At least where I live, if you don't keep a permanent coat of oil on the pommels you can see tiny spots of rust before the day is up.

I love Albion swords, but those pommels are hyper sensitive to rust. :\

Hello
Thats what I`ve noticed too. If I dont keep an eye on it, i have to hit it with a scotch brite pad,now and again :-(

Use a paste such as Renaissance Wax and you won't have that problem.

I live in North Carolina

It is hot and humid


I have Never had this problem.

Ever.

I do not even particularly do any extra maintenance

At BKS we had a real problem of our pommels arriving at dealers with rust on them.

Turned out my dog would lick each pommel just once when the swords came in for packing.

Maybe Howie and Amy have a shop dog?

I am not OCD about polishing.

Meh

second.. or 5th? for ren wax.

Or learn to enjoy a nice patinated finish. Down here in florida, most of my kit has a "mid campaign finish". IE it's rusty as hell, but it looks cool once the days active rust is buffed off.

I've owned 5 Albions (though no more than three at once sadly) never had this issue until my latest sword, the Principe. For some reason the pommel on my Principe seems to develop a brown rust very quickly especially around the peen of the pommel, regardless of how often I handle it or oil/wax. I am careful about oiling my swords regularly and haven't had this issue before, and it's stored in a dry place (and in the original box). It's a bit of a puzzle to me - Mike at Albion didn't have any suggestions either. I keep meaning to try neutralizing the pommel in baking soda and water, followed by a rinse off to neutralize the basic baking soda, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. This is assuming the problem is acidic in nature, and not basic in which case I would use vinegar then rinse in baking soda, followed by water...

I have 14 right now, 3 of them have bronze pommel but still 11 swords in NC and no real rust issues

No rust problems for me here in NZ and we are largely coastal, so subject to significant corrosive environments.

I have quite a few Albion swords and use a polishing compound on the pommels and guards when they arrive. Maybe once a year after that. I have bought some pre-owned ones that I had to remove rust from but once I polished them, the rust did not come back. Currently in Germany.

Out of curiosity...

How do the people in the middle age prevent rust in the pommel like this? I don't think they don't have ren wax at that time yet :)
Did they oil it (if they did, what kind of oil was it?) Or just let it build a patina on the pommel, maybe?

Japanese uses choji oil for ages; but mostly for blade protection, not koshira if I'm not mistaken.

This could be a whole new topic. How DID middle-ages people polish things? I don't think they had steel wool or Scotchbrite pads. Hmmmm............McM

I have 4 steel hilted Albions and have had no rust issues. I wipe them down after handling and periodically in between. I use Break-free oil and wipe on and off a thin layer with an old oil-soaked cloth. My sword display cabinet sits less than 6 feet from a humidifier we run during the winter. No issues.