Alex Coppel Solingen Sabre

[Atlantia]

Originally Posted by Ian Knight

Hello Gene,
You've made a great job of restoring your sword. What method did you use?
Ian

Hi Ian,

Well, I went by your 1796 for inspiration.
I know from the pictures it looks a little like I've really harshly repolished it, but I actually havent.
The hilt really only had a fairly even coating of surface rust, with sporadic light pitting. I didn't want to eat the rust out of the pits, but I did want to remove the surface rust.
My tool of choice here is that really-really fine silicon carbide 'wet and dry' sandpaper that you use inbetween coats of automotive paint.
I know that different companies seem to have different grades, but basically 1500 should do the job.
Its just about enought to remove the rust while basically just buffing the steel underneath. I use it wet, and the same technique took the bulk of the rust off of the scabbard while leaving the 'blueing' mostly intact (that was a very careful job).
With the bare steel on the hilt, I did give it a little polish with autosol afterwards. I'd sometimes dull it back with a wipe over with something vaguely corrosive, but I will let this dull back on its own (a few months of handling will do that).
With the scabbard, I'll just rub it over with WD40 on a cloth until it all blends in now.