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Post by ilvalto on Sept 20, 2024 20:48:07 GMT
hi folks
I recently bought a french mod 1822 officers light cavalry sword in need of some love.
the blade is in decent shape, the scabbard is in a fair;y bad state, but I don't particularly care...
what I am mostly muddling over is the horn grip.
it's in a fairly bad state, it probabaly sufferedca lot of humidity, and yeah it's almost looking like old wood, its kinda scaling.flaking off...
my question is..how can I (try to) restore an old horn grip?
can I just try to sand off the ruined surface and hope to smooth it out that way?
I was thinking about trying to buff it with a small wool buffing tip on a dremmel, but I'm afraid it might over-heat it and kinda burn the horn...
any idea/suggestion?
thanks
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mrstabby
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Post by mrstabby on Sept 22, 2024 7:48:29 GMT
You could dry it (in a bag with silica gel), take off the loosest surface and use epoxy to hold it all together. With some colouring epoxy can look quite like horn. You can use power tools, do it outside, it will stink. Maybe post a picture.
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Post by ilvalto on Sept 26, 2024 20:48:29 GMT
thanks for the suggestion. I went for sandpaper at the end - 240 grit for removing the worst bits, then 600 /1200 and 3000 and a final buffing with dremmel+wool buffing wheel - I'm quite happy with the result, even tho I defintely removed a bit of volume. I might keep the epoxy idea in mind for a crack in the grip, that at the moment I left as is..I never used epoxy, so could be a fist test..how hard is it to manage? anyway, attached is the final result..unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the "before" Attachments:
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mrstabby
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Post by mrstabby on Sept 27, 2024 6:12:18 GMT
Epoxy is pretty easy, I find UV resin especially neat for grip mods sice you have extended time to mess with it but it sets immediately when you need it. 2 component is a bit messier since you have time constraints and its not as liquid. Keep alcohol wipes at habd to wipe off stuff where you don't need it. Also the UV resin has a sticky surface you need to wipe off after hardening.
You should definately repair the crack, but it does look good for now.
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