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Post by viece on Feb 15, 2019 23:29:53 GMT
Yeah, I own antiques and they really aren't even challenging to look after. I oil them once a month and I've never had any issues related to care. If anything, I've noticed modern steel tends to be more sensitive to rust and corrosion. Great point. I agree. I notice my modern repros are much more sensitive and prone to spotting and tiny rust blooms, while my antiques have varying levels of patina making a base layer of protection under the Ren Wax or oil. One of them was in a collector's storage unit for 20-25 years with no maintenance before I got it, and during that time it only developed minor spots of orange dust that came off with a soft cloth and mineral spirits.
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stormmaster
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I like viking/migration era swords
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Post by stormmaster on Feb 15, 2019 23:51:04 GMT
Damn Storm that’s a shame. Super beautiful sword, wonder how old the wrap is it looks new. the wrap is maybe 2-4 years old and patina to match the fittings, its made by peter from mandarin mansion
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stormmaster
Member
I like viking/migration era swords
Posts: 7,647
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Post by stormmaster on Feb 15, 2019 23:53:37 GMT
I know a great little militia sabre in the classifieds i saw lol, but im atm only interested in chinese antique swords
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Post by randomnobody on Feb 20, 2019 0:10:52 GMT
Over the past few days, I've been thinking about this thread and some of the sentiments offered, and I find myself wondering if there's any interest in a catalog of antiques owned by individual members of this forum. I'm aware of the Members Collections subforum, wherein each member can create a thread to showcase and discuss their entire collections and document growth and other changes, and I know there's a thread indexing antique sword "reviews" (differentiated from regular reviews of currently available production and/or custom swords as the guidelines there tend to require cutting test results and not many cut antiques, so much as measure them and discuss handling) that have been individually shared by a handful of members...but I was thinking a dedicated thread, akin to the New Acquisitions thread, where members can share a catalog or other compilation of their on-hand antiques for reference sake. I'm thinking of something that will make antiques feel more accessible to those trying to break into the market for their first foray, like stormmaster was in this thread. I'm not thinking of something where people can post auctions or sales and ask for assessment or appraisal before trying to buy, but a place where those of us who've already crossed the line can share how we got started, what we've been through, and where we are now, in the hopes that a beginner will feel more comfortable making the plunge themselves. Ideally, in my mind, there would be two threads: One for each contributing member to post their current collection as it is right now, maybe with some simple descriptors and perhaps a brief synopsis of their collecting history, that is otherwise closed to discussion. Each post can be edited to reflect changes in the featured collection, be it a new addition or the passing-on of an old piece. This should keep things tidy for a quick reference, eg Dave Kelly has seven 1876 Light Cavalry sabers, four in scabbard, three without, one badly rusted but in line for restoration. I made all that up, for reference. I have no idea whether Dave has any 1796 sabers at all. Two, a thread where other members can link to individual posts and ask those members questions about their collections. Using Dave's imaginary 1796s again, let's say I wanted to see if there were any visible armory markings. I wouldn't ask in the main thread, but in the secondary thread I would post a link to Dave's post in that thread, tagging Dave, and asking if he could share a close-up of any visible markings. Then others could discuss whichever merit they please, or ask another member something about their own post. All this as a way of showing that you really don't need "qualifications" to own an antique, and hopefully to show just how accessible many of them are, even to those of us with limited budgets. Members can discuss their care practices in their showcase posts, or answer questions about it in the secondary thread. Maybe we could sticky one or both? I can't say I've seen anything quite to this effect here, but I do know quite a few of us have a pretty substantial number of antiques in our collections, some very unique. Bringing back the "review" index (which I couldn't find?) it seems they were all military patterns, with almost no unique pieces. This would be a way to showcase both. For instance, I don't have any 1796s, but I do have an assortment of Afghan stuff, a few Algerian, a couple Japanese, and a Turkish. Oh, and a Gras bayonet. That's the only pattern I have. Something like this might be interesting? If anybody's still reading and hasn't tired of my rambling yet, I'd like to hear some thoughts. Sorry to highjack this thread, but I didn't think making a new one was justified and couldn't figure out where to put it, anyway.
