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Post by theevilgoat on Jul 12, 2023 21:00:02 GMT
HI everyone
I'm looking for a good way to store a sword. Hanging it on the wall is not an option at the moment. I was thinking of storing this sword in a hardshell case similar to those used for guns and guitars. As a huge hardshell case fanatic, I have all my current equipment in hardshell cases. Is this a practical solution? Will the sword be ruined by touching the foam for long periods of time? I'm open to any advice, you guys know best. Would love to hear how everyone stores their swords. Thanks in advance
(I'm sure a similar thread like this is probably floating around somewhere that has the answers, if you can link that would be awesome)
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Post by eastman on Jul 13, 2023 1:18:59 GMT
pick a case with a gasket seal and add a silica gel desiccant (or more than one depending on size). You can get the type that are metal cased to re-dry in the oven or plug in versions (look at the options sold for gun safes). You could also wrap the blade in VCI paper to prevent corrosion (the modern improved version of the old grease-paper) - www.zerust.com/products/vci-paper/
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Post by mrstabby on Jul 13, 2023 8:28:17 GMT
Renaissance wax is specifically made for long time storage. Its a bit more costly, but it makes a tough, long lasting rust protection coating. Car wax also works from what people tell me, natural wax, like carnauber (which most car wax is made of) might degrade with time though (that's why they invented renaissance wax). Vaseline works well for an in-between for oil and wax. Wax paper might help, but I have no experience with it. Some people like to wrap the sword in linnen and then put them in airtight boxes, this seems to work as an added rust prevention. You can add silica gel, but be careful, if you put too much silica gel inside the airtight container wood parts might crack. I have seen this with rifles put in an airtight safe with silica gel pearls spread on the bottom of the safe. A relative humidity below 40% is enough to inhibit rust, but below 30% wood can begin to crack. Also if the box is stored in an area where it gets cold (cellar or attic) the change in temperature might be enough to raise the realative humidity to where rust can form.
If you can't hang the swords up, I would wax the blade, wrap it in cloth or wax paper and put it in an airtight box with one or two baggies of silica gel and keep it at a relatively constant temperature. You could add a sattelite from a weather station to control the humidity and to see if you need to add more silica gel.
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Jul 13, 2023 8:36:01 GMT
Vaseline - wardrobe - bucket!
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Post by takitam on Jul 13, 2023 14:24:35 GMT
You don't need anything besides a hardcase. No need to cover the blade with anything. Just put it inside and forget about it, foam will not have any negative impact on the blade. If you feel the need to use anything else, you can. Yet it is not necessary. The only thing to worry about is humidity. Especially if you live in a tropical environment. Otherwise, you are golden. One thing to keep in mind if you want to avoid stains is to wipe the metal parts dry after handling. Yet, even if you don't, the worst that will generally happen is some stains. It takes a lot of negligence to make the blade rust, it probably takes a lot of active effort to actually 'ruin' the blade this way You will find hundreds if not thousands of swords in museums around the world, that were excavated after a thousand years in the ground. Some of them still look presentable enough, maybe even functional.
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Post by mrstabby on Jul 13, 2023 15:26:50 GMT
... It takes a lot of negligence to make the blade rust, it probably takes a lot of active effort to actually 'ruin' the blade this way That I have to disagree with. Some blades are more succeptible than others depending on steel and surface finish. I have a sword that needs constant reoiling and can get spots within two weeks or so, others I can leave for months.
Leaving blades in leather sheaths also is a recipe for getting rust spots quickly, especially at the throat where the blade makes contact with the sheath. It also depends how long it is stored for and how high relative humidity is. If it is monts: Better safe than polishing for a few hours every few months.
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Post by takitam on Jul 13, 2023 17:46:31 GMT
One personal example I can give. I had a machete that was left outside in the garden for several years. It had to endure all 4 seasons more than once. It had a layer of red rust on the edge (flats were coated with something black.). It did lose some metal on the edge, but after scraping rust off with sandpaper it was again perfectly serviceable and didn't require any extra grinding. I think it's a matter of expectations. If you want your carbon steel blades to remain absolutely pristine, you are going to have a hard time
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Post by mrstabby on Jul 13, 2023 18:04:58 GMT
Of course you can recover some metal even after years, but I'd wager most of us want our swords not to have rust spots on them, let alone be covered in it.
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Post by takitam on Jul 13, 2023 18:36:44 GMT
Of course you can recover some metal even after years, but I'd wager most of us want our swords not to have rust spots on them, let alone be covered in it. Come on, that's boring. I'm going for full historical accuracy
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Post by mrstabby on Jul 14, 2023 10:40:22 GMT
Of course you can recover some metal even after years, but I'd wager most of us want our swords not to have rust spots on them, let alone be covered in it. Come on, that's boring. I'm going for full historical accuracy I'd call it sword-gore
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Post by madirish on Jul 14, 2023 13:42:00 GMT
and be careful and watchful....picked up a brand new Albion a month and a half ago. Cleaned it, renwax'd it in a couple layers and hung it on display. Went away on a biz trip for 2 weeks and came back to 2 small rust spots that I had to remove.
