Bally,
Thank you sir for the kind words.
Time and effort are probably more important than anything else, and the respect you mention is probably the most important underlying reason for doing it.
This old tulwar belonged to smeone. It was important to him, and on occasion his life may have depended on it, or at very least, it was there to protect life if needed.
It would have been well cared for, and displayed to best advantage in a scabbard which too would have been kept well-dressed.
To demote a weapon to simply "an old, middle-of the -road sword" is losing much of what any weapon is about. it becomes clinical, dead, inert.
The wonder of an old weapon to me, is that wonderful connection it brings about, between the original owners/s and culture, and onesself.
In a way, the weapon is in part merely a gateway, or door to another world and another age, amd Much more important as such, than viewing it simply as a face -value sword.
All the best,
R.
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