Hello Robert,
any chance of an update on progress?

Also I was wondering what kind of wax you used for polishing the hilt?
I've just got some Natural Beeswax Finisher's Formula with Manuka Oil & Honey made in NZ. Am building up courage to use on a couple of handles.

And what you used as the bonding agent (resin, glue etc)?
I've been trying to look for damar but am not sure what kind to get (white versus red).

Apologies for all the questions, but threads like this on restoration/care and maintenance are most informative.
thanks

Imas560, Very sorry for not responding to your questions earlier, but it has been quite hectic here at the old homestead this summer. I haven't done much of anything other than taking care of the endless list of chores around the house that "she who must be obeyed" keeps finding to occupy my time with. That being said, I hope to be able to post a few new photos early next week. To answer your inquiry on the wax, I use Renaissance wax on all the pieces in my collection. On this piece however because of the wood being so dried out I used artist linseed oil to refresh the wood (after the glue had dried for several days) before applying the Ren wax. As to the adhesive, I use my own homemade cutlers resin/damar. Here is the recipe that I use:

8 oz pine pitch,
1/4 cup carnauba wax
4 oz beeswax
Powdered black paint pigment for color
and as a hardening agent for when it sets

The amount of pigment used varies depending on how hard you want this to set up after it cools. After this is all carefully melted together in a double boiler I pour it into silicon ice cube trays to cool for later use.
Most all of these items can be found at your local hardware store other than the pine pitch which I found on epray. I hope that this has answered your questions and will be of some help to you.

Best,
Robert

Hello Robert,
very helpful thanks. I've just ordered some beeswax and am trying to hunt down some gum, might have a line for some kauri gum, but I might be able to scrounge some pine gum from some local trees.
Things seem to be coming together nicely, just need some time for some alchemy in the backyard.
thanks

Hello Everyone, I've been meaning to up-date this thread for awhile and never seemed to remember to get around to it. Here are a couple of photos of the gunong after doing a little work to the scabbard. These were taken before I oil finished the wood and aged the brass bits. I will have to take a couple more photos of it to post in the next day or so as I never got around to doing it after I was finished with this piece. I hope that you approve of my efforts at restoring this and trying to give it back some of the dignity it had lost over years of neglect by its previous owners.

Best,
Robert

Just stunning what you have done with this little gunong. :eek: Have you worked the brass bands for the scabbard byself?

Regards,
Detlef

Hello Detlef, Thank you very much for your complements on the progress on this piece. All of the bands for the restoration of this I hand made except the for the piece on the very end which was original to the scabbard. The banding at the throat of the scabbard I made to match the ferrule on the hilt of the gunong itself. I had at first made it plain (like the lowest band) but it just did not look correct (or for that matter very pleasing to the eye) so I added the extra bands to the top and bottom to help dress it up a bit and give it a more completed look. I will post photos of the completed piece as soon as I can find the time and the weather decides to cooperate enough for me to be able to take them out doors in decent light. Again, thank you for your kind words.

Best,
Robert

Give credit where credit is due! :D ;) So you have hard-soldering the brass bands? I ask because I plan to work similar bands for some scabbards.

Regards,
Detlef

Detlef, I use mostly silver solder when working with brass or copper though on some occasions I will still use lead solder with a rosin flux, I never use an acid base flux on anything brass or copper when doing repair work. All the bands I made and used on this gunong are silver soldered for strength and durability.

Best,
Robert

Robert, thank you very much! Very helpful. :)

Regards,
Detlef

Nice work Robert!

Thank you Jose. I tried to use the same material that might have been available at the time this piece was first made by using brass salvaged from a couple of old beat up shell casings I had laying around for just such an occasion as this. I left most of the scratches and dings in to help the new pieces better match the one original piece that was still remaining, unfortunately they do not photograph well. Again, thank you for your opinion on the progress made to the point at which these photos were taken.

Best,
Robert

Well, I finally got around to taking a photo of the finished gunong. In the last photo you can see ghost impressions of where the missing original bands had been so I have placed the new bands as close to where the originals were as possible. As it does not seem that it will ever stop raining I had to take this photo inside.

Best,
Robert

Very nice work Robert!

Thank you Steve. I was hoping (as you have such an impressive collection of these) that you would answer a couple of questions on these for me. On the ones you know for a fact to be older examples (non-wavy blades) are the top edge of all the earlier ones sharpened from the guard to the tip of the blade instead of having a short flat section of spine next to the guard? Also, do the blades usually appear to be of thinner construction on the earlier examples (both wavy and non-wavy) as compared to the ones attributed to the 1930's and up?
Again my thanks for your kind words on my attempted restoration of this gunong.

Best,
Robert