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Post by Jordan Williams on Feb 20, 2019 0:38:00 GMT
There is the antique review index Pinotte and I made, but it gets buried easily under new reviews and posts.
I would be interested in a sort of "living catalog", but it may be a pita for some members like Uhlan, Edelweiss, or Dave Kelly to post their current quite large collections.
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Post by randomnobody on Feb 20, 2019 0:55:23 GMT
There is the antique review index Pinotte and I made, but it gets buried easily under new reviews and posts. Yeah, that's the one I couldn't find. I thought it was stickied? I think a "living catalog" would be very interesting, but definitely need to figure out how those of us with particularly large collections would best showcase them... I took two photos earlier of the 14 little things I have (short swords, daggers, and bayonets are easier to pile into one shot than multiple full-sized swords) as a sort of proof-of-concept, but even with as little as I have, I couldn't really get a satisfactory photo. I blame the lighting in my room and my terrible cell phone camera.
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Post by viece on Feb 20, 2019 2:26:06 GMT
It's a good idea. That would probably become my go-to thread to check here. I have posted a few of my antiques before but they're buried as individual entries.
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Post by Jordan Williams on Feb 20, 2019 2:35:23 GMT
There is the antique review index Pinotte and I made, but it gets buried easily under new reviews and posts. Yeah, that's the one I couldn't find. I thought it was stickied? I think a "living catalog" would be very interesting, but definitely need to figure out how those of us with particularly large collections would best showcase them... I took two photos earlier of the 14 little things I have (short swords, daggers, and bayonets are easier to pile into one shot than multiple full-sized swords) as a sort of proof-of-concept, but even with as little as I have, I couldn't really get a satisfactory photo. I blame the lighting in my room and my terrible cell phone camera. It's not stickied But here's a link. sbg-sword-forum.forums.net/thread/55136/categorized-index-antique-reviews-writeupsIf you want to take on creating the thread, I'll post mine up.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2019 2:45:07 GMT
When I'm dead, someone will be around to catalog and index my swords In my mind, I was just filking some impromptu lyrics to the 12 days of Christmas. I have no intent or interest in offering up an overall index/catalog of my period swords. Had I any interest in doing so, I would have begun with a collection post to the show and tell section. As it is, you may have missed posts by some of us outlining swords we own. I had (not so long ago) started an Ames thread with my examples. In another, mostly regarding one particular eaglehead pommel form. I may in time write a few hundred pages on just three forms of the eagles but I am not there yet. What I and others have done is show some of our wares and put our hearts into discussing them. Now you wish we would start all over for the convenience of the drive through. I devoted some years to a particular thread elsewhere regarding pre American Civil War short swords. To be short in answering, I am not interested in publishing to a blog but offer my thoughts independently or in response. No one is stopping you from starting a bayonet thread with your examples. I don't see recent activity to the Khyber thread. Virtually all genre need to be broken up to discuss and are generally presented that way. Trying to cram all varieties into one thread is simply a way to overburden discussion and further dilute information. I really hate to think serious spathologists can't browse forum pages or post a query in an existing relevant thread. I count something like ten pinned threads in the renny, mility section. FWIW! Long ago in a faraway land, sword wikis were a hope of some. I was invited to a secreted group and after initial roll calls, it was two out of a dozen actually contributing. I recently left all the sword Facebook groups I had been invited to. Mostly due to the format but staying on topic generally a waste of time. Closed threads to contain catalogs little different than member collection posts but those eliminate the need you see for two more designated threads. No thanks but do feel free in sharing your stuff. You are basically looking at/wanting a wiki page that can be referenced. Best of luck and feel free to link my thoughts as posted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2019 3:05:59 GMT
Another fwiw. We all have profiles. Our posts and threads begun are linked. Between email and messages, I generally receive inquiries about once a month and sometimes regarding threads recently discussed and others from ages ago. These folk are reading and interested in more info, just as any are able to respond to those threads looking for more information. I may eventually get to actually inventorying my stuff but I doubt I will be making that entirely public. Three sets of criteria and yet another for a wiki here? ummmmmmmmm, no
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Post by randomnobody on Feb 20, 2019 10:15:42 GMT
I've already granted consideration to your points, edelweiss, though in my acknowledgement of the Collections subforum and antique review index I did fail to include specific mention of individual threads by individual members; though I'm sure I did at some point in my post.
