Harry,
I am happy to describe the repair, although I fear that a good portion of the membership may find it trivial. when I bought the piece, one of the hinge ears was broken off flush with the edge of the paddle. It was a clean break with no missing chips. I decided to use silver solder for the repair rather than brass because I could do it at a lower temperature and minimize potential warping. I first cleaned the broken surfaces with a wire brush until shiny. I then clamped the two pieces in position minimizing the crack between them, My objective was to fill the crack with the silver solder and minimize any overflow onto the surface of the pieces.
Since C.I. oxidizes readily any work must be done at the lowest possible temperature and with a reducing oxy-acetylene flame, otherwise you can burn a bigger hole than the one you are trying to fix. It is also important to preheat the whole piece before soldering to reduce the potential for warping. Having done this, I brushed the crack lightly with muriatic acid using a small brush. Using the smallest possible reducing flame, and a 65% silver flux coated rod I melted the solder into the crack..Since you are going to have to remove any excess silver solder, it is important to use as little as possible. I let the piece cool naturally (don't dunk it in water!!!) turned it over and did the other side.
I was only partially successful in limiting the excess silver solder so I got out the Dremel tool and jewelry files and removed the excess. The silver solder tends to fill the pores in the C.I. and creates a smooth shiny surface. It is better to leave a little silver than to remove the C.I. pores.
Having shaped the repair to my satisfaction, I then used the Dremel tool with a small pointed tool and tapped the shiny surface in a vertical stabbing motion to simulate the C.I. pores.
At this point, I used electrolytic cleaning similar to the methods described on this site to clean all the parts. I believe it is advantagious to treat all of the parts at the same time to assure each ends up with the same appearance.
I then used a propane torch to heat up the repair area to a smart sizzle, and using a small artists brush dabbed the silver darkening solution (tellurium dioxide in muriatric acid) onto the shiny areas until the desired darkness was achieved. (Remember to use safety glasses!!)
Having done this, I then seasoned the piece using the Crisco / oven method as outlined in this site, with the additional step of putting the very warm piece in a plastic bag and purging it with pure oxygen and letting it sit for several days. I'm not certain if this does anything or not , but I think it may give a harder, shinier surface.
Harry, I hope this is what you wanted , let me know,
Taylor
