| myArmoury.com is now completely member-supported. Please contribute to our efforts with a donation. Your donations will go towards updating our site, modernizing it, and keeping it viable long-term. Last 10 Donors: Graham Shearlaw, Anonymous, Daniel Sullivan, Chad Arnow, Jonathan Dean, M. Oroszlany, Sam Arwas, Barry C. Hutchins, Dan Kary, Oskar Gessler (View All Donors) |
Author |
Message |
Will C.
|
Posted: Sat 14 Mar, 2015 10:46 am Post subject: Historical Rust Prevention |
|
|
In medieval times they did not have fancy oils and scotch brite pads. Did they obsessively clean the blade and oil it down everytime someone's finger touched it? Or was rust not even an issue and simply a natural property of the sword? Since we don't have color photographs from that time period we don't know what the actual swords in use looked like, whether they were covered in rust or shiny and polished. What effort, if any, was made to prevent rust?
|
|
|
|
Jacob Cash
|
Posted: Sat 14 Mar, 2015 11:45 am Post subject: |
|
|
I assume any man worth his salt would make sure to keep his blade well oiled and sharp to prevent the blade from sticking in his scabbard. Most knights had squires and paiges who would look after their armor and weapons during campaigns, however, most regular men-at-arms would hopefully take the time to learn how to care for their weapons and armor, as it was important to their livelihood.
I don't have any sources to back up my claims, but I'm just using my head here. What man would let his sword rust if he knew he would be using it?
"Keep sharp both blade and mind."
|
|
|
|
Greg Ballantyne
|
Posted: Sat 14 Mar, 2015 1:48 pm Post subject: |
|
|
There is evidence that some dark age sword scabbards were lined with sheep hide with wool. Lanolin is a very effective moisture inhibitor, as a matter of fact some people rely on lanolin based products today rather than fancy oils and scotchbrite pads.
|
|
|
|
Pieter B.
|
Posted: Sat 14 Mar, 2015 3:10 pm Post subject: Re: Historical Rust Prevention |
|
|
Will C. wrote: | In medieval times they did not have fancy oils and scotch brite pads. Did they obsessively clean the blade and oil it down everytime someone's finger touched it? Or was rust not even an issue and simply a natural property of the sword? Since we don't have color photographs from that time period we don't know what the actual swords in use looked like, whether they were covered in rust or shiny and polished. What effort, if any, was made to prevent rust? |
Well they probably didn't take out their sword on every occasion to show it to family/pretty peasant girls, and they probably tried to avoid touching the blade with their bare hands. Other than that it probably depended on how expendable the sword was. A guy with a Ferrari is going to lose part of his sanity when it gets scratched, the college student who rides a car worth 500 bucks isn't going to get that bothered with the eighteenth dent. Perhaps medieval folks had something similar to this.
|
|
|
|
Mike Ruhala
Location: Stuart, Florida Joined: 24 Jul 2011
Posts: 335
|
Posted: Sat 14 Mar, 2015 11:13 pm Post subject: |
|
|
They did have a form of polishing tool that we see being used on swords and armor in artwork, it appears to be some kind of leather strop on a handle. Other than that you can look into the various finishes blacksmiths use on wrought iron. I like to cook on cast iron and it occurs to me that there's nothing stopping us from using the same seasoning process on swords or armor as the temperature only needs to reach 350 degrees F, thin coats of some oils are essentially transparent too.
|
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You cannot attach files in this forum You can download files in this forum
|
All contents © Copyright 2003-2024 myArmoury.com All rights reserved
Discussion forums powered by phpBB © The phpBB Group
Switch to the Basic Low-bandwidth Version of the forum
|