I will admit I'm no expert on these chained SS daggers but I have worked with metal my whole life. Looking at the dagger and chain in question, the chain and upper fitting have the dull appearance as if it were sand blasted with a fine sand or media. Depending on the angle it may have been done, the shoulder on the throat would have shielded the upper scabbard band leaving it shinny at the top. If indeed this chain was in bad shape at one time, blasting would have brought back the detail but would have also left it with a frosted looking finish. Just my opinion.
Rich
Hello Rich
Very interesting observation. You are correct in that blasting with the correct very fine media would have given that very even satin look. But I would think if this was the case the scabbard would have had the parts taken off for blasting and the two parts you are referring to would have been separated therefore not the shinny area. I will very closely examine this area when I get it in my hands.
My take on the satin finish is as i said previously. I have seen and owned 100% all original Colt Single Actions that had originally been nickle plated back in the 1880s and they had this same very even satin finish while others from the same period still exhibited mostly the original nickle shine.
I have ideas as to why the nickle plating over steel has that color/sheen change but no proof. The same type thing happens to the nickle plating when you see it peeling up or lifting up or bubbling up. Information I have obtained from some Plating Companies is has to do with the original material surface preparation/cleaning and the quality cleanliness of their plating tanks. Other than this its a guess.
Their nickle plating processes back then were not as good as today and perhaps thats why they changed the chains to another material along the way, they had problems with plating steel and went from as we call them type 1 to type 2 chains.
thanks for your input
michael
