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Post by Zwilnik on Aug 23, 2020 3:47:56 GMT
So I noticed that the inside of my Windlass scabbard is staining the blade on my De Joinville sword. I'm sure it's the little leather tongues they use to keep the swords in tighter. I've polished it like crazy but it's not coming off completely. So I've been keeping it stored outside of the scabbard, oiled. This won't work for the long-term, will it, because I intended for this sword to be a looker. Here is a link to a pic of the stain, it's on both sides, but moreso on the side that has their company name on it. imgur.com/gallery/MEM7vPL Thanks.
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Post by leviathansteak on Aug 23, 2020 5:22:04 GMT
Its a common thing with leather sheaths, especially windlass it seems. They cling to water and cause the steel in contact to rust.
Wood scabbards seem less susceptible to this issue
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Post by Zwilnik on Aug 23, 2020 5:38:47 GMT
Ah. I see. Hmn. Well, I'll keep it outside of the scabbard for the time being until I can think of a better solution.
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Post by MOK on Aug 23, 2020 8:29:58 GMT
It's a common thing with chrome tanned leather, specifically. I've never had this problem with any of my blades stored, lightly oiled, in their veg tanned sheaths.
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Aug 23, 2020 9:29:16 GMT
I found such a black gunk area on the blade of my Windlass Erbach but it didn't stain, I could polish it away. On my Windlass Raptor it caused some stain that I had to polish away with a sanding sponge.
I tried this now: I put 1 - 2 ccm vaseline into the scabbard mouth and stuffed it down with a ruler into the area of the leather tongue, than sheathed the blade which is greased with vaseline also. It worked with the Erbach, no new black gunk. Did the same with the Raptor today. (sounds a bit strange, I know)
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Post by Zwilnik on Aug 24, 2020 19:10:59 GMT
Amazing and thank you! This is why I love this forum so much. Ingenious. I'll give it a try. I found such a black gunk area on the blade of my Windlass Erbach but it didn't stain, I could polish it away. On my Windlass Raptor it caused some stain that I had to polish away with a sanding sponge. I tried this now: I put 1 - 2 ccm vaseline into the scabbard mouth and stuffed it down with a ruler into the area of the leather tongue, than sheathed the blade which is greased with vaseline also. It worked with the Erbach, no new black gunk. Did the same with the Raptor today. (sounds a bit strange, I know)
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Post by Zwilnik on Sept 3, 2020 3:36:53 GMT
I didn't have Vaseline on hand, and I don't see myself ever needing Vaseline, take whatever laughs that will give you. What I did have was some 3-in-1 mineral oil and I very liberally squirted some onto the leather tongues and down into the scabbard. I repeated this process several times throughout the day to make sure it dried into the tongues. I also squirted a decent amount onto the blade and especially where the staining occurred. I'm going to leave it in the scabbard to see how it goes. If I still see the marks, I'll just keep it out of the scabbard.
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Sept 3, 2020 4:47:12 GMT
I use vaseline to maintain my blades so I thought it would be better to use the same stuff inside the scabbard. And it's not liquid and better to stuff on to those leather tongues. After 3 weeks there is still no new black gunk on the blade but I see in the area of the blade, where it was, a different pattern in the vaseline coating. Looks like those leather tongues are clean and vaseline soaked now.
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Post by MOK on Sept 3, 2020 11:27:14 GMT
Careful with that - too much oil on a blade or in the scabbard can trap moisture-bearing dirt and debris against the steel and cause spots of corrosion.
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Sept 3, 2020 12:08:48 GMT
Of course one should be careful with this, not too much. But that's an advantage of vaseline, you can control the amount to apply better than with liquid oil.
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pgandy
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Senior Forumite
Posts: 10,296
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Post by pgandy on Sept 3, 2020 16:07:38 GMT
I’ve experienced the problem on many Windlass swords. Usually the end result is black rust which while an eye sore is passive and will not harm the blade. Red rust would precede the black though. I have one Windlass that regardless of what I did red rust would reappear. Finally I painted the affected area with clear finger nail polish. To my surprise the polish was completely transparent and I could not detect it and that it appears to work.
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Post by Dandelion on Sept 11, 2020 13:22:39 GMT
Its a common thing with leather sheaths, especially windlass it seems. They cling to water and cause the steel in contact to rust. Wood scabbards seem less susceptible to this issue All our VAs have/had that issue as well...
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