Of course, a single, quick-reference source is exactly what I said I was suggesting, and it's again exactly for the sake of easy access to those without means (whatever they may be) to spend hours fighting this and other forums' horrific search functions, especially when they're not even certain exactly what they're looking for, if even one specific, searchable thing.
That's exactly what I had in mind, but somehow you made saying it even longer than I did, and with such a delightful, toxic tone.
Never did I suggest it was, or would be, required to contribute. My query was one for interest in the idea. One other has shared an interest, with further consideration to the labor of the task (a key point for which I was seeking ideas), and now there's one post for which I'll simply add a tick to the "not interested" column.
As for the lack of interest in my own pieces, I'm well aware they're very niche. I like it this way; less competition. Of course, those I've shown have almost universally shared an appreciation for them, all the while those same folk would never have known to ask about them, as 1) They didn't know such things existed; they'd never encountered them before 2) They'd have had no way of knowing I had any if I hadn't told them.
Sure, there's a thread here about Khybers; that's how I learned about them, myself. Anybody "googling" for them, though, has a lot of digging to do to find that thread.
So yes, I'm envisioning a voluntary catalog of pieces, to be kept in one place, for easy reference. Some may like it, some may benefit from it, same may not. Such is life.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2019 17:10:01 GMT
My displeasure may seem overly curt but I started with emoticons and humor, so please don't assume I reply out of hate. Also realize I was tagged in this endeavor yet I am anything but eager to jump in to help much. Go to my profile. Go to threads posted and start browsing. Seriously.
Looking to pick my brain? Like I posted, I usually get at least monthly communications off the board looking for information. Most of those inquiries from those with at least some interest in study.
A wiki is exactly what you are looking for. Go for it. I won't say I told you so but most such groups have failed.
I disagree searching is useless but rather the art of the search seems dead. I don't want anyone to take this personally but I detest the drive through. Whether enabled only with a phone or pressed for time. Anyone serious about a topic finds a way to look further than the shallow depth of discussions like this, as this side bar is off topic to the beginning of the thread. Your suggestion and possibilities are a noble one but why bury your thoughts as an off topic sidebar? Think about that. A great amount of data is buried here as off topic discussion.
In an early reply here I broadly mention other sources as something one might apply their efforts to. Yes, I could have spent half an hour producing links for others, or hope that the serious might seek them out. Gee (sarcasm), maybe look at pinned threads (or not). Again, our profiles lead to content but oh the horrors, having to browse through thread headers from an individual?
The search engine here is a bit ungainly but filtered correctly works just fine. As does Google and other engines. Please don't ask me to show searching Google for Khyber knives on SBG indeed does point to reading material.
My pointing to book references and open source sites being met as being a snob for not copying material verbatim for others "unable to find the time" Ask me why I hesitate to bother sharing again an old bookmark list of dealers. I have posted it fairly frequently but you know what? No one built a list for me. No one stopped me from asking questions in the snob factory forums. No one stopped me from researching the modern sword market for some years before purchasing a reproduction.
On the flip side, a common enough question turns up as a thread starter. Where to find antiques? Gee (cynical) here we go again. Two left feet unable to grasp the concept of a two word search for antique swords.
Yes, I am the rude grumpy cat but I think I have earned it. As soon as I see someone is serious about a topic and willing to work at it, I often bend over backward to help. Newcomers looking for others to do the legwork, not so much worth my time and usually realized after a few posts from them.
Nathan Robinson built a smart wiki like program for his boards and discussion at myArmoury. Keywords highlighted and linked to content. Run your thoughts up the SBG flagpole itself and compensate accordingly.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2019 17:25:15 GMT
Another reality and one reason so many like the drive through. Interfacing via a mobile device instead of applying interest in what I see as a serious matter. Better quicker faster and we'll get someone right on it for you. I'm done being an enabler.
