Brian Wolfe

Hi Mervyn, Just catching up one the posts I've missed over the past few days, or was that weeks? I would guess that this could have been made in Europe after the war for sale to the soldiers returning for memorial services. From what I have read there was a very lucrative business in making souveniers for the returning vets. I don't think buttons on shoes and boots were very popular in North America after the Great War time period tough I could be wrong on that point. However, if my guess is correct (regarding boot buttons) then that may be another indication that this was made in Europe for the souvenier trade as they may not have been up on the current trends in North America. I've seen similar pieces for sale at different shows but never one with a military button affixed to the end. An interesting artifact. Regards Brian

Hi Kevin, You're sure right about the tobacco leaf. There is nothing as nice smelling as tobacco curing in the kiln, unless it is coffee brewing first thing in the morning. Darn, now I have a taste for bacon and eggs. Thanks a lot Kev! Regards Brian

Hi Jim, Greating from my cabinet shop. I'm not sure about witchcraft but the sanding is necessary because as time passes the oils in the wood start to dry at the surface so what sanding does is to renew the raw surface. That's why the inside surfaces of a cedar chest is not or at least should not be sealed, the inside of a cedar chest should also be sanded once in a while as well. Now back to my military collection room. Regards Brian

An excellent article Peter. It's good to see some historical background along with the items posted. Most enjoyable. Regards Brian

Hello Peter, Thnaks. I got the idea from the jeweller's mandrel then simply added the groove. Hello Hardy, Thanks. I think the original ribbon sets it off perfectly. Many thanks. Brian

Thanks Captian Albert. Viliam, ouch my eyes! Good luck with correcting the ring, please keep us posted. Regards Brian

This is the 1914 EK 2 finished and mounted on a piece of original ribbon which a fellow Canadian and GMIC member was kind enough to send me. The black finish that looked to have been rubbed off was replaced with simple Kiwi brand black shoe polish. Thanks for bearing with me and I hope this will help you in your own restorations. Regards Brian

Next slip the ring on the dowel as shown in the photo. Hold the medal back along the dowel and then turn the dowel 180 degrees so that the medal is on the bottom of the dowel. Rest the tappered end on the work bench or your fine coffee table if your wife is away and not expected home any time soon. I will warn you that this may leave a mark or two in the table so I would suggest a work bench, scrap piece of wood or even the telephone book under the end of the dowel. Otherwise you'll have to blame the marks in the table on the family dog. Bad dog! Bad dog! Remember the two feet of dowel that I told you to use? The extra long piece of dowel acts as an addition weight or lever making what we will do next much easier. With the ring on the dowel with one of the high spots of the deformed ring upwards lightly tap the ring with a hammer to gently convince it to bend towards the round tapper. Once this has been done rotate the ring on the dowel and tap the next high spot. Repeat this as many time as needed to return the ring to its original round shape. You can be a fussy as you want though I must admit that I stopped short of what I would call prefection as I was putting a ribbon on the medal and close enough was...well...close enough.

Next using a sharp wood chisel or a sharp knife make a "V" shaped groove along the taper. That flat spot I told you to sand along the taper makes cutting the groove easier. Trying to cut a groove on a round dowel can be tricky and dangerous. This groove allows a place for the ring, that is soldered on the medal, to safely rest away from the work you are going to do. It also allows almost all of the ribbon ring to come in contact with the dowel's surface, which is very important. You'll notice I didn't take much time and care in cutting the groove as this is not a carving demonstration. :whistle:

The first step it to get a round hard wood dowel that is larger in diameter than the inside of the medal's ring. Use a piece about two feet in length, I'll tell you why as we proceed. Next taper the dowel on one end using a power belt sander. I have a stationary sander but a portable one works as well. No Sander? Use a very sharp knife and whittle the end to a taper and finish it off with sand paper. It takes longer but also produces the correct tool. Also sand a flat spot on one side on the taper, again this will become clear as we proceed. The dark rings on the taper were made by the work I am going to describe. Remember I was working on the ring when I got the idea to post this process.

