An unusual Victorian Royal Navy officer's antique sword

[@lio88jian]

I like how you clarify that you don't mean your current toothbrush.

[@mickleblade]

+lio88jian well, when i was a kid I used my sister's toothbrush for cleaning my bike, just had to make sure I wasn't caught! (i certainly wasn't using my own)

[@Rekwanze]

+Mickleblade Did your sister ever find out?

[@duksingchau8948]

+Mickleblade lol

[@mickleblade]

+Rekwanze not so far, I doubt she subscribes here!

[@projectilequestion]

+lio88jian I'd still use the same. I ain't pretentious.

[@CH-bd6jg]

any chance of seeing the blade when you've cleaned it? maybe at the end of another future video?

[@Tatti12321]

+christian higginson Or maybe a bit of the process if it isn't too much trouble?

[@tn21beer]

+Tatti12321 I would be interested to see the cleaning in process.

[@77jarim]

Yes. Video of the cleaning process would probably be interesting to many people.

[@rogerwilco2]

+tn21beer Yes, I would find the cleaning process quite interesting.

[@F3EDER]

+christian higginson Agreed! More thumbs up on this!

[@lajospapp258]

Giggled at the term "patina-nazi". Hadsome blade, reminds me of that Coldstream Guards sword from an early video.

[@ValendianCrafts]

Ah, the magic of antique objects! The craft, age and story they carry with them. If they could think or speak, who knows how many things could be told! Congratulations for your new sword.

[@ARR0WMANC3R]

Congrats on 80k subs Matt!

[@scholagladiatoria]

+ARR0WMANC3R Thanks :-)

[@CaptainRumPanda]

+scholagladiatoria is that a spadroon ?/ it looks like one ,but i maybe wrong, whats sword is it ??

[@seanmoran1894]

It's like the Colichemarde. The base for defending and the second half for thrusting. The only difference is this would have some cutting ability while the Colichemarde was mainly just for thrusting.

[@mallardtheduck406]

Hi Matt, that might be in my opinion the most beautiful sword you have. I cannot wait to see what it looks like after having been cleaned.

[@christianroberts8134]

I truly enjoy your digressions!

[@The1Helleri]

@scholagladiatoria A patina is actually two part/layers where it concerns metal objects. The colorant and the seal. The colorant which rests beneath the seal is oxidization. The seal (top layer) is dust that has invested into oil and dried on overtime. This layer is mostly transparent (sometimes more opaque). And it actually provides mild protection from further oxidization. A patina is not actually limited to metal object. wood, horn, bakelite, bone, antler, ivory, leather, and even sometimes plastic (usually kitchen/dining wear plastic where this does occur) can have a patina. Metal patinas are special because there are two layers (given that most metals oxidize and most metals have been oil at some point). But anything that contains or can easily become coated with oil (and thus become invested with dust from the air), can have and over time often develops a patina (i.e. paintings, billiard balls, wood furniture etc.) So even the shark skin wrapping on that handle has a patina. Which by the way you can return to a white color by careful leeching with bleach. After light scrubbing and rinsing via your prescribed method (to break up the patina and remove it). Strips of bleach soaked white paper carefully cut to fit and applied, then wound in dry cotton roving (which will be moisture-wicking) can probably return that shark skin to nearly the original color. This will also dry it out. So you would want to apply Glycerine (Rose Water has a lot of Glycerine) after words to restore suppleness to it. I've done this uniformly with stained veg-leather. However with shark skin....you might want to buy a piece of manta ray skin off ebay, purposely stain it, and do a test run first, if this method sounds like something you might want to try.

[@justsomeguy3931]

Restoring these artifacts is a great cause. I have a similar passion for cleaning firearms that desperately need it, I'd get into restoration if I had the skill

[@danielmartin4596]

That is a fantastic looking sword! something(s) about it just tick all the box's for me,I'm going to have to research these further. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

[@jerome96114]

Will you show us the pretty version once you created it? :-)

[@CorySee]

Awesome. I really like it! Thanks Matt.

[@tangsoodoarnis4life]

That is really a nice piece looking forward to the video after you get the sword cleaned up.

[@klavakkhazga3996]

Could you please do videos on restoring antique swords? Going through with footage of the process if possible. Maybe it won't be super popular, but I think a lot of us will find it amazing. I'd love to learn how that's done, where to find originals and the materials and tools you need for cleaning, how much should you pay for those, etc. No need for flashy man-at-arms-like editing. It seems a beautiful hobby and I consider you a real expert on the matter. Thanks a lot and congratulations on your channel.

