. Unfortunately they are not planning on creating any more and I believe that any remaining stock has now been sold after they had the 50% off sale.
Doug........
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Post by viece on Apr 3, 2018 11:02:02 GMT
Doug - I corresponded with DSA a bit about the Excavation series but ended up going a different direction. Just curious, though, did they just wrap the bare tangs with leather, or is there a fully constructed grip? Have you taken off the wrap on any of them? Thx
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Post by uptothehilt on Apr 3, 2018 16:39:43 GMT
Hi,
There is no grip as such. When I ordered my swords and dagger I was offered a choice of a bare tang with no covering or a choice of two different coloured leather wraps. This wrap is not to replace a normal grip but really just to make it more comfortable to handle and hold the sword. Obviously, the tang has the same 'excavated' finish as the rest of the sword and the leather wrap can easily be removed.
Doug.....
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christain
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It's the steel on the inside that counts.
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Post by christain on Apr 3, 2018 18:14:50 GMT
This is a pretty cool topic. I've made several blades that I've given the salt/vinegar/burial treatment. They really do look like genuine artifacts. I wish I had taken pictures. I have an old Windlass sword I basically got for free. It just may have to get doped up and buried for a couple of months.
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Post by viece on Sept 8, 2018 15:46:49 GMT
Hey all-- Just a quick update on the Deepeeka Hersir Viking sword that I've been experimenting with. I'm honored that it's been incorporated into the patina article on the main SBG site (https://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/patina-a-sword.html). Anyway, I buried it for a few months, then soaked it in a strong vinegar solution for about a week to take the thick rust off. While in the vinegar these 3D rust-bubble forms of the swords I was soaking built up on top of liquid. I then let it dry and used WD-40 and steel wool to remove the encrustations. After scrubbing it, I cleaned it more gently to get the various residues off and then sealed with Renaissance Wax. It came out darker than I expected. I like the pitting on the blade, but I'm not a big fan of the relatively unpitted but flat gray of the pommel and guard. It almost looks like aluminum now, which was not the intent. Oh well, still an interesting process.
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Sept 8, 2018 20:48:32 GMT
Looks good.
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Post by theophilus736 on Sept 8, 2018 21:18:46 GMT
Would you be able to link to any examples of what you were hoping it would look like? The examples I've seen almost always look really dark. Almost black with tons of pitting. Just trying to get a metal picture of what river/earth finds you are referring to.
Looks great by the way!
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