to bend or not to bend and if so how?

[HolzHammer]

Morning All,
I really like this brooch, its one of those with the spring inside the casing, and I love the design....
The problem is that I find it very upsetting that some items which may have laid undisturbed for often thousands of years are then broken by my clumsy antics when trying to "fix" them!!!
So would you attempt to bend this back and if so how?
In this case i would probably not risk it ... the risk/reward ratio is not strong enough! And it looks good as it is...
All the Best
Alexander

[the-roman]

Personally, I would have to leave as it is. only because I would not feel confident that I wouldn't be doing more harm than good. It would be good if someone could do a professional job for you though mate

[Bors]

Personally, I would have to leave as it is. only because I would not feel confident that I wouldn't be doing more harm than good. It would be good if someone could do a professional job for you though mate

Me too You could end up cracking & breaking it so why chance it ?

[HolzHammer]

Personally, I would have to leave as it is. only because I would not feel confident that I wouldn't be doing more harm than good. It would be good if someone could do a professional job for you though mate

I agree... because its in such good condition it actually stands well as it is.... but i would like to know how a pro would go about it!!! Hope all well

[Steve_JT]

Shame its so out of shape, I wouldn't attempt it myself, I think with old metal it gets brittle so a cold straighten would end in snapping, heat may damage the patina and overall appearance, then handling it and trying to straighten may prove difficult.

May be worth taking it to a jewellery shop for an expert opinion and to see if it is possible, or they may know a specialist that could do it, they would have the knowledge to give a professional opinion to quell the nagging doubt

Regards Steve

[Oxgirl]

Annoying though the bend is I’d leave it too. It’s in lovely condition generally so it’d be a shame to damage it.

[figgis]

Another one for leaving it alone, here. I'd imagine that annealing would be required to straighten it and I know this affects the patina on silver so it probably would affect your brooch, which would be a shame.

[Easylife]

I've annealed and straightened a few cast military badges and found that it just depends on the metal composition if successful or not. I'd also leave that as is. Nice find.

[HolzHammer]

Annoying though the bend is I’d leave it too. It’s in lovely condition generally so it’d be a shame to damage it.

i will leave it.... but when i hold it i automatically want to test how much tension is there!!!!!

[HolzHammer]

I've annealed and straightened a few cast military badges and found that it just depends on the metal composition if successful or not. I'd also leave that as is. Nice find.

I will leave it but hard to resist giving it a little persuasion... maybe I'll watch a few Yuri Geller videos...!

[TerraBritannia]

If it were my find I'd be so tempted to try and straighten it out, but even if it were posible it would have probably lost some of it's character. Leave it as is I reckon.

[muddy mick]

I had one with a bend a bit worse than that, and I tried to straighten it, and yup it broke in half lol

[Easylife]

It does actually look quite thin on the bend so if it were mine i'd give it a go after much admiring it as is for a time. You'll either completely ruin it or it'll be a really great move! The worst case scenario is if it breaks then just superglue it back together. But just how superb would it look if successful and the patina recreated?

[HolzHammer]

It does actually look quite thin on the bend so if it were mine i'd give it a go after much admiring it as is for a time. You'll either completely ruin it or it'll be a really great move! The worst case scenario is if it breaks then just superglue it back together. But just how superb would it look if successful and the patina recreated?

Ok I'll do it!!!!!
Heres one last look at it in one piece..... its been on my desk for weeks now winking at me to give it a go
(I'm blaming you when it goes wrong.... )

[HolzHammer]

I had one with a bend a bit worse than that, and I tried to straighten it, and yup it broke in half lol

oh God, bad luck! Well I've started now but I might stop as it's giving a few nasty signs.....!