[@username-kr2fz]

Hey Matt, is there anywhere I can get more information on this type of sword? My family sword is almost identical to this one albeit a few decorative changes. If it helps, the sword was used in ww1 by my Australian Great-Grandfather.

[@scholagladiatoria]

+Nelson McGuigan Have a Google through images of the 1827 pattern Royal Navy officer's sword. The best book about British naval swords is by Annis & May.

[@username-kr2fz]

Thanks a load, this ones been bugging me for a while.

[@ArmyGrunt1986]

I usually have good luck using a toothbrush and a whitening toothpaste for cleaning white shark skin which makes sense since shark skin is basically very tiny shark teeth. I also use Mothers Mag and Aluminum polish to remove any spots or rust on blades.

[@KincadeCeltoSlav]

LOVE your Collector Historic educational Videos! More !

[@Viktor_Johansson]

Please show us the cleaned blade in a future video. I really like the hilt and overall shape of this one.

[@PJDAltamirus0425]

Seems like something that would be extremely durable, with the full tang, nimble because of the thick parrying section and tang, and versatile, having a straight hexagonal cross section for lethal thrusts and wounding cuts. Seems like rapier or smallsword well designed for naval combat, where long weapons can be great hinderance.

[@Ragesauce]

That sword was excellently preserved imo, the patina looks excellent on it and I didn't see any terrible rust spots on it. If it wasn't truly eating away at the metal, I would kept it just the way it is! I would assume you already polished it however, do you have a link to the cleaned up version? Would like to see the before and after.

[@yoda112358]

Could you do a more detailed video on what major differences there were between Naval swords and Army swords, and the corresponding techniques? It seems like there must be some major tradeoffs that must be made for combat on a ship with relatively tight quarters and a pitching deck, compared to on land.

[@markstouse3377]

Reminds me of the logic behind a colichemarde. Broader, heavier blade for defense, combined with a more traditional rapier blade for attack.

[@MarshallBanananana]

Thank you for the video. That Toledo blade got me thinking, could you make a video on Colichemarde swords. Aesthetically they always looked to me like some Frankenstein's atrocities but may be they are successful from a practical standpoint, something like a blunderbuss.

[@sststr]

Thanks to Klinger in MASH, whenever I hear Toledo I think of the city in Ohio, never of Spain, so I was for a few seconds confused why a British naval officer would have a sword that had been made in some obscure US town ;-)

[@kyletimmons421]

Beautiful sword. I want one!

[@RelativelyBest]

I've seen pictures of Spanish sabres with that type of blade, except curved. Didn't know the straight ones were more common. I actually like this style very much, except I would personally prefer to keep the blunt portion to just a third of the blade, rather than half.

[@Condottier]

Its beautiful!!! I love that compact yet lean shape and the hilt construction, didn't know that was done on sabres. Can you post some pictures of it (may be on facebookI) after cleaning it?

[@Dithyrambos-h5e]

Interesting video. Question about the sword: about halfway up or so (around the point where the fullers, if that's what they are, end) the color of the blade changes pretty radically. It gets probably four or five shades brighter. What would cause that kind of change at that point on the blade? Is that just an artifact of how Toledo blades are made? Also, if you're talking about patina: American viewers would almost certainly be most familiar with the term from the patina on the Statue of Liberty. It's far from the only example, of course, but that beautiful and iconic green is one of the most well-known examples of patina that I can think of.

[@Physwe]

Please try cleaning your blade non-abrasively by reducing the rust back to iron; I don't know if it will be very applicable, but you should absolutely give it a try!

[@Dominator046]

You may want to edit the video's description, or tags, to include Toledo, or Toledo Blade in it. As, I believe THIS is the definitive video where you discuss them (either 'in a separate video' or 'in a previous video'), BUT youtube's search - while it does return this video - does not have any way of highlighting it to viewers! At that, the other search returns I watched didn't seem to cover it - and instead referenced this video. Though, I suppose I could've missed them.

[@buffordevans6942]

Ohhhh man that's an awesome sword Matt .. Is this one ever going up ?

[@callumsymons7991]

I hope you have hella good security in your house. i know swords aren't cheap and that one i'm guessing set you back quite a bit.

[@derstoffausdemderjoghurtis]

He and his swords are the hella good security

[@wiskadjak]

Interesting video. I'm curious about some of the mechanical properties of this sword. Overall weight, blade length, balance point, points of percussion. rigidity etc.. Also, how closely does it resemble a Type 19 side sword blade?

