Repair or not?!?

[JensF.]

Hi,

I am not sure if I can/should repair this one or not. Any opinions/tips?

Best regards

[Bill M]

--Hmmmmm....I've been considering trying this myself with a few cheaply gotten patriotic medallions from the late 1800's whose rings were taken off. The only soldering I've done is with electronic circuitry and am not familiar with the type done by jewelers. I haven't researched it that far yet, but know that you need a torch as opposed to an iron.
--As for the ethical question regarding this particular piece. If it can be done well, why not? It's not like you're repainting an EK or mucking up a Pour le Merite. Just use the same color metal, eh?

[Tom Y]

As long as it's a "real" metal, not zinc or Kriegsmetall, go for it. As it is it hasn't much value and is doesn't display well. I think often rings were taken off intentionally by the ignorant to turn them into "coins. The piece should be covered with a paste made of powdered ochre and water, available from artists' or jewelers' suppliers except for the area to be soldered. This keeps the medal from tarnishing/oxidising. Use silver solder and a pencil torch. Lead solder on silver can turn the whole piece to a blob of silver-lead alloy and the softer metals will melt before the solder. You might do well to practice with some old coins, like Imperial pfennige or marks. Good luck.

[Tom Y]

p.s. Be sure to let us know the result.

[Eric Stahlhut]

Do you have the swords for it?

[JensF.]

Sorry, no swords. Now I'll try to repair it with soldering a smalll bronze ring on it. btw it is made of bronze plated zinc (I hate Zinc

[JensF.]

Done. I've used a simple soldering iron. The new solder is more shiny than the old one, but the ring is fixed. Lets say, it is a "field-repair"