Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

A. G. Maisey · 16th May 2015, 12:15 AM

That large inlay of wood is not the sort of repair I have ever seen in Jawa or Bali. If it had been found necessary to do such an inlay there, the inlay would have been done in a contrasting material, say a very different wood, such as black ebony, or possibly mother of pearl --- I have a Balinese scabbard with MOP inlay in the gandar, which I am inclined to believe was done to conceal damage. Any inlay should be done so there is no visible gap between inlay and the base material:- it MUST be neat.

If you find other small areas of damage during restoration worm holes --- little dents, it is normal practice to fill these holes with a contrasting material and to try to make that contrast look like a natural feature. Good fill is button shellac, or a plastic putty tinted with burnt umber powder.

Before going ahead with application of the finish --- Birchwood Casey as David suggests, or if you cannot find this, ordinary Scandinavian oil does a good job --- you should steam the wood to raise the whisker and then polish the whisker off with 0000 steel wool, dust down, then apply the finish. You might have to raise the whisker a few times before it stops raising.

The finish should be applied with a rubber. A rubber is old, lint free cloth, like say, an old handkerchief, you make a little ball, about 1 inch diameter, of cotton wool, wrap this in the hanky so you have a round absorbent pad, then you apply the finish in a figure of eight pattern. With either Birchwood Casey, or Scandinavian Oil count on applying a minimum of 6 to 8 very thin coats before the job is complete. You should very lightly sand between coats with 00 steel wool, and dust off before applying the next coat. This approach means it will take you ten minutes a day for a week or more to complete the application of the finish.

If it is too glossy when complete you can cut the gloss a bit with a very light rub with 0000 steel wool.

The joint between the top of the scabbard and the down piece of the scabbard (gandar) is often damaged in an old scabbard, in Jawa and Bali this is mostly hidden with either a pendok, or just a small band of silver or some other metal.

16th May 2015, 12:15 AM	#5
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,992	That large inlay of wood is not the sort of repair I have ever seen in Jawa or Bali. If it had been found necessary to do such an inlay there, the inlay would have been done in a contrasting material, say a very different wood, such as black ebony, or possibly mother of pearl --- I have a Balinese scabbard with MOP inlay in the gandar, which I am inclined to believe was done to conceal damage. Any inlay should be done so there is no visible gap between inlay and the base material:- it MUST be neat. If you find other small areas of damage during restoration worm holes --- little dents, it is normal practice to fill these holes with a contrasting material and to try to make that contrast look like a natural feature. Good fill is button shellac, or a plastic putty tinted with burnt umber powder. Before going ahead with application of the finish --- Birchwood Casey as David suggests, or if you cannot find this, ordinary Scandinavian oil does a good job --- you should steam the wood to raise the whisker and then polish the whisker off with 0000 steel wool, dust down, then apply the finish. You might have to raise the whisker a few times before it stops raising. The finish should be applied with a rubber. A rubber is old, lint free cloth, like say, an old handkerchief, you make a little ball, about 1 inch diameter, of cotton wool, wrap this in the hanky so you have a round absorbent pad, then you apply the finish in a figure of eight pattern. With either Birchwood Casey, or Scandinavian Oil count on applying a minimum of 6 to 8 very thin coats before the job is complete. You should very lightly sand between coats with 00 steel wool, and dust off before applying the next coat. This approach means it will take you ten minutes a day for a week or more to complete the application of the finish. If it is too glossy when complete you can cut the gloss a bit with a very light rub with 0000 steel wool. The joint between the top of the scabbard and the down piece of the scabbard (gandar) is often damaged in an old scabbard, in Jawa and Bali this is mostly hidden with either a pendok, or just a small band of silver or some other metal.