Damaged, Repair, Clean, Preserve Soviet Awards And Documents.

[vatjan]

Superglue worked for me as well, just make sure not to put too much glue, because it spill out around the screw, and give you an ugly blotch

[rboomsma]

I am a little confused, you all say you can't re-solder as it will damage enamel.

So how come the Russians seem to manage doing it?

I have a Number #4 red banner that was for some stupid reason converted to a screwback. The post was silver soldered with no damage??. I would like to have an loop re-attached but have not bothered to look for some one to do it as of yet because I fear it being damaged also.

I have also seen numerous other orders where they were converted, some not so well, others done very well.

So how did they manage not to damage the enamel? It seems some knows how to do it.

Originally Posted by ericlida

Dolf

I tried to repair the order.

Just my advise: don't use soldering. It will destroy the enamel. The best case scenario, if it does not distroy - it will change the color in area around.

Use a super glue, as Rusty said.

Eric.

[Art]

Ron,

I would have to suggest something along what Dolf mentioned. I'd try looking up a custom jewelry manufacturer (we have a few around here. They make custom rings out of Gold ) and calling them. That would be the most permanent solution. I wouldn't waste time with store bought adhesives. Nothing exists in a squeeze tube that will give you the strength of a soldered piece.

[Dolf]

Guys,

Thank you very much for all the help and advices.

I'm just back home after an afternoon passed in one of the "mints" here in Lisbon!!!...
Well, here as in other Western countries, the former State Mint stopped having the monopoly of manufacturing the official awards probably right after the end of the dictatorship, in 25 April 1974, so now this is done by private manufacturers, and there is one in particular to whom the persons in charge in the House of the President (there are the Chancellors and the Councils of the Orders that take care of this) order most of the official awards being currently awarded, as for example the Order of Henry the Navigator with which Bill Gates was awarded last month, as was Bob Geldorf just before and Bono Vox before that.

There is apparently at least one more manufacturer doing these awards, but this one where I was this afternoon is the most important, so the "mint".

Right now they received an order to make 23 Orders of Henry the Navigator + a few others (including the Order of Santiago of the Sword), complete sets. Each set includes one neck piece + one Medal to be hanged on the uniform (or civil jacket if for a civilian) + a brest Badge + a miniature. In some cases there are also Grand Collars.
The guys (5 guys working on them + the boss helping for example recovering the little remains of the silver - about 900+/1000 btw -, and even even the powder from the pieces being sharpened and smoothed with sand-paper is recovered!) are in a rush as they have to have them ready next week.
The current President, right now visiting East Timor, who ends his mandate on next March 8, and about whom everybody comments his tendency to award more people than any of his predecessors probably did - yeah, unfortunatelly he forgot me - apparently still found the time and the people to award these other decorations!

The fact is that I spent some three hours watching almost every step of the manufacture of the awards, so guys you can imagine how happy and excited I still feel! Like a child going to the Zoo or the circus or whatever for the very 1st time, I felt as if I was in a dream or in paradise!...

This is what I watched them doing for the manufacture of the brest Badge for the Order of Henry the Navigator.
I watched them cut the pieces, sharpen them with special files, smooth them with sand-paper, each man doing one of the steps, the 5th guy most of the time was busy making the screwnuts but when he finished he came help the others, at one moment one of them went to another room where with the help of a big block of wood with different sizes of concavities beated the brest Badges (well the 1st larger piece as these are made of 3 pieces at least) with a wood tool to give them the concave shappe they have (I havent seen the next phase of this step but he told me that after that the piece is placed on the top of a tool where it is beaten again to assume the final concave shappe), I've seen them polish with a special metal tool the sides of some Orders of Santiago of the Sword almost finished (they already had the hot enamel)... well, I was in heaven for some three hours!...

I haven't seen all the steps as for example how they apply the hot enamel, but I've seen some Orders of Santiago of the Sword that had already received the hot enamel. Funny thing is that they looked very mat and I thought they weren't enameled yet, but they explained me that the hot enamel had been applied, but it wasn't finished as they still needed to be washed, warmed with fire and finally polished to acquire the usual final brilliance we are used to see.

I have to return one of these days and take my digital camera for making a few pics.

Anyway, as those reading the prior posts on this thread know, the reason I was there was because of the broken screw on a piece I received a couple of days ago.

Guys, one of the workers only took two-three minutes to resolder the screw and the job is simply perfect, almost unoticeable, and even if he had to heat the piece, with the flame of a kind of small bunsen burner heating the obverse with enamel of my piece, in order to make the solder become liquid on the reverse, there was no damage at all to the enamel!!!
As Ron, I've already also seen quite a few Soviet Orders resoldered and no damage to the enamel, so these guys know what they do, believe me!

