Luristan iron sword need advice for preservation.

[Cerjak]

Iron cast sword from Luristan ( 13th-7th Cent B.C) .
Overall circa 45 cm we can see that the Fastening nails from the handle are still present.
This sword is really fragile and very friable so must be handled with a lot of attention and I ‘m wondering how I could preserve it.

Any opinion on it will be welcome.

Best
Cerjak

[Battara]

Interesting piece. Most of these I've seen are made of bronze from Luristan. There are also many fakes out there as well.

[ward]

soak in motor oil for a few weeks than put a light coat of wax on it. oil will help strengthen metal wax will stop flaking off of metal. besides it is easy to remove. In the old days museums would laquer everything but that is a pain to remove and it turns color with age,but you will still see a lot of armor still protected this way. some use renaissance wax but I do not find it makes that much of a difference and it is expensive.

[VANDOO]

BEFORE APPLYING ANYTHING MAKE SURE IT IS COMPLETELY DRY EITHER PUTTING IN AN OVEN ON LOW HEAT FOR A HOUR OR SO OR USING A HAIR DRYER. YOU DON'T WANT TO HEAT UP THE SWORD MUCH AS THE EXPANSION OF RUSTY METAL CAN CAUSE IT TO FLAKE OR PERHAPS FALL APART. THE DISADVANTAGES OF USING LACQUER HAVE BEEN MENTIONED ABOVE. THE ADVANTAGES ARE SEALS OUT MOISTURE AND OXYGEN AND SOAKS INTO CRACKS AND BONDS AND REINFORCES THE METAL. THERE ARE QUITE A FEW MORE MODERN RESINS AND EPOXY'S THAT DO A BETTER JOB BUT I WOULD CHECK WITH A PROFESSIONAL RESTORER BEFORE USING THEM. ESPECIALLY IF YOU MIGHT WANT TO RESELL THE ITEM IN FUTURE AS SOME WOULD CONSIDER THE SWORD TO NO LONGER BE GENUINE. THE QUESTION I ASK IS WHAT IS MORE DESIRABLE A GENUINE PILE OF BROKEN DUST AND RUST OR RUST STILL FIXED IN THE FORM OF A SWORD.? IN ALL CASES I WOULD GET A SMALL CASE LIKE A RYKER MOUNT OR SOMETHING AND KEEP THE SWORD IN IT AND HANDLE IT AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE. GOOD LUCK

[Cerjak]

Originally Posted by Battara

Interesting piece. Most of these I've seen are made of bronze from Luristan. There are also many fakes out there as well.

Hi Battara
I agree with you that the swords of this type are most commonly found in bronze, and of course most of the iron swords have been eaten by corrosion.
Also it is true that we can find too easily a lot of nice swords of bronze on the market which makes me think that there is always a production of our day that is there for the collectors market supply !
Here are also some pictures of swords of the same type from the Museum of man

Best
Cerjak

[stekemest]

I would propose the following procedure:

1. Bath the object in a large enough container with Aceton for a few weeks. Change the Aceton from time to time. This will wash out corrosive salts. The object should be completely covered with Aceton and should not lie directly on the ground. Alternatively you can take distilled water.
2. Heat the object in an oven so that it is absolutely dry.
3. Remove loose particles carefully (!) with sandpaper. They will drop off anyway.
4. Clean the object with a Dremel and steel brush. This will not affect the patina, but will remove the rust. Put on a face mask and be careful to not step into the bristles that will fall on the ground.
5. Brush the object with heated paraffin wax.
6. Keep it in dry environment below an air humidity of 50%, for example by putting it in a container (or showcase) with silica gel (the orange ones, not the blue).

That's what I have done with iron objects, but in the end, the corrosion is unpredictable. Some objects stay rust-free for decades, others will fall apart in a few years, no matter how you treat them.

[Kubur]

Our German colleague is so right.
It's the best to do, then at the end, I will add a thin layer of parallloid.
Kubur

[Cerjak]

Hello VANDOO,stekemest,ward and Kubur

I would like to thank you for your wise advice in the way to preserve this sword.
Best

Cerjak