Now for the restoration part !
EDIT : I modified the pictures number in my post, as it seems like the forum don't want to post them in the correct order ...
As you can see from the pictures in my first post, the chape was detached from the rest of the sheath (as if someone pulled on the wrong part of it for whatever reason, then clumsily tried to put it back in place), as such, the green rawhide ended completely bunched up at the bottom of the chape, which wasn't connected to the rest of the sheath anymore.
As most parts of the mounts seem to be made of low silver / copper alloy,there also was traces of oxidation. The blade and forte were really dirty and somewhat oxidised, and a small silver alloy sheet on the hilt had started to come off.
I started by disassembling the sheath completely, and putting the green rawhide piece in oil, as it was completely dried out. I then cleaned every metallic parts of the knife, using fine steel wool and alcohol for the silver alloy parts and blade (which I also polished a little), and using a dull precision knife to scrape oxidation from the inside of the chape (picture 6 is what I had to remove).
As the green rawhide still was somewhat crumpled after its oil bath (picture 5), I decided to use the boiled leather technique to give it back its shape, strenghten it, and bond it to the rest of the sheath. The piece of rawhide was thus put in bath of gelatin mixed with water (1.5g of gelatin for 30g of water), between 32 and 37 degree celsius (no more, or it would damage the hide/leather), soaked for few minutes (picture 4), then stuck on the sheath. It worked perfectly and it seems like it won't move for a long time ! After that, I just had to clip the chape back in place.
The part that gave the most trouble was actually the small sheet of silver that started coming off from the hilt (picture 3). As I don't like using irreversible techniques or products, and try to only use museum approved restoration methods, I had to make my own strong glue, using, again, gelatin, but this time much more concentrated.
I tried 2 times to piece those two parts together without success (using different glue recipes), until I decided to remove the silver alloy sheet completely (picture 1). I then degreased it with alcohol, as well as the part of the hilt that it would be glued on, then slightly bent it to the shape of the hilt, and sanded it (picture 2), before light crosshatching it to help the glue do its job. This time I used a glue made of 1.5g gelatin for 10g water, soaked for 24 hours, before heating it to 60 degrees celsius for 15 minutes (picture 7), adding some garlic cloves (that I filtered later), as garlic is a natural surfactant, and is used by restorers in their glue to help metal bind to wood. After letting it dry for 24 hours with an elastic band to maintain a slight pressure, I was delighted to see that my third attempt worked perfectly, and that the silver alloy sheet was now firmly secured to the grip (picture 8).
I hope this little restoration walkthrough, using only safe and reversible methods was at least somewhat interesting, and let me know if you have any question !
