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GG Osborne





Joined: 21 Mar 2006

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PostPosted: Tue 04 Jul, 2006 8:19 pm    Post subject: Japanning a Basket Hilt         Reply with quote

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. Laughing Out Loud

Regards,

George
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E.B. Erickson
Industry Professional



Location: Thailand
Joined: 23 Aug 2003

Posts: 455

PostPosted: Wed 05 Jul, 2006 6:10 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

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
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Sean Flynt




Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Joined: 21 Aug 2003
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PostPosted: Wed 05 Jul, 2006 7:30 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

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.



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-Sean

Author of the Little Hammer novel

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Hammer-Sean-Flynt/dp/B08XN7HZ82/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=little+hammer+book&qid=1627482034&sr=8-1
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GG Osborne





Joined: 21 Mar 2006

Spotlight topics: 1
Posts: 487

PostPosted: Wed 05 Jul, 2006 7:52 am    Post subject: Thanks, Sean         Reply with quote

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
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Sean Flynt




Location: Birmingham, Alabama
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Reading list: 13 books

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Posts: 5,981

PostPosted: Wed 05 Jul, 2006 8:35 am    Post subject: Re: Thanks, Sean         Reply with quote

GG Osborne wrote:
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


At the time I did this I did some very basic research on the historic techniques and materials. Sounded pretty simple. It's just varnish. Even the spraypaint I used gave me a finish that looks like the historic japanned buckle. I'm not sure how they applied/secured the gilding. I guess you could paint small sections at a time with glue, then apply gold leaf, but the acrylic I used worked wonderfully and looked pretty convincing to me. The challenge, I think, is to get a durable base finish and durable gilding. The powder coating should work for the base finish, but I suppose you'd still want to protect the gilding somehow. IIRC, I used the clear coat poly over the base finish, then applied the gold paint, then applied another clear coat over everything and used fine steel wool to subdue the gloss.

-Sean

Author of the Little Hammer novel

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Hammer-Sean-Flynt/dp/B08XN7HZ82/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=little+hammer+book&qid=1627482034&sr=8-1
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