Bifurcated serrated Tulwar repair

[Kmaddock]

Hi
I finished some work on the attached sword.
it is of a type that has been discussed before

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=13978&highlight=serrated+tulwar

Looking at the handle and the overall sword it is pretty devoid of any decoration.

Now the sword cane to me with a lot of damage, namely the forward facing arm of the bifurcated blade was snapped at the central hole off and lost by previous owner.

I fashioned a 20 cm replacement blade part replacement from an old sword blade that was v v rusted and pitted and ground in the serrations and welded it into (place oxo acetylene)

I should have taken pictures of the process but I taught I was documenting a failure so I have no pictures of before.

I have included a close up of the failure point, I was not able to get the serrated teeth just right here but I don't think it is too noticeable, if I ever get a TIG welder I reckon I could do a better job but I am OK at Gas welding.

I am letting the red rust age the repair and once i think it is a good match I will clean and stabilise.

I know this is pushing the restoration and repair of ethnographic items so apologies , I just needed a project for Covid and this kept me occupied for a few evenings, without the repair it was just a nothing sword anyway ( I feel)

Now this is obvious a failure in design of a weapon as it is manufacturing a v v weak part into the blade which leads me to summarise that it is not a fighting sword and only for show. But the handle is so non decorative it does not look to be a show item.

So do you think this is a decorative sword or a fighting item with a big flaw in design. Any idea of age?
Regards,
Ken

[Tim Simmons]

Very good well done. Weapons have always been repaired when possible.

[Kmaddock]

break was around here

I was not able to build up metal right to the edge of blade, serration troughs are approx. 3 mm to give you a scale

I was wondering if I did not point out the repair would you have seen or deduced it?

Regards

Ken

[Interested Party]

Ken, I couldn't say about the ethics. Lots of period pieces were repaired as well, at least that is what sellers claim. ;)

I am writing because That is a beautiful weld! I am jealous of your skill with a torch.

The more I learn, the more I believe that to a certain extent swords were a disposable commodity to those who actually used them. It seems most plain-Jane swords are gone, they became new swords, plow shards, and nails. The nails became wire for Damascus gun barrels (at least in the US there are records of nails being welded in to wire and made into shotguns). When I was boy I remember reading in a 1930 or 50's (the swords were $4-20 usd and my grandfather said he couldn't afford them) antique catalog of my grandfather about Janissaries throwing away yataghan sheaths as they got in the way in combat and if they lived they would recover the sheath, if not the sheath didn't matter. I know I destroy thousands of dollars of tools and equipment a year as the cost of doing business so why wouldn't a professional solider do the same? That said, I have read that this pattern was more symbolic than practical, but that could have just been another opinion.

[Interested Party]

I would have seen the profile irregularity but I couldn't easily see the weld in the photo.

[mariusgmioc]

You got to be kidding right?!

What kind of mageek is this?!

[Kmaddock]

Picture before I started, found it on my phone message from when the seller offered me the some items.

I am very sorry I did not document the process but I did not think it was going to work out as well as I feel it did.

The process of bending the donor blade was quiet tricky and looked like it was doomed for failure but perseverance, a blow torch and swearing paid off!

when the blade initially snapped some one must have glued the broken bit on and had a splint of plastic at the joint, you can sort of see this in the picture.

Regards
Ken

[mross]

There is a slight irregularity in the teeth, easily overlooked or explained away, so most likely not unless I was going over it with magnification.

[colin henshaw]

Great job Ken, impressive work !

[Edster]

Impressive work. The steel of both pieces look nearly the same. How did you make the weld? What did you use for a filler? Maybe small pieces or powder from the blade piece you welded on?

Best,
Ed

[Kmaddock]

Hi All
Thanks for comments.

I used a Dillon MK II Oxy acetylene blow torch which has a lot of different nozzle sizes so you can really small Jet, nearly as small as a pencil nib for the jet of flame, it is a v v neat tool.

I want to get a tig welder but have not been able to investigate what is out there as a hobby usage one

For the filler rod I used 1mm Tig welding wire so I could keep the heat down low.

The donor blade was part of an old sword blade i got in mixed auction lot, had just the correct amount of pitting to suit the original blade.

Once i ground the weld and put in the serrations with a dremel tool and a file I cleaned the weld and browned the fresh steel in a hot mix of copper sulphate and nitric acid.

I then buried the blade with this mix on it for around a week in a shallow middy patch in the garden and heaped salt onto the mud and let it rust a bit more

Once finished oxidising I washed with boiling water after neutralisation with bread soda.

Thanks for interest, what age do you think the sword might be?

REgards

Ken

[Ian]

Ken,

Very nice job. I suspect when we are all long gone and someone comes across your sword they will speculate on when the repair was done. You've matched the materials and pieces so well that I expect our future fellow collectors will think it must have been done back in the day when so many skilled sword makers and repairers were still around: "Man, look at that repair--almost impossible to see--must have been done by some old craftsman--nobody today could do that ..." ;) :D