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Jul 14, 2023 14:18:12 GMT
and be careful and watchful....picked up a brand new Albion a month and a half ago. Cleaned it, renwax'd it in a couple layers and hung it on display. Went away on a biz trip for 2 weeks and came back to 2 small rust spots that I had to remove. Many of our members swear by Renwax. I too experienced rust, and not in two small spots, after using. So now when I wish wax I use car paste wax. It’s cheaper, and for me, and for me works as well.
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Post by madirish on Jul 14, 2023 15:14:01 GMT
Yeah, I wondered if I simply put it on too thin or accidentally rubbed it off there, but I spread it pretty thickly when I apply. Annoyed that now I have a noticeable finish difference in two spots on a brand new sword. Tried to keep the area I rubbed as small as possible....but still nickel sized spots that, of course, pop out to me when I look at it. I heard Albions rust easily...no lie.
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Jul 14, 2023 16:45:44 GMT
Yeah, I wondered if I simply put it on too thin or accidentally rubbed it off there, but I spread it pretty thickly when I apply. Annoyed that now I have a noticeable finish difference in two spots on a brand new sword. Tried to keep the area I rubbed as small as possible....but still nickel sized spots that, of course, pop out to me when I look at it. I heard Albions rust easily...no lie. When I apply wax, I do not try to rub when dry to give a pretty, shinny finish. I leave as is. Some may object to the white, smeary surface, but that way I know there is wax in that area or when attention is required. I live in the tropics and rust is an ever present demon. As for your two mismatched spots, finish wise; it is not possible to correct the finish, such as removing stains, rust, etc. in a local area and remain undetected. At least one side of the blade will need polishing to match. It is possible to remove those two visible spots by polishing at least the entire one side of the blade. That sounds to be more work than it is, as only the surface is affected. Be careful not to dull the edge in the process. I do not recommend a metal polish on an Albion, just my personal opinion.
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Post by mrstabby on Jul 14, 2023 18:03:28 GMT
Could something have rubbed off the wax where the spots are, like the holder or sheath? Matching a blades original finish is tough, unless you know exactly what grit polish they used. Some spots you can get off with a pencil eraser, the white ones without abrasive. There are also specific ones for blades, they work well on non mirror polished blades when used with the scratch pattern since they leave a small scratch pattern.
Renaissance Wax seems to be a either love or hate thing. For some it works great, others not so much. Might be either one specific way to apply that works or it might work worse in some specific environments.
Vaseline mixed with a few drops of oil works extremely well. It leaves a thicker coating than oil, won't run off or drip and does not dry out, pretty easy to clean off when you need to. You need to reapply it more often than wax but less often than oil. It also sticks to steel very well, where I had issues with oil alone vaseline stays on. It is also food safe, so you can use it on EDC knives as well.
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Post by theevilgoat on Jul 14, 2023 19:30:43 GMT
Thanks everyone for their sound advice. I should have specified in the original post that by "long term" I meant 2 - 3 months at a time. So far with the little knowledge i have with swords and metals, it looks like ill grab a hardshell foam padded case and make sure to keep on eye on the sword, not letting it go unchecked for too long to prevent rust from forming. I'll also buy myself some anti-rust agents and apply them often, like a few members mentioned above. As always with anything precious and valuable, getting it the best care to maintain its good condition is always number one priority. Thanks everyone
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Post by eastman on Jul 15, 2023 1:34:15 GMT
To match the factory finish on an Albion sword, you need to use the fine grey ScotchBrite pad (#7448) according to Mike. The older version of Albion's website had this reference page - www.albion-swords.com/swords/albion/sword-care.htmFor Ren Wax, you need to warm the metal before applying to get it to flow into all of the nooks and crannies. That's what the museum pros do.
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Post by madirish on Jul 15, 2023 15:52:36 GMT
Great advice, thank you all. Mr. Stabby...no, whilst hung, those spots did not touch anything (gap between wall and blade). I'll chalk it up to experience.
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Post by tomtx on Jul 15, 2023 23:33:17 GMT
I had the same experience with Renaissance Wax, where rust later appeared despite the wax. I didn't melt it before applying it, though... but rubbing it in does heat it up a bit and make it more liquid. Anyway I suspect that small spots of rust (maybe even too small to see) were already there, and coating them with wax doesn't solve anything-- the rust will just grow under the wax. In fact I think the wax can give you a false sense of security because you think the metal is protected, but you take the sword out some time later and get a nasty surprise.
Anyway I switched back to liquid oil so I know it is getting into the surface of the metal, all the pores and features, and even into the rust if there is any. I use the oil I use for guns (M-Pro 7) which is good for protection and it also seems to remove, or at least neutralize, rust over time. They also claim that it leaves a protective film even if it dries up so that's some extra help. I keep some swords in cases, some out in the air, oil them a few times a year when I think about it... seems to be working ok.
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Post by shinycanoe on Jul 21, 2023 0:20:16 GMT
Has anyone used Eezox on their swords? I have used Eezox on steel tools for the past few years and it seems to work great, but I live in a very dry environment. I just applied it to to a sword for the first time a few months ago, but I don't have any long-term data to say whether it is effective for long term rust prevention. Does anyone else have personal experience, positive or negative? I like that it is easy to apply and feels dry after about a day.
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