Milsurp After Hours

"...Antiques and furnature. There's another one! Sometimes furnature has to be repaired and materials replaced to bring it back. If something is still 66% original materials, it is still considered original. Go further than that and it doesn't count*. One typical application of that rule is a dining set of table and four chairs, except that one chair was missing from the set, so parts for one chair are fabricated from new materials. The three chairs are taken apart and reassembled with a third of the replacement parts. Each chair will have 33% replacement parts and the set would still be considered original. <snip>..."

Simon and Woftam,

I think that you will find that the 'Rule of Thumb' is 25% replacement of an object to constitute 'Restored original" rather than 33% - However one should be careful.

Technically it is possible for an almost new set to be 'original' by these rules.

Situation:- 6 chairs of set of eight survive - All six chairs are dismantled, copies made of the componants and four chair assembled, each contaning 3/4 of the original chairs:-

Bingo:- one "Original" set of eight chairs

Pass this set onto anothe somewhat 'iffy' dealer, then:

Take all eight chairs, dismantle, make suitable copies and re-assemble mixing in new and "old" (some of which is already reproduction) - 2 new chairs

Pass on and and repeat

All are technically 'restored originals' for sale - and with suitable finishing may pass muster with unsuspecting buyers. (this shady technique is knowm as "Splitting" and technically is not illegal providing there is no provable financial connection between the dealers).

We were told of this practice on a Restoration and Conservation course as a warning to check EVERYTHING - and what to watch for (timber identification, tool mark recognition etc).

The moral is "Caveat Emptor" (Let the buyer beware).

Tom

* My italics

I know that there are a lot of dodgey characters in the world of antiques. Some stuff is so valuable, that it is worth reproducing.

I used to collect WWII German badges and kit, but the price went through the roof and I sold off my genuine pieces to buyers who wanted them more than I did. A friend came by my shop one day, he showed me a shadow box with some badges in it.

Nice little case with velvet background. he had an RCMP cap badge, a WWII German officer's hat cockade, a pair or SS three lion collar tabs and a set of WWII Polish pilots wings. He has been looking for the wings for years to restore an original Polish uniform.

He asked me what I thought and I said very nice, they look to be in mint condition. He laughed and told me that they should, because they were brand new, about a week old! He got them made in Pakistan to his photographs. I had a pair of SS collars, a bit shabby but original. We compared the construction. Identical even down to the backing cloth.

Ethics here, these are to complete uniforms in a private display, which is cool. But what happens in years to come when the uniforms will eventualy change hands? No body would ever know.

I get all excited when somebody hands me an antique firearm to check out. I get a kick looking at flintlocks. Some were made in a workshop, less facilitated than my garage, and with hand tools! One old beauty, a Brown Bess was a shooter. I looked at it very closely, amazing. This old and still shooting. The owner then pointed out that the lock was a complete modern manufactured replacement. Made by a smith in England, it looked perfect with the rest of the rifle. I couldn't tell.

So what, the rifle isn't 100% original parts, but it falls into my tastes of functionality and condition. But it would be very difficult in years to come to tell that this puppy wasn't original.

It's kinda like having an vintage Rolls Royce, perfect original paint, but with a big ass dent in the bodywork. If you repair it, it won't still have 100% original paint. Boo Hoo.

For me, I wouldn't hesitate (being rich from selling repro wood) to get it fixed, and would drive the Jag instead. Comparible to the Brown bess that needed a new lock to make it 100% functional.

More than once people have shown me their 'Sniper rifle' or "Jungle Carbine' to find out that they had a fake. The world of Lee Enfield collecting used to be reletively free of repros and fakes. You would have to be careful buying a hooked quillion P1907 or a bayo for the No.5. But check out some of the US online auctions with 'Rare' Lee Enfileds and Martinis being brought back from Afganistan. They even dunk them in cow crap to age them. People buy these things, I watch the auctions.

So there are a number of tastes and vantage points on collecting with regards to originality and value. That is what is interesting about interaction with other collectors. Ones man's junk is another man's treasure! Speaking of which, does anybody have any junk MLE nosecaps or barrel bands kicking around?