8th October 2023, 05:59 AM | #1 |
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Location: Singapore
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Dent removal on silver ferule (barung)
Any advice on how to push or pull out this dent (circled)?
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8th October 2023, 06:14 AM | #2 |
Vikingsword Staff
Join Date: Nov 2004
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The stuff is pretty soft.
Try a short length of 3/8 inch diameter dowel and work it on the inside of the piece to return to round off the flat spot from the inside carefully. You'll probably want a flat surface to act as a kind of anvil. Round the edges of the dowel end so you don't break the joint where the ferrule flares. You should be able to do this without using a hammer. |
8th October 2023, 12:21 PM | #3 |
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Hello Jeff,
Yes, I am with Rick, a wooden dowel with a round tip will do the job, I've done it before. Regards, Detlef |
12th October 2023, 06:39 AM | #4 |
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Thank you. Also looking for advice on how to remedy this issue. Same barung.
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15th October 2023, 04:34 AM | #5 |
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With advice from a forum member, I heated the tip to blue hot and carefully tapped with a hammer on an anvil. The damage is still visible but much better, I think I will keep as is versus removing tip and reprofiling. Sorry for blurry photos.
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15th October 2023, 04:44 AM | #6 |
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And here is the finished restore. Above is the Ebay gamble photo. I actually like the pommel with the broken bits, the breaks are very old and the original owner likely carried it as such. This is a huge barung 27.5" OAL with 19.5" blade. I believe it would be considered shandigan, with concave sides and short edge bevel, but the lines are not as distinct as other examples I've seen here.
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16th October 2023, 01:51 PM | #7 |
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Jeff,
Nice job on cleaning it up. I think you have an old one, maybe mid-19th C. The hilt seems to be of that era, and the narrow shandigan blade style would fit also (although a littler longer than usual for a 19th C piece). Very good catch! |
16th October 2023, 11:48 PM | #8 |
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Great Job, Give Info
JeffS,
Very good job indeed. I would love to hear about your methods. Sincerely, RobT |
17th October 2023, 06:39 AM | #9 |
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I started by removing the handle and ferule. This was done by clamping blade in padded vice and applying a heat gun to base of the blade until the resin softened enough to pull the handle off. It takes a couple minutes for the resin to soften. I then did an initial clean with 150 grit sandpaper and then followed with 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1200 leaving the pits but getting enough polish to pick up a light pattern with a diluted vinegar dip. The tip was straightened, as described above, before the vinegar bath. I polished the ferule and straightened the dent as advised here. For the handle, I used boiled linseed oil going for a simple "user" matte finish. Much of the binding resin had been lost over the years so I needed to add new resin. For this I used some resin sticks (photo below) I recently picked up in North Kalamtan from a remote Dayak community. They appear to be hand rolled like a cigarette with wrapping material around the resin. I cut pieces and dropped into the handle recess and then heated the tang with a torch and plunged the hot tang into the recess. The resin quickly melted, I topped up with some more pieces, melted with heat gun, and tamped down with rounded tip of a toothbrush handle.
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17th October 2023, 11:15 PM | #10 |
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Thanks for the Info
JeffS,
Excellent methods and result. I especially liked that you didn't go overboard with the sandpaper. You could probably get a cottage import industry going with those resin sticks. Sincerely, RobT |
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