Taking Rust from a blade

[Black Syren]

I know this was talked about a while back but I cannot find the post. I have a friend who stumbled across two swords left in a field by her house. They are badly rusted. What can she do to restore them if any?

[MorganTyre]

Badly rusted as in there is scale coming off? If so there is little you can do. However, if there is moderate rust you can scrape quite a bit off with a scraper, then sand it with 220 grit or so until you've got clean metal then switch to 400 or so. Aluminum oxide grit is probably your best bet. For getting a great shine use a buffer with a sanding disk such as the hook and loop 3m ones. Follow that 220 grit followed by a 400 grit process till you get a dull shine looking sort of like buttered aluminum foil. Then take a right angle grinder with a buffing wheel and some buffing compound to it - the white compound works great on steel and stainless. Guaranteed to bring it to a mirror shine. After all the sanding and polishing is done you'll probably need to resharpen it.

[Captain Jim]

Belay that rust removal! How old are these swords? How did they come to be "stumbled accross" in the field? If there is any historical signifigance to these blades then conservation rather than restoration is in order. If they were left by wayward youth, then proceed, grind and polish to your heart's content. Just be sure of what you have before you proceed.

[Black Syren]

Captain Jim I am not sure, they were found by two teenage girls and they showed a pic of them to me. I do not think they are that old as they do not look old in the pics though they do have rust. I will try and get the pic and put it here or see if they can take a better pic of the blades. Thanks for the info.

Ok here is some more info- They were found in a field in Whittingham and here are some pics. They are not historical but she has found them is intrested in piracy and kept them. Now she wants to clean them up some.

[Francois]

They don't look too bad. Although the one on the bottom looks worse.

I work with resorting all types of alloy. If there is an interest. I have a shop and am so equipped to restore them. I can make them look as close to new as the metal will permit. Let me know and I will give you all the details

François

[Scupper]

As a Member of the free men of the Sea. (The reenacting group francios and i belong to.) I can vouch for his abilities restoring metals.

Scupper

[callenish gunner]

those 2 blades are massed produced wall hangers the steel probably won't allow a lot of polishing or sharpening the blades are stamped not forged and available on ebay for $40 or less

the top one is called a carlosV style and the lower one is an alphonso sword dress em up a bit and carry to faires etc. but don't even think about live steel with either

[Patrick Hand]

Yah.... the lower one is just a wall hanger....

The pommel unsrews off a chunk of threaded rod that is welded to the stamped blade.....

When you clean it up... You might be able to see some of the stamped design on the blade.....

The lower one is deffinatly just a wall hanger...... (I have one somewhere around here, just like it that someone gave to me a few years ago......)

[Captain Jim]

My archeological misgivings have been allayed. Grind and polish away.