[@Carbon762]

Matt, I know you've said in the past some words about distal taper in sabres and how sometimes the differential of blade thickness from handguard to point is not "constant or regular". Is this one of those cases?

[@ilikewasabe]

im inlove with that sword somehow

[@pranayf]

matt could you please post pics of the sabre which is second from bottom on your wall with and without scabbard? i like that sabre, its awesome!!!!!!!!!

[@DoctyrEvil]

The fuller would improve stiffness for thrusting as well without compromising speed and weight, balance or cutting ability. Very interesting.

[@dimeolas777]

Good video, I have one of these, the end of the blade is curved and double-edged. No scabbard and is dirty as well. Thinking to clean it up and bit and find a place to sell it. Any suggestions?

[@charkvaror2112]

So that's why Excalibur is kept deep in the lake.

[@diphyllum8180]

Why are not all tangs full width? The advantages to a stronger tang (and more weight in the hand) seem obvious, but why then are not all swords made this way? What do you have to give up to have a full width tang?

[@scholagladiatoria]

+Michael Vipperman Expense and time in construction. Regular tangs are easier to fit hilts to and also easier to tighten if anything gets loose. Full width tangs also make the sword heavier.

[@edi9892]

+scholagladiatoria I thought that a full tang hilt with two slabs of wood and a wrapping is easier to make than a tapering tang and a handle that fits tightly, moreover I don't see what could get loose in such a construction.

[@NoiseVomiter]

it adds a lot of weight, when you're trying to get a specific balance every bit counts. also easier to switch a damaged hilt to a new one. im sure there are more reasons. and also, hilts never, or veeery rarely, broke inside the handle, the steel would snap where the handle ends and on a 'rat tail' tang they were full width there anyhow.

[@derstoffausdemderjoghurtis]

also more material

[@londiniumarmoury7037]

The one you sent me, had terrible hilt condition, and I brought it back up to a shiny bronze finish. I think I did the sword a favour to be honest because it got so bad, whoever the officer passed the Pillin down to didn't give it a good home and they neglected the sword. Then I came along and brought it back to serviceable and usable condition. I am in the opposite camp as the patina nazis. I think some swords should be left alone if they are in good condition, but blades in bad condition should be restored, I don't like to see a retired sword, if a sword can't perform it's primary function it's no longer a sword, it's an ornament.

[@doratheexploder286]

I bought the cutlass (the short second from top) you see on the wall behind Matt in this video, and the brass hilt is basically black with patina. I feel it suits it nicely, and will not polish it to bring the brass out.

[@aroesblackstone1]

Just kind of feel the need to ask, have you ever experienced anyone clearing their blades via electrolysis and then grinding away the pitting supposing it wasn't too deep?

[@NoahWeisbrod]

Do you have an opinion on Toledo blades? What are the advantages and disadvantages compared to a broadsword or sabre?

[@nelumbonucifera7537]

Given that polishing results in some removal of material (however small), do you find that there's any tension between a desire to preserve the weapon and a desire to return it to it's original appearance?

[@benjaminkeepfer8968]

Any chance you could do either one or a short series of video's about cleaning this sword?

[@dmytroy]

Really interesting sword. If you have chance to answer couple questions. How stiff is the blade? Do we know how much more expensive would it be in comparison to regulation sword? Also what is the weight of it.

[@kyleflanagan963]

Really neat sword there Matt! Question: Does the Toledo Blade have any historical or functional connection to the Colichemarde? They seem to have a similar idea behind them in having the thick base. Seems interesting.

[@b61982]

Matt, love your vids, thanks for helping us understand HEMA, particularly here across the pond where it isn't so well known. A question about the blade, I noticed that there is a hook or protrusion on the hilt along the thumb side of the grip. You used it several times to hold the blade so we could see it. What is that called, and does it serve a purpose other than decoration? It may be that it's been on lots of swords and I just missed it, but I don't remember that bit on other swords you have shown.Thanks again, and enjoy the new sword!

[@scholagladiatoria]

+Nathan Welsh It's a rear quillon and it's quite common on sabres, hangers, backswords etc. It is a survival from the medieval cross hilt - it's there to prevent blades sliding off the back of the guard and hitting your arm.

[@edi9892]

Nice Vid! Please show how it looks after each cleaning step. I really wonder how much you can restore without grinding it. PS: is the upper part of the blade a flat hexagon? What advantage could that have over a diamond crosssection?

[@unpopularspirits829]

The water of the blade reacts with the steel in the air

[@rasnac]

Make a video after you finished cleaning to show us the result. I'd like to see how clean and shiny it can be.

