MY 150 YEAR OLD SWORD

[tranter]

Now you have started you should work your way to a polishing grade paper to get rid of the fine scratches, they are quite visible , what ever finish you use the scratches will always show.

[astronomy.domaine]

@ aadhaulya: sir, i believe you have already hand sanded the blade till 600 grit. Any persisting scratches will not go by further sanding with a finer grit. For these i would recommend using a few coats of cutting paste like the automotive rubbing compound. Manual application would be extremely tedious here, however, you can get some good results by using the hand grinder loaded with a felt pad. Using felt wheel would also avoid any accidental damage to the blade which is possible with the use of abrasive discs. For the final finish you can choose between a satin finish (using a sponge buffing wheel) or a mirror finish by applying the green polishing compound using felt wheel...safe use of a power tool here would save a LOT of time and effort and yield remarkably better results. All the best!

[aadhaulya]

astronomy.domaine,

This was a very tough job and I have created a hole in the hilt cover where the rust had gone through the metal. therefore, this project has been shelved for the moment and I am working on a newer sword that I got fabricated in Jaipur as per my design.
The idea is to get a mirror finish like your blades. In the last one month I have worked up to 600 grit paper, but now some minor grinding marks are visible. I have gone back to 440 grit for those spots and plan to work up to 1500 grit.
This I plan to do using an electric dry sander with the required emery paper. After getting the desired finish I will use the rubbing and polishing compounds.
After that I will start working on my old sword.
I will soon post the photograph of the progress on my newer sword.

Regards

[ckkalyan]

Very nice old sword you have there aadhaulya - quite a treasure!

[tranter]

now you have made a hole in the hilt , now what ?
That is the danger of trying to turn a fine antique into a new looking sword, the less you do the better, it is a lesson for others, throw away the abrasive papers !

[aadhaulya]

now you have made a hole in the hilt , now what ?
That is the danger of trying to turn a fine antique into a new looking sword, the less you do the better, it is a lesson for others, throw away the abrasive papers !

I don't think so. There is a minor hole where the rust had gone through the metal and when the rust was removed the hole became visible. If I had left it like that eventually the rust would have spread further and one day the rust would have fallen off creating a bigger hole and it would have continued spreading, damaging the sword completely.

Atul

PS: Can you see the images or did you have to click on the image to see the 'external image'. I can't see the images on the first post. I am trying to figure out what is wrong.

[ckkalyan]

You have to click on the 'external image' link to see the image.

[aadhaulya]

You have to click on the 'external image' link to see the image.

I thought as much. The new web host has lost all the images that were visible. I tried posting a pic again from 'photobucket' but it does not seem to work any more.

Atul

[Vik]

Great job on the sword. It must be great to have inherited something like that. The attached pictures are a sword that looks nearly just like yours I bought in Afghanistan. Here's what I know of that type of tulwar/talwar as it's called: the disc hilt forces a cramped but very secure grip, and it sort of locks the wrist to force a drawing cut. The drawing cut is the most efficient for slicing flesh, provided the other party is not heavily armored, and it's hard or impossible to do it with a straight blade, but natural with a curved one. The distal (pointy end) of the sword is made heavier so that in addition to a drawing cut, it sort of chops like an axe. Quite the weapon. Very highly rated by no less than Sir Richard Burton in his "The Book of the Sword."

Any idea what the dots on the blade are for? Does yours have them anywhere?

[aadhaulya]

Vik,

My sword it quite similar to yours. But there are no dots. If there were dots I have probably rubbed them off trying to clean up the sword as it was heavily rusted.'

Atul

[Vik]

That's kinda funny what you said. I bet it was a lot of work to clean it up, but it's nice now.

[aadhaulya]

Vik,

Thanks for your appreciation but what did you find funny.

Atul