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Post by randomnobody on Feb 20, 2019 21:18:40 GMT
Again, fair points, all duly considered already. I'm not sure how you consider yourself "tagged" as I certainly didn't tag (that is, the forum function) you nor do I see you thus tagged by anyone else since. There should have been no sense of requirement to participate. Of course, I agree with your other points, as that's also where and how I started. What I propose is not an alternative to self-study, but a means to begin a journey one may not have known themselves capable of prior to a direct introduction. For instance, in my case, going back to the Khybers, I'd have never known such things existed had someone else not been talking about them. It's very unlikely that I would ever have found cause to search for them as such. I'm not sure I'm envisioning a wiki, either. I believe I mentioned that information on each piece would be minimal, merely a descriptor such as "Afghan Khyber knife" or "British 1796 Light Cavalry saber" in, perhaps, a numbered list coordinate with as few photos as possible of as many things one can fit. Detail would not be a concern, never mind priority or requirement. To use your drive-thru analogy, I'm not really envisioning a drive-thru, so much as a visual menu. If one simply wishes for a cheeseburger, one merely ventures to the nearest chain offering them. Some may only ever go to McDonald's and be happy there. Some may try Wendy's and find it suits their palate better. Others will have found their local hole-in-the-wall blows them all away. Others still have never had a burger, and aren't really sure what they want, or where to go. On their own, maybe they'd try Arby's, and find the burger selection lacking in variety, above their preferred price range, and upon sampling they may find their burger didn't match the hype; they just don't like cheeseburgers. That same person may have asked around for recommendations, and received an onslaught of heated debate over who makes the best, and how much they should expect to spend on a decent burger. At least now they have an idea who makes burgers, and what's on them. On the flip side, say you want to try a more elaborate new cuisine. Let's pretend we've never tried Thai food, but a new place just opened in town, and we wanted to check it out. Would we hit the local library, shuffle through the card catalog in search of books about Thai cuisine? Would we ask the librarian if they know of any? Or would we go to the restaurant and ask for a menu, then ask the staff about a dish that sounds interesting? On the subject of mobile devices, I'm on mine right now. 90% of my time on this forum is via my phone. Say someone has a link to their collection or reviews in their forum signature. These are not visible on the mobile site; bandwidth restrictions hide them. If you think searching is fickle normally, the mobile search function is an atrocity. Even then, to my initial idea, one's own ability to search or research means nothing if they don't know what to look for. In this case, "antique swords" is a very broad, generic idea that covers a giant field of niches which one may or may not ever encounter. If there were a single place where one could view a variety of different swords at a glance and see what catches their eye, and know what it's called, that could easily turn hours of frustrating lack of results, likely to be abandoned, into hours of excited study and maybe an eventual satisfied purchase. In a different vein, there's a misconception that antique swords must be prohibitively expensive, which puts off a lot of prospective beginners. Several thousand dollars (US, AU, call it Euros if you must) for a single sword is very intimidating, and if all one ever sees is this level, they may never know a nice antique sword could be had for just a few hundred. I know when I first started, all I saw was what I could never imagine affording. Now I look around at all the things that are surprisingly within my reach. I'm not any richer than I used to be; I just know now there are more swords out there than I thought there were, and they're much more affordable than I realized. I'm not fond of the idea, "I was never given anything, I had to go get it all myself. Therefore, you won't get anything from me; go get it yourself." I feel like those who've gone before me have passed me a great amount of information I would never have thought to look for on my own, and on top of that, they've given me the means to find it more easily than they did. I'm grateful for that, and I want to help the next guy just as much. If a catalog here makes it easier for someone else to figure out what they like, that's my goal. As for why post the idea here, rather than on its own? Because this is the thread that sparked the idea, and like-minded people have already visited this thread and shared their own ideas, so I thought it would be most efficient to simply pick up what was a finished thread and start it down a new road, hopefully with the same people involved, to get some more ideas of how to compile information from this and other similar threads into a single, permanent, easy reference, possibly reducing the need for future threads when a search doesn't yield desired results again. All in all, twas only a thought, brought about by a discussion, which I decided to share with like-minded folk to hear their own thoughts. There is no need to continue this discussion if nobody wants to, or if a consensus rules it out of place. Likewise, nobody is obligated to contribute. Ignoring it will, indeed, make it go away. For the record, I do respect and appreciate even negative input. I'm not just here for the echo chamber.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2019 22:39:43 GMT
