Fake or Real

THE DAGGER BLADE

It has been said that the ingredient that is supposed to be most difficult for countedeiters of money to get is the paper. On the other hand, the people who counterfeit money say it's easy -they bleach the ink off $1.00 bills and print $100.00 bills on that paper. The same is true of the blade fakers: an abused original blade can easily be re-worked into an undetectable fine fraud worth many, many times its cost.

Fakers usually don't think small so let's say you wish to create a dagger which will be worth $1500.00 to $2000.00. Naturally, it will need to be a rare type, perhaps the only known example extant. The faker's rule number 1 is: don't start with an obvious Pakistani or Slavish copy of a dagger. Start with the real thing or with some "warehouse-find" parts from Solingen which can be intermingled with a few genuine dagger parts to create the illusion of authenticity.

If a faker is going to create a dagger intended to sell in the $1500.00 to $2000.00 range he (or she!) is perfectly happy to pay $500.00 for a dagger to start with. At the time this book is written one can still buy a good SS dagger in the $500.00 range, so why not start there?

After purchase of a subject dagger to be altered, a decision is made as to whether the new creation will be marketed as a pristine original in very fine to mint condition, or if it will be sold in good to excellent used condition. The original dagger is then stripped down and the parts are simply added to bins of similar parts from other broken down daggers (unless of course, the original parts are marked in some special way).

The blade to be used must be 1) used as it is, 2) fixed up slightly, or 3) refinished entirely. To add the greatest value to the end product, the faker will usually select option 3 and refinish the entire blade. Commercial metal finishers (see your Yellow Pages) or people working inside the metal finishing business can duplicate the original Third Reich finish on a dagger blade quickly and cheaply and at the same time remove the original etching on the blade. This is not a job to be done at home, as any unevenness is easily detectable. A factory finish is perfect, and removes very little metal from the blade. Fakers almost always remove the original etching from the blades of daggers they are working on because it is so easy to replace. The process is known industrially as "photo-engraving" or "photo resist etching'" and it is used every day to make things like printed circuit boards. It is easy to do at home.

A photo resists is a liquid lacquer-type substance to which photo sensitive material like ammonium bichromate has been added. It is applied to the blade of a dagger by dipping the blade in it or pouring the resist directly on the blade. The blade is then suspended or stood on end in a dark place so the excess resist can flow off and the remainder can dry. When dry, the blade looks like it has been varnished.

A film positive of the inscription to be etched on the blade is then positioned where it belongs on the blade, and is taped in place with transparent tape. The blade is placed in a plastic bag with a vacuum hose attached. When the vacuum is turned on the film negative is sucked tightly against the blade. The side of the blade with the film on it is then positioned in front of a carbon arc lamp (plain sunlight will also do the trick) for about one minute while light hardens the photo resist where it shows through clear film. Naturally, no light reaches the photo resist under the black pad of the film, so those photo resist spots remain soft and can be removed with a chemical developer. When the soft photo resist is removed it erases bare steel.

After baking the hardened photo resist to make it durable the blade is washed or sprayed with a solution like ferric chloride which removes exposed steel very quickly. To duplicate logo etching on a steel blade may require 2 or 3 minutes. To get a very deep etch as seen on the motto on some blades, or to replicate damascene work may require 5 to 10 minutes of etching depending on the temperature of the ferric chloride.

When the etch is correct the blade is removed, rinsed in clear water and then the hardened resist is removed with lacquer thinner. If it is desired, the etched spots can be chemically blackened prior to removal of the resist.

This type of etching is capable of reproducing extremely fine detail which has critically sharp edges and corners, even when examine dunder a powerful glass. A cheaper method which is capable of reproducing good, but not fine detail, is to silk screen a resist (likepaint) on the blade leaving some areas of exposed steel. When silk screened resists and their resulting etchings are viewed under a useful glass, the checkered edges (usually 220 checks per inch, or 9 per mm) left by the silk screen are perfectly evident.

The least expensive method, but one often used by the fakers is to hand paint the resist on the blade leaving open areas to be etched. An excellent example of a blade etched with hand painted resist is shown on page 216 of volume I of T. M. Johnson's book "Collectingthe Edged Weapons of the Third Reich".

There is absolutely no way to tell a good etched blade made in 1940 from a good etched blade made yesterday. Anyone who says he can is vastly over estimating his ability. The best experts in the field are fooled by new blades everyday. The processes can be identical to those originally used and the technicians of today are at least as good as those of 50 years ago. All facilities and equipment are better.

Interestingly, there are now people promoting the service of making"undetectable" repairs to Nazi edged weapons. These repairs including painting, covering with leather, the replacement of missing parts,etc., etc. Such repairs do not increase the historical value of the piece at all (if they did the Venus di Milo would have been restored years ago). All they really do is increase the value of the weapon for resale to someone who is unaware of the repairs made.

The salvation of the blade fakers are those collectors who seek a rare and unique piece - a one-of-a-kind knock-out of a blade, to exhibit for the even more gullible to look at. The best advice I can give is to BE VERY SUSPICIOUS OF ANY NON-STANDARD EDGED weapon. NEVER buy any edged weapons impulsively.

Ray R. Cowdery, "Nazi Militaria, Fake or Real", Author Published, 1993