Removing sword from scabbard

Dee Stubbs-Lee <dee.stubbs-lee<-a t->nbm-mnb< . >ca> writes

>One of our museum's volunteers is a sword collector and has asked my
>advice on freeing a sword he recently purchased that is stuck within
>its scabbard.  The owner says that he believes it is a British
>sergeant's sword from approximately the 1830's.

Perhaps radiology can provide some information as to the bent tip
and if that is the cause of the sword being stuck.

Another idea is to explore the adjustment of the equilibrium
moisture content of the leather sheath with a leather conservator
specialist.  If RH is low, water-containing material shrink.  If
some moisture is added back leathers can be relaxed with higher
moisture content, sometimes by using a Gore-Tex sandwich technique.
Perhaps the leather would relax enough to be able to remove the
sword.

Last, perhaps freezing the sword and sheath would contract the metal
enough to be able to remove it from the sheath.

Molly O'Guinness Carlson
Archaeological Conservator


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 27:43
                    Distributed: Sunday, May 4, 2014
                       Message Id: cdl-27-43-002
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