[@davidbradley6040]

excellent blade

[@claudiorodriguez3417]

I want to see it cleaned in one of your short videos

[@VictorC1891]

We will need a update to see how the sword end up after cleaning.

[@arpioisme]

i'd like to see some kind of tutorial video on how to clean an antique sword like that please

[@Truffles413]

Any chance you will show us the end result of you cleaning that blade? Looks wonderful by the way.

[@scholagladiatoria]

+Truffles413 Possibly, I don't know yet.

[@teufeldritch]

Nice sword! Wow!

[@taitai300]

I would very much appreciate if you would make a video of the cleaning process.

[@alicemckin]

Hi Matt have you ever encountered an historical example of a basket hilted broadsword with a curved blade. The only example I've seen is in the famous portrait of Alistair Mhor Grant (the champion of clan Grant). Do you think swords of this type were actually around in this period (early 1700s) essentially a basket hilt sabre. Or was the artist not good at straight lines.

[@scholagladiatoria]

+alicemckin Yes I've seen a few antique examples, they were uncommon.

[@alicemckin]

+scholagladiatoria Thanks for answering. When I saw the painting it just looked out of place and I thought I know just the chap to ask about it, your good self.

[@quetch2]

Could you make a video on how to properly clean antique swords? I have a rusted old sword that i'm too afraid to clean, because the only way i know is to abrasively polish the blade which would damage all of the etching along it

[@bendraconis28]

Cleaning Video would be brilliant!

[@100dfrost]

Matt, my oldest son pointed out that with a full tang that is not a sword, it's a knife. Dante.

[@SlurponMuhdickKillTheState]

Interesting blade.

[@kmal2t94]

Never knew shark skin was used on grips. interesting

[@couchpotatoe91]

Interesting video! I couldn't help but to stare at that blade in the back with what almost looks like an artificial limb. It kinda reminded me of Jaime Lannister xD Have you done a video about that one yet?

[@scholagladiatoria]

+M. Vipsanius Agrippa Seach for 'pata' in my videos

[@couchpotatoe91]

thanks!

[@wartstein8814]

Very interesting sword! Thanks for showing it, Matt! What´s the advantage of half of the blade beeing blunt? Even if primarily used for defending, would´nt a fully sharpened blade work as well for that (and eventually get blunt anyway)?

[@scholagladiatoria]

+Wartstein 1 It means that it takes no damage when parrying and also theoretically makes it stronger.

[@Altrantis]

+scholagladiatoria Presumably stiffer too?

[@adznz11]

Yeah its just more durable. It isn't used as a cutting edge in a fight anyway but it is used in a gaurd or parry so i guess overtime it just makes sense to beef it up. Also it increases the stiffness for thrusting as this is a thrusting blade.

[@300warrior300]

can you us what it looks like when you are done cleaning? You could stick a pic on facebook. Would be interesting to see. Thankss

[@Shugenjya]

is there something like speeddrawing, like iaijutsu in european martial arts?

[@scholagladiatoria]

+Shugenjya Yes, it's shown in a few treatises from 1409 onwards.

[@miloscucukovic4705]

Do you have in you collection any Russian saber?Or French? It would be nice to see a video where you would compare a British vs French or Russian saber's from same period.Great video and great sword you got there!

[@me2people]

Is oiling the blade to clean it sort of like putting a cure on a cast iron pan?

[@sharpie443]

O with an antique gun or coin cleaning the patina would be a no no. Which makes cleaning a gun with surface rust a massive pain in the butt. I made the mistake of cleaning a Prussian coin once and regret it to this day.

[@brendandor]

That was a cool sword :D

[@charlesstonebridge525]

Video 'how to' on cleaning antique swords perhaps?

[@Bitemis]

But I do use my current toothbrush to clean antique swords. Is that wrong? Should I not do that?

[@Wild1990Child]

I like the transition at the start of the video. Still not a fan of the outro though ;) Also, when i saw the blade, my brain immediately compared it to a colichemarde. Do you think there's any relation between that and the Toledo blade?

[@scholagladiatoria]

+Doppelsöldner Not directly, but it's a similar conclusion to the same problem.

[@Wild1990Child]

Ah, ok. So you think they evolved independently then? I'm kinda iffy on the timeline on swords like these (check out my name and you'll figure out why lol), so as far as I know they could be from similar or dissimilar periods in history

[@sky4eyes]

are you going to make video for cleaning process ??

[@xlstaticpandalx]

Should you try to remove bloodstains from historical swords that were used in combat?

[@Robert399]

If you want to hear about the sword, skip to 5:51

[@Komaru85]

Would be great if you show it to us after cleaning.