Hello Everyone, Perhaps this has been covered before but I couldn't find any record of it so here's my "How To" regarding a bent ring on an EK 2 made by H.J. Wilm. When I purchased this EK from a fellow member the black on the iron core was just about gone and the ring which is marked WILM was very much out of round. I liked the look of the Iron Cross mainly because I knew it was in need of some TLC. The first photo shows the ring after I had started to work on it. I had not thought about posting this technique before I started; so imagine it in worse condition. I'll write up the steps as I post the photos. Regards Brian

Hello Kevin, No, it indeed is not a military medal but the subject depicted sure fits this forum. What a beautifully struck piece. I hope that if this is one of a set that other members will post theirs. Regards and thanks for sharing this with us. Brian

I am happy to see that my post has generated such informative and educational input. Thanks fellows you've added greatly to my knowledge base (as small as it presently is). Regards Brian

Mervyn - Done Brian

Hello Claudius, My medal bar has suspension hooks on the back. While examining the ribbon more closely I can see the the edge red stripe is indeed much thinner than that of the TWM ribbons I have in the collection. I suppose now the question is, could this have been the Gessian Long Service Medal or the Turkish War Medal? Adding the Gessian Long Service Medal would be easy enough providing I can find one, however if the TWM it more likely then I would not want to proceed with that project. I would like to hear more regarding the debate. Regards Brian

Hello Sergio, The ribbon is an exact match for two other TWM ribbons I have in the collection so from this and considering the source of this group is very dependable I tend to think the ribbon on the bar is the TWM. However, being one who likes to keep an open mind I would like to see the ribbon for the Gessian Long Service Medal to compare it with the one on the bar. Could you possibly post a photo of the Gessian L.S. Medal ribbon? It would be most helpful. It would be good to hear from the other members as well regarding this discussion. Regards Brian

Here is my TWM collection so far. One day I will organize my collection to keep all of the different states together as at the moment they are all mixed together throughout the cabinet. A winter project. Regards Brian

Hello Everyone, I've wanted to post this group for some time now but something always seemed to come up and it just never happened. Anyway, here is an Imperial German group that one on my fellow GMIC members made available to me for my collection that features the TWM ribbon. I have also attached a photo of my TWM collection so far. Sorry that the photo has picked up the red hue from the drawer lining, but I figured you'd get the "picture". I have posted this in the Imperial German section as that is where this collection resides as I don't actually collect the medals of Turkey...yet. Regards Brian

The reverse. Mine is missing the pin as you can see. However, it show up the company marks clearly. REgards Brian

Hello again. I have been searching through past posts and here is the link to the question I had asked about my TWM. http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=42850&st=0&p=396374&hl=+turkish%20+star&fromsearch=1&#entry396374 I have also added new photos here just for reference (in case other members want to see what I am talking about without checking out the link). Regards Brian

I'm also no expert, however, the lack of silver finish is not a concern to me as this was probably a matter of over polishing. I posted a similar one a number of months ago and members with a lot more expertise than me were of that opinion. Having said that, and remembering that I am not an expert, I would tend to shy away from this one due to what I am seeing on the reverse. I was not aware these were being copied and if they are then this one would be one that was very well done. The enamel seems to be of top quality. I hate sitting on the fence! One side of me says go for it and the other says RUN AWAY! I hope the other members will weigh in on this debate. Regards Brian

Now this is what I think the GMIC is all about. A great bit of history and a very nice medal indeed. Please keep us posted if you find out more, Mervyn. Regards Brian

Hello Peter, Just an observation. It would seem that the likelihood of an explosion while attempting to produce an explosive compound or any such similar endeavour increases exponentially with the number of video devices in close proximity times the number of alcohol beverages consumed. Video cameras X number of brews = Youtube Regards Brian

Hello Anthony, I'd like to add my welcome to the forum as well. While my input is more of a comment to Mervyn's post I hope it may help in the quest for the answer to your question. I did a very short search on the internet for "serfontein" and it came up as a sir name. That would make sense especially with the initals P D and in the light of Meryvn's comment that it would not be Police Department. My first though was, provided Serfontein was a town, that PD was something like a Postal District but finding only submissions on the interenet stating this is a sir name I am left with the impressin that this is a name of a person. A very interesting medallion and I wonder if this was part of a pair, the other with King Edward on it. What is on the reverse? Regards Brian