Civil War Sword ???

[Gare]

A friend of mine stopped by yesterday. . He brought with him a sword his son found near a home in Richmond Ohio. The place it was found was just off of Route 43. In 1863 John Hunt Morgan with his troops came through the area,. He was being chased by Union troops . (Morgans raiders ) My friends son was helping clear a place for a garage to be built. He happend to look down and saw the tip of what looked like a sword., he dug it up and found this sword (saber ) blade. I told him to go back with a metal detector and see if they could find the handle part.
my question is what would be the best way to clean this item up with out damaging it ? Would there be any markings on it ? Is so where should one look ?

 

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[ARC]

Yep its a sword... marks will be by the tang area.

 

[tamrock]

Read though some of the posts on restoration. Seem there's some good methods folks have shared here on TN. That's a pretty awesome find.

 

[Gare]

OK couple questions Arc what is the Tang area ? Also thank you ARC for your reply

 

[Gare]

Tamrock I also THANK you for your reply WHat section are the restoration threads in. Is there a special for restoration ?

 

[tamrock]

Tamrock I also THANK you for your reply WHat section are the restoration threads in. Is there a special for restoration ?

Restoration Projects

www.treasurenet.com

 

[robertk]

The tang is the thin part at the base of the blade where the handle would be attached. If there are maker marks on a sword they will usually be at the base of the blade or on the tang itself.

 

[Gare]

Many Thanks Tamrock and robertk

 

[devldog]

Super Save of the Saber. If your sons friend is able to find the handle to this it would really be something. Best of luck in cleaning this and the restoration project. Well Done.

 

[Gare]

DD It was my friends son that found. I talked to him on the phone and asked him if i COULD HAVE IT !! . I am not going to REPEAT what he SAID !!! LOL

 

[devldog]

Yes sir, I could only imagine. Lol this was a great Save. I hope he can find the handle and the guard to this.

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

A great find !

 

[UnderMiner]

You're going to need to put that through electrolysis. Attach the sword to the negative end of a car battery charger and dunk it into a 55 gallon drum full of water and a bit of washing soda and then attach the positive end of the battery charger to a sacrificial anode (piece of scrap metal) and put that into the drum opposite from the sword. Turn on the power and the rust will come off the sword, then after a day or so it can be taken out of the process, washed and further restored. Don't use a wire brush or anything on the sword as this type of sword often has details etched on the blade that will get damaged from mechanical cleaning. This is just a quick explanation of how to do this, I would recomend you seek more in depth instruction so you don't damage your piece. Good luck!

 

[Gare]

Underminer thank you for your post :0 i was hoping someone would give us more input

 

[devldog]

There are also some good videos on Utube concerning the electrolysis process.