UBB.threads Forums General Interest Restoration, Conservation, and Maintenance Forum scabbard shell finish

hello folks,

maybe someone can answer me my question. i have a ss m33 scabbard, unfortunately it was deeply rusted so i decided to remove the rust and blue it again.
so please how should the surface be finished to match the look of an unworked one after bluing. highly polished, sand blasted, sanded ?

any help is appreciated, thank you.

michael

Mipla,
Well sadly, it might not be that easy...
Early SS scabbards were not "blued", but annodized. This is a corrosive process which requires special chemicals and techniques.
I have heard of a only one person who has tried to re-annodize scabbards, but that was for SA daggers (brown) not SS (black).
I will guess that if you have aleady "cleaned" the scabbard of its original annodized finish, you may have to go with painting the scabbard to match the later painted versions. I think you may have little other choice....
But please get a few other opinions before doing anything more to your dagger.
Perhaps posting a few pics. would be helpful so that other collectors here could give advice on what is the best thing to do...
Viel gluck,
Johnny

Actually, "annodized" is a misnomer since that process is only applied to aluminum. We've had a few threads on this in the past. The process used on early SS and SA scabbards was a chemical rust bluing or browning. Surface preperation should be finish to 400 grit, polish, degrease, and start the rust blue process. Salt blue or cold blue will not give the same results.

thanks alot for your uselfull answers, i allready ordered a rust bluing solution called trioxydin, it should give a good result - in case i am able to get the shell�s finish right again, it�s deeply rusted between the fittings and requires welding i fear.
luckily the scabbrd was full of grease and the grip and upper scabbard fitting covered up, so the dagger itself is in exc condition and the scabbard probably worth the work.

regards
michael

Good luck with it!
I am glad that Vern chimed in, he knows far more about restoration than I ever will! Always valuble advice!
Please post an "after" shot as well if you can. I am interested to see how it turns out!

The bluing on early SS scabbards was done using the 'Zischang' method. It is the same blueing reagent that was used on early TR era lugers before the switching to a hot dip blue to cut down on production time. Besides the correct chemicals you will need to know the proper polish and application method to correctly get the color you are looking for.

Vern is right in that annodising refers to a clear or color finish on aluminum only.

Tony