Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Mark · 21st January 2005, 02:48 PM

I have a Balkan yatagan that has walrus ivory scales on the grip. It is 18th century, so the ivory is pretty old, and has warped away from the tang and cracked. My intention to some day remove the scales and at least stabilize the rust of the tang underneath was precipitated the other day when it fell off the shelf and knocked off one of the ears (it had already split from the grip, so the fall just pulled it off of the pin holding it).

So, my question is, how should I go about restoring this handle, assuming that I can? I have seen Artzi's very good thread on restoring a shamshir with horn grips, so I have an idea of how to deal with the band around the tang, and the tang underneath. I was wondering if there was a way to safely flatten out the ivory scales again, as Artzi had done with the horn scales of the shamshir. I think that I can fill the cracks with epoxy once the handle is reassembled, and perhaps paint it to match the ivory, but fixing the warping sort of has me stumped.

I will get some pictures taken and post this week-end, time permitting.

21st January 2005, 02:48 PM	#1
Mark Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 987	Restoration of walrus ivory handle I have a Balkan yatagan that has walrus ivory scales on the grip. It is 18th century, so the ivory is pretty old, and has warped away from the tang and cracked. My intention to some day remove the scales and at least stabilize the rust of the tang underneath was precipitated the other day when it fell off the shelf and knocked off one of the ears (it had already split from the grip, so the fall just pulled it off of the pin holding it). So, my question is, how should I go about restoring this handle, assuming that I can? I have seen Artzi's very good thread on restoring a shamshir with horn grips, so I have an idea of how to deal with the band around the tang, and the tang underneath. I was wondering if there was a way to safely flatten out the ivory scales again, as Artzi had done with the horn scales of the shamshir. I think that I can fill the cracks with epoxy once the handle is reassembled, and perhaps paint it to match the ivory, but fixing the warping sort of has me stumped. I will get some pictures taken and post this week-end, time permitting.