As this is a Mongolian Badge, I'm posting pics on another thread, you tell me if you see any damage at all ;-)

Posts #27 and #28 here:

http://www.soviet-awards.com/forum/s...7067#post47067

Please let me know what you think of the repair.

Right now, and if Art and the Moderators don't mind, I'm posting here a couple of pics of one of the Orders they were making today. I know it has nothing to do with the subject of the Forum but this is only to illustrate my marvellous experience, an afternoon at the mint.
Notice that the piece I bought is a pretty old one, they were making new pieces like this one (The Order of Santiago of the Sword), but not this one in particular!

Art and the Moderators, if by any chance you prefer not to have these pics here please delete them, I just thought it might be a good illustration of my very happy afternoon in the mint (looks like the title of a movie... LOL...)

Thanks again to all that have helped with their advice.

Best wishes,

Dolf

[Soviet]

Dolf, do you have before and after pictures of your Mongolian award?

EDIT: Oups sorry, I see the link now.

[HuliganRS]

Dolf,

I think the pics are fine.

I'm glad they were able to fix it for you.

Rusty.

[Dolf]

Originally Posted by HuliganRS

Dolf,

I think the pics are fine.

I'm glad they were able to fix it for you.

Rusty.

Rusty,

Thanks

Btw, did you find out easily which Badge had the screw repaired?

Dolf

[HuliganRS]

I would say J03

Rusty.

[Riley1965]

I need to know how to preserve the award certificates in my collection. Both in the short term and finally for mounting in a frame for the wall.

Doc

[Art]

Archival preservation is a science unto itself. Your best best is to search on the web and learn all the basics. Most are fairly obvious, but here's a few I've gleaned from a few websites:

Storage

Containers provide safe protection for valuables and make handling them easier

Enclosures also protect items from dust, light, and physical damage. A wide variety of storage enclosures is available to suit different needs. It is important to select an enclosure that is suitable for the object it is intended to protect. Since enclosures are either in direct contact with or in close proximity to items, it is vitally important that the materials used to make enclosures are of good quality. Both paper and plastics may be used. Paper and paper boards must be acid-free and lignin-free and must contain few additives. "Rag" paper is an example of a good quality paper having these properties. A buffer, usually calcium carbonate, is added to many papers. This creates an "alkaline reserve" that will neutralize acids that may continue to be generated in the paper through environmental exposure and internal paper degradation. Polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyester film (often called Mylar™) are used to produce good quality enclosures. Plastics such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which are chemically unstable, should be avoided.

(note: I always use Mylar-D "sleeves" for protecting award documents, document books, anything of document size. It's better than regular Mylar. Larger certificates I would use an acid-free backer board, lay the document onto it, then lay an acid-free board on top, then place in an acid-free box. Make sure to keep newsprint type paper out of there. I would keep anything really valuable separate and in its own box. Note: photographs are a different animal altogether and you should follow proper procedures for archiving photographic material.)

Display


If you choose to display items, follow these general guidelines:

Fading and color changes are the most common form of light damage. It is important to recognize that damage may occur gradually over many years and may be difficult to notice initially. Damage caused by light cannot be reversed; it can only be prevented. Particularly valuable objects should only be exhibited for short periods of time (3 - 4 months) at low light levels. Avoid permanent display of your objects, especially photographs and colored prints.

Direct sunlight and high light levels must also be avoided. Keep lighting fixtures away from your objects because they may also produce damaging heat. Dimly lit interior hallways and staircases are often good locations in a home for display. One approach for showing your treasures is to rotate their display. While professional framing with good quality materials can be expensive, in the long run it is money well spent.

(note: you should use only UV resistant plexiglas when framing your display)


Photographs


Don't touch the surfaces of your photographs.
Avoid use of "magnetic" albums because adhesives on the mounting pages may stain photographs.
Use photographic housing materials that have passed the Photographic Activity Test (P.A.T.) - a national standard which assures that enclosure and mounting materials will not chemically damage photographs (information about items meeting these requirements is often contained in catalog product descriptions).
Don't attempt to flatten photographs (contact a conservator).
Use copies for display rather than original, valuable photographs.
Fold and unfold documents as little as possible (store flat whenever possible).
House newspapers and other highly-acidic documents separately from other items.
Don't laminate paper materials using heat or adhesive fusion processes; encapsulate instead using Mylar sleeves or jackets (see "Storage" above).
House in acid-free, lignin-free paper folders and boxes.
Don't attempt to flatten objects.
Consider making copies of non-printed materials for display.

These are basic. If you are considering a project, pay particular attention to the paper you use to mat your items (make sure it's acid free, archival quality) and try to use the UV resistant glass/plexiglas. This will cut down on the harmful UV rays which cause things to fade.

Most of these supplies are available through Light Impressions:

http://www.lightimpressionsdirect.co...OnlineShopping

I don't work for them or own stock in the company I've used their products before and was a satisified customer.

Art