Before & After Cleaning of a Sword

[SCHUPO]

Gents,

I picked this sword up at a militaria show a few years ago because I recognized it as a common style of sword worn by German Police Departments as a "Polizei-Offizierssabel (Lowenkopfsabel)" during the time of the Empire to the time of the Weimar Republic. These swords are also referred to in period catalogs as a "Polizei-Schleppsabel fur Offiziere (Parderkopf)". The unloved sword sat in a pile of other stuff and looked pretty scruffy. I thought I could clean and polish it up to be presentable and here are the before & after results.

The sword itself is a Tombak lion head sword made by Weyersberg that originally had a polished finish. The sword never had a gilt finish so polishing the sword did not remove any remaining gilt and simply restored the sword to its originally polished brass-like finish. The grips are sharkskin and only needed cleaning with soap and water with a toothbrush. The lionhead pommel originally had two red stone eyes but one is missing and the other was cleaned with the soap and water. The blade is plated and it was in fairly good shape and was simply cleaned with 0000 fine steel wool and polished with Semichrome. The black leather scabbard was cleaned with water and an old toothbrush and the solid Tombak fittings were cleaned with ammonia like the hilt of the sword. After cleaning the fittings, they were polished with Brasso to remove the black marks and years of tarnish.


Here are some photos of the sword as I got it. Complete with old polish in the crevices and black marks and grunge eating into the Tombak fittings, All this dirt had to go.

 

[SCHUPO]

Here are some photos of the old unloved sword after cleaning and polishing. It looks much better clean IMHO. The cleaning restored the sword to its original condition that would have been maintained during its time of use. I don't always agree with cleaning patina but in this case time had not been kind to the old girl and the resulting patina was simply ugly. Clearly, the sword had been cleaned and polished at some time in the past as there was residue of old cleaning/polishing products in the crevices of the Tombak. So, I was not the first to try to keep this sword up but those efforts appear to have been a long time ago. Bear in mind that this was conservation and restoration. Nothing was replaced or repaired on this sword except for the addition of a proper Prussian Officer Portepee. The lion still only has one eye.

I will also mention that the sword looks rather "brassy" immediately after cleaning and polishing but this tones down after about six months or so. The sword is currently clean and stable at this point in time.

 

[Louis]

Looks Great! I hope you can find another eye for the beast!

 

[KAGGR#1]

Here are some photos of the old unloved sword after cleaning and polishing. It looks much better clean IMHO. The cleaning restored the sword to its original condition that would have been maintained during its time of use. I don't always agree with cleaning patina but in this case time had not been kind to the old girl and the resulting patina was simply ugly. Clearly, the sword had been cleaned and polished at some time in the past as there was residue of old cleaning/polishing products in the crevices of the Tombak. So, I was not the first to try to keep this sword up but those efforts appear to have been a long time ago. Bear in mind that this was conservation and restoration. Nothing was replaced or repaired on this sword except for the addition of a proper Prussian Officer Portepee. The lion still only has one eye.

I will also mention that the sword looks rather "brassy" immediately after cleaning and polishing but this tones down after about six months or so. The sword is currently clean and stable at this point in time.

Excellent work
Steve

 

[cptbob]

Nice. Looks good!

 

[ebeeby]

Nice!

 

[b.loree]

Great job, it look 100% better.

 

[nieuport]

That's quite a metamorphosis - you should be proud of your work

 

[SCHUPO]

Thank you for your kudos gentlemen.

I have a method that I have developed over the years that works for me. First, I come to a conclusion in my mind concerning what I want the edged weapon to look like before I do anything else. For instance, if the blade will clean up nice and bright I will consider cleaning more heavily than I would if the blade will only become a presentable grey or have damaged blue or gilt panels, nicks or breaks in the plating, etc. It all starts with the blade (which is almost inevitably meant to be bright) so I clean that first, generally with 0000 fine steel wool and oil and/or polish with Semichrome (or Flitz or something similar) to see the result. In this case, the nickel plated steel blade was in relatively nice condition and the sword fittings were solid Tombak. Tombak, BTW, is a solid metal blend that is kinda, sorta, like brass alloy that is meant to be polished (Glatt) like brass having an attractive golden coppery color.

Second, I then clean one section of the sword at a time. Usually I try ammonia and/or soap and water outside with a mask as ammonia is toxic if inhaled. This cleans out the grunge and then must be rinsed and thoroughly dried so I often use my wife's hair dryer to speed the process along. Third, after cleaning I consider polishing. Let me say here that I stop at each step so I don't over-clean. I clean the grips and then stop and assess. I clean the leather scabbard and then stop. I have built these self imposed stopping points into my "method" so I do not get carried away and clean too much since once you have removed 100 years of patina it is gone forever. My goal here is to remove the ugly and restore something akin to the original time of use finish. Sometimes, it is best to simply remove the dirt and grunge and leave the patina if the patina is attractive. Of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Here is an early first Model 1902 US Army Officer saber where I have only cleaned the blade and I elected to leave all of the 100 years of patina on the nickel intact. I found this "nicotine" colored patina about 98% in coverage and rather attractive so I left it alone. Sometimes it is best to simply do nothing if the edged weapon finish is stable. IMHO unstable conditions such as active red rust (not black rust) must be dealt with however.

 

[pickelhauben]

You did a great job and the results are night and day.

 

[JzPf]

Nice job!

 

[SCHUPO]

Thank you gentlemen. I appreciate your comments.