I just saw a TV show on the Springfield Armoury Museum last night. They treat each of the 8,000 guns in their collection with a thin coat of wax -- oil traps dust and grime, and eventually evaporates.

Anyhow, if they trust their weapons to wax, I am going to continue to do the same.

Now we know that car wax is recommended: I wonder if some types of waxes should be avoided because of chemicals or something in them that would cause instead of prevent rust, or other issues that might make it less than ideal.

How about natural bees wax that could have been used historically?

Floor wax?

Renaissance wax ? Heard about this one but don't know much about it or where to get it or how easy it is to find: Fine arts supply stores or craft hobby stores?

Anyway this question is just asked in the spirit that if anything can go wrong it will and just to be sure that all bases are covered here.

Oh, just a thought: How about using wax to protect maille?

I think I would take two clean socks rub or spray wax on them and then using one on each hand I would rub the maille on the outside and inside at the same time leaving only a thing coating of wax.

This should give some rust protection and if used in moderation keep a gambison from picking up a red rust coat of dirt.

Doing a quick rubdown after every use of the maille should be easy and fast.

This for Patrick Kelly after all the work he put in removing the rust protection from his hauberk for the sake of it looking historically accurate. ( Also the odd of killing himself accidentally with wax should be LOW ......... LOL.)

I've been using liquid car wax such as Maguire's for 4, maybe 5 years now. Its very easy to put on the blade, it isn't sticky, I can atually touch the blade and not need to rewax, and it makes cutting alot smoother :D The longest any of my swords goes without use is a year, and it seems to last that long with no problem.

I am less impressed with wax on the other furniture. The wax will rub off quickly from quards and pommels. A simple cross or smooth pommel is easy to wax, but if there is any detail engraving or casting, any crevasses, etc, you will end up with a waxy white line in there which takes some effort to finish cleaning up. On some swords, like my practice rapiers, I don't care, I just wipe away what wax I can and leave the rest as is. On the prettier swords that I only do occasional test cutting with, I go that extra step. A note of caution: Be careful of the grip! If you wax the pommel or guard, then tape off the grip or you WILL end up with white spots on it. Masking tape is cheap, and has almost as many uses as duct tape, just go buy some.

Like lots of people here, I've spent some time removing varnish and laquer from swords, but I'm thinking of putting it back on some of my quards and pommels. I'd be interested in hearing more details about success or failure with brands, types, techniques, etc.

Hey all,

I browsed through old threads found via search function and through that Care and Maintenance article, but could not find a satisfying answer to my problem. So I though i revive this one.

While I was on holidays someone picked up my sword not knowing that it does not like sweaty hands. Now i got these nice finger prints on the blade i would like to get rid off. It did not rusted, but in the right light the prints are clearly visible. I cleaned off the oil like 5 days after the blade was touched. I tried acetone (nail varnish remover) and alcohol (aftershave) to take off the remaining fat. but it looks like the acid already touched the metal.
I do not like to polish the whole blade. Is there a way to remove the finger prints with little effort while keeping the satin finish on my Albion Next Gen sword?

My swords are more prone to dust than rust. Fortuneately, dust isn't hard to remove; I just take a non-abrasive material (i.e. toilet paper) and wipe it down. Dust is most visible whenever I put a light coat of Break Free on my blades.

If rust develops, I can rub it off with one of my 'rust erasers.'

Chad I agree that with an Albion finish the scotchbrite should work but if the sword is mirror polished it would be tricky to match the finish.

Should do a test on some hard to notice place or on something else " cheap " that has a mirror finish to see if the abrasive leaves either a rougher or a brighter finish.

Jeweller rouge and a little oil worked for me on mirror finishes but it's hard to match the finish 100%.

Now Jörg should tell us what the present finish is like so that we don't spend a lot of time giving him the wrong advice.

If the sword is a using sword it should have acquired a few scratches so a perfect finish would be less critical than if it's a sword owned as an expensive collectable that would loose value with every blemish.

Well there are collectors and then there are COLLECTORS ! There are also users who don't keep their swords under glass and use them for cutting.

Thank you for your replies so far.

This sword is the first and only one I got until now. I didn't cut with it yet, but I plan to. I handled it with care and refreshed oil (WD40) about once a week. I am a perfectionist and the first scratches and spots always hurt me. :) Maybe i will care less for a single one once i have more swords. The sword hasn't been repolished and is more or less in same condition in which it arrived from Albion. Its that satin shine, not mirrored.

Hi,
I use Minwax for all of my mild steel armour and none of it has rusted yet. I apply a havy coat of it, wipe off the excess and let dry. when dry I buff it until it is pollished. if you are storing or displaying it for a long time you can put a huge load of wax on it and you won't have to worry about it for several months.

oh, and also keep the rag that you apply yhre wax with in the wax container. over time it will become wax coated and is easier to apply to things.

hope this helps,

Aaron

Maybe i will try these scotchbrite, i guess i have one, somewhere.

But should I change the oil I use for maintenance? I searched for WD40 and oil and read that some people use it and like its penetrating properties. Others don't like that it evaporates.

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...t=wd40+oil

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...t=wd40+oil

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...t=wd40+oil

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...t=wd40+oil

i'm not sure if I understood Nathan's post right. Does he say that WD40 isn't a good choice? ("won't cut it" means that its not working good, isn't it?)

Quote:

"However, there are many climates where people need to oil their swords and must use an oil that does not evaporate because they're looking for long-lasting protection. In these cases, a good gun oil or break-free is a very good choice and WD40 simply won't cut it."

At the Arms and Armor booth at MN Renfest, where rain and moisture are often ever-present, we use ZEP. Not too thick, but a very lasting odor... I personally use mineral oil. A bit messy, drips if applied too thickly, but coats the blade for a long time. Never had a problem with using it, and I'd rather be safe than rusty. Cheap too. For cleaning, I spray Remington gun oil or WD40.