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Post by Jordan Williams on Jan 11, 2020 0:08:41 GMT
Alright, so I've tried out using q tips with acetone, brass polish, some very light abrasive, and no dice so far. I found that the paint has peeled up very quickly when submerged into acetone straight, but I cannot do this with the guard of the sword without also submerging the ivory grip and sword knot. Any help? Uhlan, hoping you've had experiences with this before. Otherwise this thing is mint! Can't afford to keep it but I want to pass it on in better condition than when I got it in.
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pgandy
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Posts: 10,296
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Post by pgandy on Jan 11, 2020 1:47:19 GMT
Beautiful sword in likewise condition. Acetone is a good paint solvent and should take care of your paint problem. Might need to soak the guard a bit. Try wrapping an acetone soaked, maybe impregnated is a better word, rag or paper towel around the infected area. Rubber bands should help hold the whatever in place. Since acetone is a fast solvent it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a medicine dropper on hand to freshen things up. When you think it’s ready remove the rag and go to it with a tooth brush. Might take more than one go. Do so in a vented area. Good luck.
PS: I'd stay away from polishes (which is an abrasive) and outright abrasives no matter how fine as all will remove metal and you will remove some details of the casting which appear to be in great shape.
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Post by Jordan Williams on Jan 11, 2020 2:11:00 GMT
Beautiful sword in likewise condition. Acetone is a good paint solvent and should take care of your paint problem. Might need to soak the guard a bit. Try wrapping an acetone soaked, maybe impregnated is a better word, rag or paper towel around the infected area. Rubber bands should help hold the whatever in place. Since acetone is a fast solvent it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a medicine dropper on hand to freshen things up. When you think it’s ready remove the rag and go to it with a tooth brush. Might take more than one go. Do so in a vented area. Good luck. PS: I'd stay away from polishes (which is an abrasive) and outright abrasives no matter how fine as all will remove metal and you will remove some details of the casting which appear to be in great shape. I ended up using something like your eyedropper fixture, with the addition of cutting a slot into a metal can, and soaking the quillons with about an 8th inch separation between the liquid and the grip scales. The langets and wreath are still painty but less so. Whatever criminal painted this did a number to the aesthetic, and even used glitter. image of j
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Uhlan
Member
Posts: 3,121
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Post by Uhlan on Jan 11, 2020 13:38:10 GMT
Hi Jordan.
My first try would be to tape the grip and the blade off and paint some paint remover on the bronze with a small artist painters brush. Remove with Qtips and clean with acetone, alcohol or thinner with again Qtips. Acetone will remove most of the paint but not all because it evaporates too quickly to really attack the deep spots where the paint is thick. When done put some Ren wax on the bronze to stop oxidation. Paint remover jelly will not harm any remaining gild nor the bronze. Hope this helps.
Cheers.
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Post by MOK on Jan 11, 2020 22:25:56 GMT
When working with acetone, I've actually had much more success with cotton wool pads than with q-tips.
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Uhlan
Member
Posts: 3,121
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Post by Uhlan on Jan 11, 2020 23:57:52 GMT
If you need to get into the deep recesses I think Qtips work best, but in the end it's whatever gets the job done.
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