Posts: 5,981 Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Tue 06 Jul, 2004 9:48 am
I'ts not too difficult. The hardest part is removing the lacquer from hilt and blade. You can either start with a sanding sponge and various grades of sandpaper, or apply Citrustrip first, followed by steel wool. Depending on the thickness of the lacquer, the latter method may work and save you lots of sanding. If it doesn't work, you'll still have to sand, and you'll also have to clean up the mess left by the stripper. Once the salt and vinegar have had a chance to work, you’ll know if you missed any spots of lacquer. They’ll remain bright, and require that you re-sand those spots. The details of the hilt are especially fiddly. Don’t fret. Repeated cleanings and start-overs in different areas adds to the overall effect.
Folks use different fluids for the rusting. I prefer salt and vinegar (no particular formulation) in an old household cleaner spray bottle. You need a bottle that can produce a fine mist. Once the steel is free of lacquer, just spray and wait. Multiple sprayings and cleanings with fine steel wool work best for me. The repeated rusting and cleaning adds depth to the finish, as does normal aging. The finish of my backsword darkened significantly over time. I cleaned it a bit with steel wool for the photos and finished it with Renaissance Wax. NOTE: The blade and hilt are of different kinds of steel, and thus react at different rates and to different degrees. Adjust rusting times as needed.
There are a several threads here that will provide examples and details:
My antiqued MRL German infantry hanger:
http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=1278&highlight=
My antiqued Albion Kern Axe:
http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=1636&highlight=
My antiqued “floating CS” sword:
http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=1075&highlight=
Kirk Lee Spencer's antiqued MRL Arbedo sword:
http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=446&highlight=
Be sure to post the results if you try this!