[@thebobbytytesvarrietyhour4168]

Why don't any of the "dedicated thrusting" swords of the 18th and 19th century have a finger ring inside the hilt like we would see in a rapier?

[@dreadthemadsmith]

You should show off your entire colection at some point.

[@gerryedwards1174]

I'm sure I saw the ad for that sword on gunstar a couple of weeks ago. Pissabolity Matt?

[@scholagladiatoria]

+Gerry Edwards Nope

[@mickle5125]

what is the third blade from the window?

It is a nice piece you have there ! Congratulations ! Do you think you will speak about regular or/and unregular europeans or british mamluk sabres ? There is a lot ot know about them and they are quite in the shadow for now.

[@scholagladiatoria]

+Grégory Fleury mamluk sabres are not something I have studied much and I don't currently own any to show.

All right then!

[@peterwackel8835]

+scholagladiatoria Arent there sabers on the wall behind you?

[@HamsterPants522]

+Oink Kaka He said _mamluk_ sabers, not sabers in general. Don't be embarrassed, though, I almost missed it too.

:)

[@leviethen]

That is a gorgeous sword. Where do you even find these?

[@scholagladiatoria]

+Ben engledow Google 'antique swords' and see what comes up :-)

[@bbbengunnn]

Hi Matt, after restoration are we going to see this sword in the selling list on your website?

[@scholagladiatoria]

+bbbengunnn I'll probably be keeping this one for the foreseeable future :-)

[@nathanl3624]

What pattern is the sword hanging vertically next to the pata?

[@enoughofyourkoicarp]

What does a sharkskin grip feel like? I imagine it feeling kind of like either leather or rubber.

[@vcfern]

+enoughofyourkoicarp Actually sharkskin feels rough, kind of like sand paper.

[@enoughofyourkoicarp]

vcfern Surely it would be de-scaled if it's going to be used to make sword grips though, right? O.o

[@rediius]

+enoughofyourkoicarp Shark scales aren't typically removed for use in sword grips, just ground down to the desired smoothness.

[@enoughofyourkoicarp]

rediius So would you say they have a more plastic kind of feel?

[@ironpirate8]

+enoughofyourkoicarp I would say like grippy leather. Sharks don't have scales like most fish do.

[@Ken19700]

Doesn't removing the patina lower its resale value?

[@Danik0301987]

Matt, didn't you say there are 3 things that are diffirent with this sword and mentioned only two? I might have missed something though, I'm a bit sleepy, right now..

[@scholagladiatoria]

+Kazakh Gamer 1) Owned by an Admiral, 2) Toledo style blade, 3) Patent Solid Hilt

[@Danik0301987]

+scholagladiatoria Ohh, right. math... hard... words... hard too:).

[@timothyheimbach3260]

how does the double folder compare to a single one?

[@timothyheimbach3260]

*fuller

[@derstoffausdemderjoghurtis]

less mass in the blade ; style

[@usernaem4818]

great video

[@redbug3777]

Looks like a good Cake slicer! Or maybe a sandwich knife! 😄⚓🗡️🎂

[@OzoneoceanMJM]

What do you think about damaged wooden grips? Would you ever go to the trouble of restoring one?

[@scholagladiatoria]

+Ozoneocean MJM Yes sure

[@The_Gallowglass]

+Ozoneocean MJM That'd be a lot of fun. Pet project!

[@OzoneoceanMJM]

+scholagladiatoria I'm thinking of restoring the grip on a Blucher sabre I bought recently. It's just bare wood, smooth, without the ridges and the top part of the wood where it slopes into the gaurd is missing, but I don't want to ruin it's relic status... Maybe I'm better off leaving it, since the price seems to be going up for those?

[@OzoneoceanMJM]

Albert Milbert It'd really depend on the job you did on it though. Good restorations always leave as much of the original material there as possible - I'm talking about restorations in general.

[@tmikesecrist3]

rust is oxidation... it has to do with ogine not water... oxagusts is what casuses rust not water

[@nelumbonucifera7537]

Seems a bit silly that someone could patent the notion of a full width tang. edit: Or am I misunderstanding the use of the term? Perhaps Wilkinson invented a novel tang-forging process?

[@doratheexploder286]

It was patented by Reeves, Wilkinson bought the patent from him I think.

[@grantlandsmith]

Vinegar on a cloth - don't you use it?

[@jacklederer6106]

you can use ketchup to clean the brass

[@nomorok15]

can someone tell a trustwothy source for getting antique swords ? :)