Restoration, conservation, cleaning

Kubur · 8th April 2017, 11:13 AM

Hi Guys,

Why on this nice site we don't have a Forum on Restoration, conservation, cleaning??
I'm cleaning some stuff during the week end and it's extremely difficult to find good threads, ideas are all over the place...

mariusgmioc · 8th April 2017, 12:02 PM

Fully agree!

I believe we should have a separate section of the forum dedicated to this as it is a recurring and very important topic.

Kmaddock · 8th April 2017, 01:45 PM

HI
I put up some posts on this topic WRT my restorations and they seem to attract some interest. I feel I do not know enough to comment on a lot of what is on the forum so I like to give back when I can with some information.
You do not want to split forums too much though as then people tend just to go to their pet area and ignore others.
This happened with Sword Forum International and i do not think it helped the forum much overall in the end.
Perhaps a sticky on restoration projects?

Regards
Ken

arsendaday · 11th April 2017, 12:43 AM

I do also think that it should be a separate section. Restoring a blade is what brought me to this forum in the first place. But I also think that the restoration posts should be strictly technical, i. e. just techniques, tips and advise, and not about the types of weapons, otherwise we will get carried away in the usual discussions and that will defy the purpose of the separate section. LOL

Martin Lubojacky · 12th April 2017, 04:30 PM

This is a good idea. Nevertheless there were already several (a few) posts about the restoration of blades, here.
What I am missing is information on leather and textile professional treatment (scabbards/sheaths). As far as leather - especially return of old dry and wrinkled sheaths to their original nobleness (probably only African specificity ?). I reached best results with soaking in ethanol (the whole set incl. the blade) and drying under the weight. Any other recommendation ?
As far as textile - I would like to learn anything about the methods of cleaning the old (and "fragile") textile surfaces attached to various materials (without damaging patina on this other materials ..., without damaging colour and structure of the textile - this is really not easy ...).

Jens Nordlunde · 12th April 2017, 04:52 PM

I dont know if this advise is useful, but in the 1960'ies the Danish Army Museum used white bread to clean damp-stained flags.
I dont know how they did it, but it seems to have worked. I am sure newer methods are now used, but I know close to nothing about the subject.

Tim Simmons · 12th April 2017, 05:21 PM

The white bread rubbing is also used in superficial cleaning of oil paintings.

Jens Nordlunde · 12th April 2017, 09:36 PM

Tim, do you know how it is used?

mariusgmioc · 12th April 2017, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jens Nordlunde

Tim, do you know how it is used?

Maybe the same way "damasquinado de Toledo" is cleaned:

1. take a piece of white bread without crust and compact it into a ball of dough
2. tap the surface to be cleaned with the dough

I was taught by one of the few remainig artisans mastering the art of damasquinado in Toledo, Spain.

maybe

PS: It has to be real bread, not the spongy thing you get in most of the supermartkets.

8th April 2017, 11:13 AM	#1
Kubur Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Posts: 2,145	Restoration, conservation, cleaning Hi Guys, Why on this nice site we don't have a Forum on Restoration, conservation, cleaning?? I'm cleaning some stuff during the week end and it's extremely difficult to find good threads, ideas are all over the place...

8th April 2017, 12:02 PM	#2
mariusgmioc Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Austria Posts: 1,903	Fully agree! I believe we should have a separate section of the forum dedicated to this as it is a recurring and very important topic.

8th April 2017, 01:45 PM	#3
Kmaddock Member Join Date: May 2014 Location: Ireland Posts: 543	HI I put up some posts on this topic WRT my restorations and they seem to attract some interest. I feel I do not know enough to comment on a lot of what is on the forum so I like to give back when I can with some information. You do not want to split forums too much though as then people tend just to go to their pet area and ignore others. This happened with Sword Forum International and i do not think it helped the forum much overall in the end. Perhaps a sticky on restoration projects? Regards Ken

11th April 2017, 12:43 AM	#4
arsendaday Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Posts: 44	I do also think that it should be a separate section. Restoring a blade is what brought me to this forum in the first place. But I also think that the restoration posts should be strictly technical, i. e. just techniques, tips and advise, and not about the types of weapons, otherwise we will get carried away in the usual discussions and that will defy the purpose of the separate section. LOL

12th April 2017, 04:30 PM	#5
Martin Lubojacky Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Czech Republic Posts: 841	This is a good idea. Nevertheless there were already several (a few) posts about the restoration of blades, here. What I am missing is information on leather and textile professional treatment (scabbards/sheaths). As far as leather - especially return of old dry and wrinkled sheaths to their original nobleness (probably only African specificity ?). I reached best results with soaking in ethanol (the whole set incl. the blade) and drying under the weight. Any other recommendation ? As far as textile - I would like to learn anything about the methods of cleaning the old (and "fragile") textile surfaces attached to various materials (without damaging patina on this other materials ..., without damaging colour and structure of the textile - this is really not easy ...).

12th April 2017, 04:52 PM	#6
Jens Nordlunde Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Europe Posts: 2,718	I dont know if this advise is useful, but in the 1960'ies the Danish Army Museum used white bread to clean damp-stained flags. I dont know how they did it, but it seems to have worked. I am sure newer methods are now used, but I know close to nothing about the subject.

12th April 2017, 05:21 PM	#7
Tim Simmons Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: What is still UK Posts: 5,806	The white bread rubbing is also used in superficial cleaning of oil paintings.

12th April 2017, 09:36 PM	#8
Jens Nordlunde Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Europe Posts: 2,718	Tim, do you know how it is used?