EK2 edges

[barryb]

Hi, I'm not sure if this has already been mentioned on here before but I couldn't find any reference to it through searches...

I have an EK2 which appears to be of 3 piece construction, but the top and lower arm have no solder line running along the edge despite all the other arms and edges between the arms having it. Is this normal?
I'm still pretty inexperienced so need a little help here, I've not got any other EK2's to compare and I can't find pics to help.

Cheers

[Nigel N]

it should be there somewhere, often they are a very neat fit, and are sometimes finished off by hand with a file, making any join difficult to see, post a few pics!!

[Steinar]

If it is a 3 piece construction, like you said, it means its a perfect match, sounds like superb quality if you ask me. But really, if you can see the edges on the other arms, than there must be an edge on the arm your talking about as well.

Pictures would be helpful

[barryb]

Thanks for the fast replies!
I was going to include some pics but it's too dark now to take photos, I just tried and they're blurry under artificial lights. My camera only likes natural light for macro I'll try for some tomorrow in the few hours of daylight I have!

The other arms' edges are very neat indeed which is why I'm curious on the top and bottom ones being absent. Looking really closely I really cannot see any marks and my eyesight is pretty good. I'm not sure whether this is actually a genuine EK2 as I bought it as a repro several years ago (from a fair somewhere, around £15??) and it comes with repro ribbon. It's just it's very well made and detailed if it is a fake. How "good" actually are the best fakes?! This one is un-makermarked and has a non magnetic core which I've read somewhere (probably erroneously) were the earlier ones before the manufacturers were forced to use iron.

I'll try and post up some photos tomorrow.

[Adrian]

I have several EKs where the join between the frames is invisible. This is sometimes because, as knockoffnigel mentioned, when the cross was finished the craftsmen used a file on the edges to tidy them up. Can you slip a thin piece of paper between the core and the frame to tell for sure if it is made in three pieces. If you can take some pics of the EK and want to post them send me a message.

[barryb]

Thanks for the input, I've taken some pictures but to be honest my camera doesn't seem to like the Iron Cross! I took photos of other medals and they came out clear, but for some reason not this one (!)

Anyway, here's an example of the visible solder line:



I haven't attached pics of the two non solder side as there really is nothing there, just clean metal that looks a little marked. Following are obverse pics of the EK2:





They're not too clear but in real life the detailing is very good, there's a narrow gap between the 1 and 9 and the swas has sharp edges. The 1939 is very sharp, just on the pictures it looks quite rough!
Perhaps the top and bottom edges were filed down more than the others... It's just if I saw this on all the arms I'd say it's a die cast repro. Oh and I can't slide thin paper between the core and the frame.

Thanks!