Wooden handle repair for a sword

T

topgun0728

Joined
May 15, 2009
Messages
216
Hi All,

We've touched upon this subject before but I thought I'd bring it up again as it's probably a problem that more than 1 person has had. What is your recommendation for repairing the wooden handle on a sword that has a few cracks in it? Especially on a beautiful dragon-carved satisal wood handle?

I know epoxy is recommended for filling cracks on a horn handle but is that good for wood as well. I hope to repair the handle in a cosmetically pleasing way i.e. not mess it up.

Thanks!
 
Repair of a carved handle is extremely difficult, it would best left to experienced hands.
What you would need to do is, get a piece of Satisal the same color as the handle being repaired and sand enough of it to give you a pile of dust. Mix this dust with 2 part clear epoxy and fill the cracks. Sand and stain as necessary.
 
Thanks, Karda. I follow your logic. Would Elmers School Glue act as a cheap but still workable fix?
 
Elmers dries to an earwax looking color. It will glue it, but it won't look pretty.
My advice above is the only real way to do it and have it come out right. In experienced hands you would hardly notice a repair and even then it would be a tough job.

The other way is just to fill the cracks with clear superglue gel.
 
If you aren't going to use the sword much and if you could find a color close enough you could use a good wood putty. It won't be a durable or as invisable as the method above though, and again you would need some experience to do it with out making a mess of thinghs.
 
topgun0728 said:
That sounds like good and reasonable advice. Any experienced hands that you'd recommend?
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, the ones i know that could handle the job are either too busy(Dan Koster) or no longer do this type of work (Terry Sisco-Sarki Shop). I'm keeping my eyes and ears open, though.
 
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HARPERSGRACE said:
If you aren't going to use the sword much and if you could find a color close enough you could use a good wood putty.
Click to expand...

Yeah... seems like you could fill the crack with wood putty & then carve the set putty to match the carved grooves in the wood. You can also paint the set putty to match the wood color.
 
to match the wood closely wold be easier if you took the sword to a place that sell paint, putty and other such products and see if they can help you make the match. Just go to the desk and ask if it is OK to bring the sword in with you first, it usually is (I have brought guns into hardware stores to find the right screw for that matter) and then buy a few that seem close. Scoop a bit out of each can and allow it to set up then compare the dried product to the wood and see which s the closest one to what you want to patch. The wet color is nothing at all like the dried and set color most of the time. As for the brands to use, I would defer to others on this as I tend to use cheap stuff. Then again I have never been patching anything like an HI sword handle either, mostly old gun stocks and chairs and table etc.
 
i have been modifying knives for a few months now and the epoxy/saw dust works really well. check my site below for knives that i have modded. i suggest using a epxoy with a longer cure time and praticing. mix it up how you think you like it and then let it dry without putting any on the handle. Once it cures and it matches well enough for you then you can try it on the handle. good luck.
 
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