[GG Osborne]

Hi all.....as some of you "basket heads" might remember, I started a project to convert a 1796 CS saber blade into a basket-hilted saber, inspired -frankly and gratefully - by a very nice article on the Forum authored by Kirk Spencer. (Hats off to Kirk, a very nice guy!) The re-shaping of the blade went well, taking off 1/8th inch of metal off the spine and cutting two parallel fullers 2/3rds of the length of the blade to remove as much excess weight as possible. This latter could have gone better, but I remind myself it was a first attempt!! The basket hilt is courtesy of Paul Chen as it seemed the most correctly shaped (meaning reasonably small) commercial hilt I could find- although too plain for my taste.

I digress.

The questions is, I want to japan the hilt and then pick-out gold trimming a la the original. I know the fundamentals of painting on bright metal, i.e. finely sand the finish, prime, and paint. However, I would like some pick your collective brains over the type of paint. To be perfectly authentic, I would use a very plain semi-gloss, linseed based black lacquer and apply it with a brush. That might be fine, but I'm not sure the extra effort would be worth the final effect. I was at HD today and looked over the Industrial-grade Rustoleum (pace Vince and Mac!) That might go....unless someone has a better idea with the more authentic 18th century formula, along with a source. And no, I am not going to mix lampblack, etc. and make my own!

Any ideas? At least if I follow your advice I will have someone other than myself to blame.

Regards,

George

[E.B. Erickson]

Another option would be the synthetic enamels. Those made for outdoor use can be very tough: I once dropped a japanned/enameled pommel on a concrete floor, and all it did was scuff the paint a bit.

--ElJay

[Sean Flynt]

I tried this on a cheap MRL "Culloden" basket hilt a few years ago. It was just an experiment so I used materials I happened to have on hand--flat black spray paint, clear polyurethane finish for wood floors and gold acrylic paint. The
result wasn't too bad, and looks prettyclose to the japanned 18th c. shoe buckle I used as a reference finish. The gilt design is based on a famous mortuary hilt.

[GG Osborne]

Yes, I know the hilt you are referencing, the so-called Cromwell mortuary sword hilt, and, yes, that is exactly what I had in mind. I am leaning towards getting the hilt powder coated and baked to make a really tough finish. Have you any experience in that direction? By the way, fine work on the hilt. George

[Sean Flynt]