Bygone Blades Antique Sword Restoration
Posted: 07/12/17 (11:32am)So here it is, Christmas again. Where did the year go to? It is such a cliché to bang on about how fast time flies by but...
The year has been something of a whirlwind and rollercoaster combined. At times I have been rushed off my feet and barely have time to catch my breath, while at others it seems to have dragged by. I guess the same can be said by all of us.
During the course of the year it has been an absolute pleasure dealing with customers from all over the world and nothing gives me greater satisfaction than when a collector is able to repatriate a sword or bayonet. This year I have sent a Chilean cavalry sabre back to Chile, German swords and bayonets back to Germany, Portuguese bayonets to Portugal, French swords to France; the list goes on, and includes two English swords which have gone home to the families of the original owners. I love it when that happens.
I have also bought some beautiful swords, some of which are now on the website. Others are in my own collection but will/may in due course be offered for sale. My favourite purchase this year is without doubt a Muromachi period O-Wakizashi by the renowned Japanese master, Nagamitsu. I even had to buy an antique Japanese Katana stand just to display it. Thank goodness Sue is so understanding and accommodating because it now has pride of place on the sideboard in the lounge!
After years of restoring swords in my personal collection I decided this year to offer this service to customers. At some point I shall get around to adding a page to the website. I enjoy being able to return a badly damaged sword to its original, but aged condition and those of you who follow Bygone Blades on Facebook will have seen a P1803 flank officer's sabre which I have recently restored for a very happy owner. Here are a couple of before and after photos.
As you can see, the 1803 needed some major TLC and both I and its owner are very pleased with the results. Apart from the immediately obvious, the sword also needed to have the grip repaired and rewired and the blade was cleaned and neutralised before being coated with Renaissance Wax.
For anyone interested in a sword restoration please contact
richard@bygoneblades.com Other examples of customer restoration projects I have completed recently are the replacement of the shagreen (ray skin) and rewiring the grip of an 1845 pattern infantry sword, re-pointing a broken British cavalry P1885 and repairing the grip on a French cavalry sabre. At present I am working on another P1803 and am waiting for the new ray skin to arrive so that I can finish the grip and rewire it before reassembling the finished sword.
I have been rather lax as far as my blog goes - I have just been too busy - so just in case I don't blog again before Christmas, I want to wish everyone reading this a very happy and peaceful Christmas and a prosperous and healthy New Year.
All the best,
Richard
