I used a commercial product I bought off the net. I can't remember its name, but it does work nicely. The less you leave it on, the lighter the patina. I used it to also darken a copper-wired small sword hilt (original sword, new wrap).
Yes, this piece has always troubled me in a way. Unfortunately, though, there might still be no closure on its exact origin due to its classification. Privateer swords, axes, pikes, etc, were often prinitive affairs and like espada ancha, were sometimes made from spare parts, older blades, etc. This can be seen again and again in naval pieces. If we assume it was a repair, was it one to fix the blade in modern times? Was it an old repair? Was it made this way from the start as a "one off"? Or is it a fake put together to deceive? I regret staining the brass nuw, because perhaps I might have considered chipping away the old brass to see if it truly held this anomolous blade in place at the guard or if its tang inserts into the hollowed guard and then filled with brass. Still, I welcome your opinions and need to see more pics of examples of "electric weld" to understand what they look like. Did they use brass for this process? I would think brass has a higher melting point than what they used to weld with??
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