Cleaning an Original Enfield Bayonet

[lthull3rdla]

Re: Cleaning an Original Enfield Bayonet

well surprisingly I have not gotten too badly beaten on this one! Hey, for all the elbow grease and the dremel tool, this old bird aint changed much. In fact, looking at it this weekend I realized that I had not made much of a dent in its original appearence at all! That is some tough steel!

I have actually decided I like it just the way it is.

Yes, it came from the Francis Lord Collection. I know, because I bought it myself when the collection came up for sale years ago. I still have 2 or 3 of the cataloges around here somewhere. Whether or not I have the one that listed it or not I'm nost sure. What I do have is a old brown tag, that had been tied on it with string, maybe in Dr. Lords handwriting , maybe not, that merely said "battlefield pickup - antietam" no date, nor WHO picked it up. However, I trust Dr. Lord.

This thread has been, however, very enlightening. I never cease to be amazed at the collective wisdom of the many fine people who inhabit this forum. Thanks y'all...

ronnie

[33rd VA Co. H]

Re: Cleaning an Original Enfield Bayonet

If I had to take a decision, to clean or not to clean,... I'd have kept that relic tagged and in it's original state and polished up another one easily obtained at most any decent civil war relic show. Knowing a bayonet from that collection had a dremel taken to it kind of makes me wince. That provinance would have added a good amount of value to it's previous state but to quote an old relic dealer I knew,..."It's your's,... you bought it... you can paint it green and call it Fred for all I care".