Vernon in Virginia~Formerly Alaska
New member
[size=large]A lot of you will remember that last winter I found a US Civil War box plate. It had been hit by a plow, drug backwards through the dirt, peeling off most of the edges and bending it rather abruptly. The picture below is the plate after I had taken it out of the dirt. It felt more like a piece of shrapnel rather than a box plate. I had always envisioned finding one in better condition.[/size]
[attachment 140171 platedug.jpg]
[size=large]Below is a photo of the plate after I cleaned the dirt off of it. About 90% of it is there. Anyway, it sat around on my relic shelf about 6 months and I finally decided to send it to one of the best at repairing relics in the country, a guy named Leonard Short who lives in Virginia. I had seen some of his repair work on another forum... the guy wasn't just good, he's some kind of metal magician. When it comes to repairing Civil War relics, this is the man behind the curtain. I contacted Leonard and made arrangements for him to work his magic on my box plate. [/size]
[attachment 140169 dugplate.jpg]
[size=large]What he sent back was unbelievable. Leonard is a jeweler by trade anyway, and the guy's work is drop-dead awesome. Below is a picture of my repaired plate. Before I sent it to him I had a mangled piece of shrapnel with US on it; now I have a piece that's repaired, and I can proudly hang it on the wall. I don't know if Leonard has a replicator, a magic wand, or 3 wishes granted from a genie, but his work is awesome. I swear you could send Leonard a rusted paper clip found at a Confederate camp, and he could turn it into a CSA belt plate. The last picture is the back of the plate he also repaired (it needed some lead and a serious straightening).
Thank you, Leonard, for an awesome job. I couldn't be happier. I hope I don't find anymore that mangled, but if I do it's nice to know there's someone out there that can overhaul it. Thanks for looking.
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[attachment 140171 platedug.jpg]
[size=large]Below is a photo of the plate after I cleaned the dirt off of it. About 90% of it is there. Anyway, it sat around on my relic shelf about 6 months and I finally decided to send it to one of the best at repairing relics in the country, a guy named Leonard Short who lives in Virginia. I had seen some of his repair work on another forum... the guy wasn't just good, he's some kind of metal magician. When it comes to repairing Civil War relics, this is the man behind the curtain. I contacted Leonard and made arrangements for him to work his magic on my box plate. [/size]
[attachment 140169 dugplate.jpg]
[size=large]What he sent back was unbelievable. Leonard is a jeweler by trade anyway, and the guy's work is drop-dead awesome. Below is a picture of my repaired plate. Before I sent it to him I had a mangled piece of shrapnel with US on it; now I have a piece that's repaired, and I can proudly hang it on the wall. I don't know if Leonard has a replicator, a magic wand, or 3 wishes granted from a genie, but his work is awesome. I swear you could send Leonard a rusted paper clip found at a Confederate camp, and he could turn it into a CSA belt plate. The last picture is the back of the plate he also repaired (it needed some lead and a serious straightening).
Thank you, Leonard, for an awesome job. I couldn't be happier. I hope I don't find anymore that mangled, but if I do it's nice to know there's someone out there that can overhaul it. Thanks for looking.
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