[Houston P.]

Hello everyone. I have a Shieldmaiden by Christian Fletcher which I was given for my birthday last year, and it has what appears to be a small white film near the guard ( so close as to make it very difficult to reach ) which can only be seen by shining a flashlight on the blade. Nearly every time I go to clean it, that small white spot has rust on it, and try as I may, I have been utterly unsuccessful at removing it entirely. I have tried all 0 steel wool, metal polish, and sandpaper, but the film is always there, and I have spent a considerable amount of time attempting to remove it. I regularly clean it and oil it using Break Free CLP, and I make certain the entire blade been cared for, so I can't quite figure out why this started in the first place or how to get rid of it. So my question is how do I get rid of this irritating little thing permanently? Would something like Picreator's de-corroder get rid of it? Any help would be greatly appreciated, as this is really starting to annoy me. Thank you all in advance.

[Glen A Cleeton]

Picreator Decorroder is a mild acid and will leave the surface a dull grey. You will have to polish after that and if dealing with that tight to reach spot, you may find yourself chasing the issue in circles then trying to match the polish of the surrounding area.

Use a stiff plastic brush or brass brush to scrub the area in question with clp, then clean with mineral spirits or other solvent (dry gas is methanol and has no water) If you can dismount the blade, that might make things easier to deal with.

If you are having to inspect with more than naked eye in normal lighting, it is something you may come to live with.

Cheers

GC

[Houston P.]

Thank you for your rather thorough description. Would a brief scrub with metal polish restore the finish from the dull grey if I was to use the de- corroder? I use the Break Free CLP in a spray can like you get at a gun store, and I believe I saw somewhere that they have it in a jug container. Since every description of cleaning a sword I have seen was from a container and not a spray can, would that be better for sword care? Also, it is not so much the spot that bothers me, but due to the fact it always rusts on that spot and that I have sanded it for quite some time to no avail I believe perhaps the rust has penetrated far enough that ordinary scrubbing will not remove it. I'm not sure how it managed to do that since I check it regularly, but oh well. That is why I was considering the de- corroder, in hopes it would eat it down. Your insight is appreciated.

[Lafayette C Curtis]

Have you tried contacting Christian? He might be interested in inspecting the sword to find the source of the problem.