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Inherited Collection: Swords

Article about: Try contacting dealers who stock parts,such as Johnson militaria.

  1. #11
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    Default Re: Inherited Collection: Swords

    Try contacting dealers who stock parts,such as Johnson militaria.

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    Circuit advertisement Inherited Collection: Swords
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  3. #12

    Default Re: Inherited Collection: Swords

    Guess I'm the "find a scabbard" expert here! NOT easy. Anyone who deals in swords will keep them for future use. I was able to hunt down an Eickhorn scabbard at a militaria show. The sword itself was in bad shape and busted up and mine was really nice. So a switch was in order. Try antique militaria shows - and bring them with you to match up scabbards. NH

  4. #13

    Default Re: Inherited Collection: Swords

    Scabbards?

    In short and in practical terms, you can't. It is VERY difficult to find replacement scabbards that will fit. Without boring you and getting technical, saber blade sizes amoungst manufacturers were not neccessarily standard. Meaning, a Klaas scabbard will not generally work with a WMW blade- sure someone could defile a blade with a hammer and a hacksaw and make it fit, but that's not adviseable for obvious reasons. It gets technical and really ticky tacky. There was some minor part sharing amoungst saber producers- but nothing worth mentioning any more with respect to this discussion. As a general rule, most collectors will have a very difficult time finding a suitable replacement scabbard. The angled curve of the blade from ricasso to tip also differs from manufacturer to manufacturer- more often than not. The width of the depth, the depth of the blade, etc. also differ. Then the throat fitting differs.

    Finding suitible replacement scabbards is like finding suitable replacement celluloid covered wood saber grips. It took me 10 years to find an appropriate grip replacement for a Weyersberg saber- I had to finally settle for a later produced Klaas and it still required hand fitting and tool adjustments.

    Sorry- don't want to bearer bad news, but it's a very tough thing to do. I always advise collectors to avoid purchasing sabers without scabbards because of this issue. Value- it will kill it by at least 50%. If I were to buy a scabbardless piece, it would be merely for kicks and/or to part out(which I hate doing) and of course, the price must be very very low.

    In your case, these were family pass downs. The intrinsic value far outweighs the monetary value and I would hope you keep them. As Ade had mentioned, these could be cleaned up appropriately and preserved accordingly for future generations of the family.

    t
    Last edited by Swordfish; 01-14-2011 at 09:47 AM.

  5. #14
    ?

    Default Re: Inherited Collection: Swords

    Well thanks again gang. What the hell. I got them for free. Not looking to sell anyways.

    Thanks

  6. #15

    Default Re: Inherited Collection: Swords

    I think I would gently clean them and then display them, crossed, on a wall.

    Cheers, Ade.

  7. #16

    Default Re: Inherited Collection: Swords

    Sknkmn-
    I agree with Ade.

    There is pretty advanced oxidation in the form of rust. It appears that the rust has eaten through the nickel plating on both blades in certain spots. Since both this Eickhorn and Alcoso have rather heavily plated blades, they can tollerate a moderately abrassive agent- Semichrom, Brasso, etc. The areas of the blade in which plating is completely missing and has eaten down into the core will require special attention. You NEED to remove those ares of rust and then retard further oxidation- and that's assuming you can. I believe most of the rust on the blade will clean up, for the most part. It would be highly adviseable that once the blade is restored the rust on the blade is dealt with, you seel the blade with a good 1 or 2 coats of high-quality museum grade curatorial wax. Most of use Renwax.

    The backstrap/pommel assembly on the Alcoso is pretty advanced. Cleaning this part up will be your biggest challenge. An abrassive cleaning agent will not remove that rust. In such cases, I know some collectors have turned to naval jelly (I never have) and thier results have been mixed. Also, in the case of this Alcoso, you most likely..gulp..need the aid of a power tool such as a Dremmel with appropriate attachments. At very least, you'll probably need some mid-to-fine sand paper. That backstrap will be tough.

    *** I should mention that although power tool use is universally frowned upon (by myself as well), in certain circumstances they are a neccessity and thier use not always considered remiss (it's situational). I've used a Dremmel with appropriate attachments successfully during restoration project- time, patience and the correct attachments***

    Too bad about the cracked celluloid grip on the Eickhorn. I imagine the grip cracked as the result of storage in a poor environment. I imagine both were exposed to moisture- accounting for the advanced oxidation/rust as well as the grip crack. Moisture will casue the grips inner wooden core to expand, thusly cracking its celluloid carapace. When it dries, the wooden core will shrink back, often causing additional damage to the celluloid. I have repaired celluloid grips a number of time successfully and havae experimented with various materials. A fellow collector had excellent results with JB Weld, which I tried and that's currently the only epoxy I use for grip repair.

    Restorationi and preservation of both these swords will not be a 1 day job. It will take some pre-thought. It will require you to purchase a number of agents I mentioned. It will require patience and time. Rushing a project like this is bad news. I'm not going to reccommend disassembly or even removing the backstrap/pommel assembly as it can have problems if you are not familiar with how these sabers are manufactured- pitfalls indeed. Eithout disassembly, you can still do all these things I mentioned and still have good results. It's all up to you though. If you don't want to invest the time and the money on supplies (which you can use over and over on other collectibles), then i'd say forget it and just hang them as "been there" and "used" antiques militaria and they'd make a good conversation piece.

    All in all, both swords are NOT in horrible condition. Certainly not mint, nor excellent either. They rate as "Fair". They both have potential as Ade mentioned as display pieces. I like his idea of wall hanging. There are other great means of display- just put on your artist creativity thinking cap.

    Just some food for thought, and what I would do if they were mine.

    By the way- do you know any history on the peices? Where your family acquired them, family vet bring-back?

    Tom

  8. #17
    ?

    Default Re: Inherited Collection: Swords

    I agree with Ade, great heirlooms, and they would look super, super cool crossed on a wall, please post pics if you do so, I'd love to see that!

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