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Jeremy V. Krause




Location: Buffalo, NY.
Joined: 20 Oct 2003
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PostPosted: Fri 09 Feb, 2007 5:35 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Hi Steve!

It's a pretty sword- I have no advice to offer. In any case, it's a shame and I hope you can find a solution which is satisfactory.

Jeremy
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P Ballou




Location: N California
Joined: 05 Oct 2006

Posts: 28

PostPosted: Fri 09 Feb, 2007 6:24 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Epoxy is amazing stuff, but I have never tried it to repair a cracked sword. Nor do I have any knowledge of the aesthetics of conserving antiques, so anything I say may be sacrilege from that perspective. In my view, the purpose of the repair would be to prevent the crack from growing during reasonably careful handling, with a minimum risk of ending up with a visually distracting result.

I think to stop the crack, a tiny hole needs to be drilled at the crack's deepest point to relieve that stress area. Epoxy would then be used as a cosmetic filler as well as to strengthen the weak area. The key to making an attractive repair would be to smooth the epoxy filler flush with the damaged area, and then color it to match. This is probably more art than science - probably a good auto body repair specialist could do the job.

On the other hand, I might just put the sword in a display case and enjoy it. I really don't know. Worried

Good luck with your new (old) baby! Happy
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Glen A Cleeton




Location: Nipmuc USA
Joined: 21 Aug 2003

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PostPosted: Fri 09 Feb, 2007 8:48 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Hi Steve,

Sent you a PM with some thoughts on this sword's probable travels and a couple of Easter eggs as well.

Cheers

GC
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Steve Grisetti




Location: Orlando metro area, Florida, USA
Joined: 01 Mar 2004
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PostPosted: Sat 10 Feb, 2007 7:15 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

D Critchley wrote:
Steve Grisetti wrote:
D Critchley wrote:
...The marks look a bit like a "scarf weld" from the pictures. The sort found near the hilt, and show different patenation between the iron and steel....

Please pardon my ignorance, David, but, what is a "scarf weld"?

It is where a softer steel forte and tang are welded to a harder steel blade by overlapping. It's often seen on blades from the early 1780s and before. It appears as a line across the flat of the blade at different places on either side and sometimes a diagonal line across the spine. Usually it is done about 3" from the guard. It shows up sometimes because the aging of the steel produces different colours....

Thanks, David. I see. In this case, though, the line goes only 1/2 way across the flat of the blade. And this location is not 3" from the guard, but rather 18" from the guard, very close to the COP (I'm guessing, of course. I have no intention of testing to determine the COP location, since that test would just further stress the crack!)

On closer examination, the appearance of the crack seems different from side to side. On 'blade side (a)' from my first post, there actually does seem to be a straight line on or in the blade, and the crack is within that line. On 'blade side (b)', there is no line or mark other than the crack itself.

So, I wonder if this indicates that the blade was repaired a long time ago on one side (side (a)), and this repair failed over time, resulting in a crack that propagated to side (b)?

"...dismount thy tuck, be yare in thy preparation, for thy assailant is quick, skilful, and deadly."
- Sir Toby Belch
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Glen A Cleeton




Location: Nipmuc USA
Joined: 21 Aug 2003

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PostPosted: Sat 10 Feb, 2007 11:02 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Hi Steve,

It is. of course, easier to make observations with a blade right in front of you. Something you might want to try is puddling a little solvent (or any thin liquid) on one side and see if it weeps through to the other side. I wouldn't write off an old repair but wonder that it would crack after the work was done.

It is a nice clean hilt.

Cheers

GC
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D Critchley




Location: UK
Joined: 24 Jan 2007

Posts: 85

PostPosted: Sun 11 Feb, 2007 12:52 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Steve Grisetti wrote:

On closer examination, the appearance of the crack seems different from side to side. On 'blade side (a)' from my first post, there actually does seem to be a straight line on or in the blade, and the crack is within that line. On 'blade side (b)', there is no line or mark other than the crack itself.

So, I wonder if this indicates that the blade was repaired a long time ago on one side (side (a)), and this repair failed over time, resulting in a crack that propagated to side (b)?


Yes that was the point I was trying to make. If I remember correctly the blade of your spadroon is about 30.5 ". The standard length of a spadroon is about 32" (although you do find them all lengths from about 28" to 33") so the weld may account for a shortening since the point's not reshaped. It doesn't look like a modern repair at all and the tarnishing of the steel seems constant.

Maybe a cutler repaired a blade that failed its tests, repolished it and sold it anyway. The weld wouldn't show up when polished especially as the it's not joining two different steels. It would be how they would repair a broken blade and we were shipping blades and full swords to the US over the whole period. One can imagine an unscrupulous cutler repairing it and putting it aside for export maybe.

It's the sort of thing that makes collecting antique swords interesting.

David

David C

"The purpose of the cavalry on the battlefield is to give tone to an event that otherwise might be considered a common brawl"
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Steve Grisetti




Location: Orlando metro area, Florida, USA
Joined: 01 Mar 2004
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PostPosted: Mon 12 Feb, 2007 3:19 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Thanks to all who provided input and advice on my questions, especially Jonathan, Glen and David. This discussion has been very helpful to me.

I have decided to keep the spadroon. Everything has been resolved to my complete satisfaction with the seller.

The consensus here seems very clear that I should not have a repair done on this blade in its current condition. I intend to follow the consensus. I may consider a repair some time in the future, if the crack propagates further.

"...dismount thy tuck, be yare in thy preparation, for thy assailant is quick, skilful, and deadly."
- Sir Toby Belch
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