No pics, just a question. I see some daggers with small wood problems such as stress cracks or small chips by the guard and repaired. What does that do to the price if everything else checks out in very good shape? IS it worth having?
Thanks
No pics, just a question. I see some daggers with small wood problems such as stress cracks or small chips by the guard and repaired. What does that do to the price if everything else checks out in very good shape? IS it worth having?
Thanks
If the price is relative to the damage i would buy it, some collectors only want mint condition though!...
It depends on several factors. First of all, how bad Is the damage? Are there sizeable chunks missing from it? If so, yes-a definite price hit. Small chips? Depends on how ugly and obvious they are. A small chip hurts but shouldn't necessarily totally kill a dagger's value. Does it have, say, a small tension crack up by the roundel? A commonly seen thing from idiots taking them apart and tightening them too much and not allowing for humidity expansion. A price ding, but not majorly so. Another point is, of course, how rare is the dagger itself? An SS Himmler engraved piece would be definitely worth having restoration work done to it by a professional outfit like Tom Wittmann. A run of the mill beat up common maker late war SA? Not so much. Lots of things to consider with grip wood condition.
William
"Much that once was, is lost. For none now live who remember it."
Stress cracks can be sealed with wood glue and those one handed bar clamps with the rubber feet work the best. I had a wood split from leaving a EP&S grip in an airconditoned room too long..and my heart dropped.
I used standard wood glue "Elmers" and the bar clamp seen below..and left it clamped for a few days..and the crack was undetectable. That was 5 yrs ago..and until this day..it has not changed. Im talking about a stress crack something minute that some glue can be rubbed into the crack and wiped with a wet cloth.
Wood chips and missing chunks..is a different story altogether..and you could go the route of getting it professionally fixed. The chips dings and chunks missing ..IMO add character....but the cracks can get worse due to climatic change.
Regards Larry
It is not the size of a Collection in History that matters......Its the size of your Passion for it!! - Larry C
One never knows what tree roots push to the surface of what laid buried before the tree was planted - Larry C
“The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” - Winston Churchill
I like the idea of an age crack or chip but not from some guy messing with it. I think only you pros can tell which is which. And that's helpful for us newbies.
I have one in mind but not revealing photos yet. Don't want the vultures grabbing it if deemed collectable lol. That happened to me recently.
As others have said, much depends on the level of damage and rarity/desirability of the dagger. Think of it like as a percentage of the whole. In the case of an SA High Leader dagger for example, which carries a value in the 5 digits when in good condition, would you expect a stress crack that (as Larry mentioned) can typically be repaired without detection to reduce the price by 25% when the rest of the dagger is nice? Absolutely not. Even a small chip in the grip of such a nice high-end dagger wouldn't likely phase most collectors when considering the condition of the rest of the dagger.
At the end of the day it will ALWAYS come down to personal threshold. What one collector thinks is "damage" another collector may view as "super cool". Some collectors will want a reduced price for a simple hairline crack while others will gloss right past it because they care more about the blade and scabbard condition. It's all relative.
Is this the dagger you originally posted about? If so, we'll need better pics. The chip isn't clear enough in the photo you provided to even tell that it is a chip. Take the dagger outside into the direct daylight and (with the flash OFF) take another photo with the camera closer to the chip. Make sure the photo is crystal clear as well (in focus).
Regarding your question as to whether the repair is wartime or post war, there will be no way that I'm aware of to definitively know. Even if you did know, it wouldn't make a difference. A chip/crack is always going to be a chip/crack.
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