So in answer to your question, "Would I be a terrible person if I tried to polish it myself?" No, just stupid.
The moral of the story here is that you should take the time and effort to have it fully evaluated before making a self determination that it is totaled.
^^This. First, you make the assumption throughout your entire post that he didn't take his sword to a qualified person for the evaluation. Nowhere do you credit his statement that it isn't worth the (generally very high) cost of a professional restoration at face value. In fact, you call it a "self-determination." I have always believed that, particularly in a public forum in which I get the opportunity to review my comments before I click post, and to edit them after, that I should be as careful as possible about my language and what I say. If I'm going to assume he didn't do due diligence, as seemed to be assumed by many (not just you), I should at least credit the possibility, that, despite the lack of information provided, that the poster in question does, in fact, have a credible reason for their statement. Nor should I ever call them stupid, when a simple ("In your position, I would never do that") would suffice. I appreciate that your intent wasn't to call the OP stupid. But, language being what it is, that IS the primary meaning of your statement.
As no other information was provided, are you any less ignorant to his actual situation than I.
BTW: You seem OK with calling me ignorant, but not my stating it is stupid to attempt to polish an antique sword. (excellent way to get your point across that we shouldn't be name callers)
We are all absolutely ignorant of his actual situation. That's exactly my point.
Now, you may very well be right in all of your assumptions. The point is, we don't know. I'm just asking all and sundry, not just you, to retain the courtesy that I generally take to be a hallmark of the blade-loving community here, and to consider what they're saying and reading more closely. For instance, you take my post to mean that I think you're ignorant. However, what I actually said was to describe your (and our) ignorance
of the situation, as evidenced by the fact that you urge him to provide more details. And that's true, as far as I can see. We ARE all ignorant of the situation, as the OP hasn't provided details. We don't really know anything about why he believes it's totaled. While I agree with the sentiment, I don't agree with the implementation.
Consider further: Not a single post to date has offered an opinion that takes him at face value. Every single person in here, myself included, is cringing at the possibility of amateurishly damaging a priceless antique, and every post asks him why he thinks it's totaled. Not a single person takes it at face value. How must it feel to have to prove your every comment before anyone will deign to answer your question? Would it not be better to say, "I'm curious what makes you think it's totaled, and where the valuation comes from, but in your position, regardless of value, I would probably avoid running the risk of further damaging the blade with amateur polishing." (The difference being that one is a description of what you would do in his position, while the other is a judgment OF him).
Here's another question. Everyone just assumes it actually IS a 17th century blade, but that the OP hasn't had it valued professionally. If you're going to doubt, why not doubt all of it? If you take his assurance about the age of what he has for granted, why not his assurance about the value?
And that being the case, would your answer change if you discovered that it is actually a flea-bay replica, made of some unknown steel by some mass-produced factory in China within the current decade? Mine sure would.
Also, don't mind me. I'm just an opinionated internet hero (I said it, not you).