Please re-read the discourse twixt Jordan and yourself following your remarks and up to my reply in humor. I really had started with a 12 days of Christmas lyric to list my collection before vocally admitting I didn't care to participate. Please note specifically Jordan's muse I would be interested in a sort of "living catalog", but it may be a pita for some members like Uhlan, Edelweiss, or Dave Kelly to post their current quite large collections.I'm not sure you really want me to reply to the rest of the preceding post but here are further thoughts on some of it. Kind of like a wiki where one sees a snapshot of a topic when hovering over a highlighted word. A difference in your methodology in that you envision not one but two portals to co-ordinate. Again, re-read my post. Too often, information brushed aside from newcomers that are just starting to window shop. If my initial thoughts of help to someone are summarily ignored as too tedious for their immediate wants, why feed them more than a brief welcome? If ten percent actually pursue interest and as mentioned, I have gone to great lengths to offer information. One's ability to search or research is exactly why a generic search for two words does indeed open a huge mall to pick from. Kind of like choosing college courses. Join a class and learn. That is known to me as studying. When a student has a question, they raise their hand and ask it. Hopefully a reply is more than a songlist with a thumbprint. At any rate, I started with two word and even single word searches via Google. In the current query for antique sword dealers, those two words do open 21 million hits or so. As overwhelming as that may seem, it is an immense library with indexes. Learning how to search is the true start. At the risk of repeating myself Nathan Robinson built a smart wiki like program for his boards and discussion at myArmoury. Keywords highlighted and linked to content. Run your thoughts up the SBG flagpole itself and compensate accordingly.Diluting your concept by adding it as a tag along is counterproductive and not how I would make such a suggestion. So far I only see a gang of three even discussing it Good luck
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Post by randomnobody on Feb 21, 2019 0:32:28 GMT
Please re-read the discourse twixt Jordan and yourself following your remarks and up to my reply in humor. I really had started with a 12 days of Christmas lyric to list my collection before vocally admitting I didn't care to participate. Please note specifically Jordan's muse I would be interested in a sort of "living catalog", but it may be a pita for some members like Uhlan, Edelweiss, or Dave Kelly to post their current quite large collections.Ah, forgive me this miss; I was looking for the hyperlink tag and didn't see it. Perhaps a lack of function on the mobile site, or maybe it was just a non-tag, but do concede I missed your name on my initial reading of that post. *shrug*? This is what I came here for. Hmm, perhaps. My thoughts on the "two portals," though, was to keep one clean for reference by the other, which would be for discussion. I've seen and been part of the same, however still hold a sense of optimism that offering a little extra will, for someone, be of more help. All points already granted and discussed. To summarize, twas only a thought, and I've gotten the feedback I expected from it already. (Forgive me as I edit this to correct terrible mobile formatting -- I think I got it, but if something looks weird, I missed it)
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2019 0:39:09 GMT
#awareness
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Post by Jussi Ekholm on Feb 21, 2019 8:51:04 GMT
I remember I joined a "sword wiki" group around 2005'ish, after a while I was only one left writing anything to there... so I quit too. I think I've been a member of 4-5 other sword related group projects after that, and unfortunately they always die due to lack of participation.
I guess I can be categorized into grumpy old men group with Glen but I am seriously baffled how little research and studying people do these days. But we are having so much amazing online resources today you don't even need to buy books at first, yet people don't even care to click through few pages of Google search results... Then some Youtubers and Instagrammers etc. are elevated to experts by many new collectors as they have spent some time researching that particular subject.
As for the antique list, I'd think one single person would need to collect the data for that. Group efforts don't generally work due to lack of participation. I think the "Sword Construction Database" in here is a good example, given the original idea & interest of this forum I'd expect we'd have a huge database but only few posters keep that alive (if I remember correctly). It is an awesome idea which should be cared for. Unfortunately I don't break down and customize stuff anymore so it came years late that I would be useful for it.
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