Sword Care & Conservation

[Dickon Jayes]

Hi Will
So I tried ordering Renaissance Wax and after ordering (and paying for) it the supplier sent the following e-mail

Thank you for choosing REDACTED as your online retail portal.

We regret to inform you that the following item in your order has been canceled due to the latest import restrictions.

Item Name: Polish is flammable

The items are prohibited for carriage by any law, regulation, or statute of any federal, state or local government of any country for international carriage. There may be additional prohibited items specified by the country of destination. (Your cancellation reason is highlighted below)

· Medicines / Supplements/ skin acids- Bleaching-Lightening products
· Hazardous / Combustible/ Flammable Items/ Butane/ Aerosol
. Batteries / charging components / TV's and Consoles / Playstation2 Nintendo games
· Products that reuire special permits (Pharmaceutical /Phytosanitary / DAFF permit)
. Consumables /Milk / Meats/ Nicotine patches
· some softwares (Currency/ Downloadable software)
· Anything with an ITAR sticker (International Traffic in Arms Regulations)
· ICASA restrictied produts (DECT phones/ 2-way radios / Cell boosters/extenders)

We humbly apologize for the frustration caused, please accept this 10% off coupon (up to max amount of R150, valid for 7 days) as a token of our most profuse apologies.

Coupon code: REDACTED

Refunds are processed daily before COB, please allow for the usual bank delay (EFT Payments - forward your banking details for reversal)

For further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.


BIZARRE

But anyway, I hopped onto one of the local HEMA sites and asked them what locally available products they use to preseerve their arms and armour. The logic being it is all (broadly) the same (high carbon) steel so if it works for them it should work for my sword.

The helpful fellow replied thusly:

Hi there.

No idea why Renaissance wax is hazardous...

What I use, especially during shipment and long haul storage is a concoction of bees wax melted down in turpentine in about a 50/50 mix. This is painted onto the steel with a soft paintbrush while still warm and runny. To clean it off one uses clean turpentine on a piece of mutton cloth.

If the sword is on display, we use normal Q20 or WD40 sprayed on liberally and wiped of any excess. The main thing you are trying to achieve is to repel moisture. Moisture is the nemesis of all high-carbon steels, with rust as its illegitimate child.

If your sword has already picked up some rust, we use Scotchbrite's range of scouring pads. They have a range of coarseness levels colour coded. We use the green pads as the coarsest, to get rid of flaky and surface rust, then switch to red and finally yellow. Good to remember to wipe it with a clean cloth and then re-oil afterward.

I hope this helps.

Does that sound like good advice?
Looking forward to your reply (as always)

[JordanPL]

The only place that stocks Renaissance Wax in South Africa is the The South African Institute for Heritage Science & Conservation (http://www.sainst.org/)

Contact them at orders@sainst.org

[JordanPL]

P.S. Nobody will ship 'wax' internationally, without a significant amount of difficulty, as it is considered flammable.

[Will Mathieson]

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00...v_ov_lig_dp_it

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B003I7W2VW/...v_ov_lig_dp_it

two other sources, Canadian Amazon site but these may not qualify as flammable.

[Larks G]

I’m new to the forum from a membership perspective and will likely have a host of questions regarding a new to me 1796 HCTS (if I can’t find answers elsewhere on this wonderfully informative forum - I’m still reading through it).

The sword has been sadly damaged in shipping after I purchased it (but that’s for another thread that I’ll post separately), my first priority is to seek some advice on conserving/stabilising the leather grip that is very perished and crumbling before I make any attempt to have the sword repaired so that it doesn’t further deteriorate during the repair - which is yet to be determined, or even during the consultation process prior to repair.

I have been advised to soften or treat it with a variety of products, including Ballistol and more promisingly with Renaissance wax, both of which I have. But before i do anything and noting that the leather is crumbling - probably from rot - rather than just incredibly dry, is the reconditioning option the most suitable considering that this may hinder a more “solid” approach such as varnishing which I have heard some museums will do?

Has anyone else here has faced a similar problem with stabilising a perished and potentially rotting leather grip and how successful or detrimental has your approach been? I’m keen to learn from others success........and mistakes.......before preceding and potentially making it worse in the long run. Or is there a known and accepted method of dealing with such a problem with other historic items with a leather element to them such as this?

I have also had it suggested to paint it with hide glue, however I experimented with that on a few test pieces of cloth, cardboard and new leather (not having any other old rotting leather to hand) and found that, although durable, it dried with a sheen to it that doesn’t look particularly sympathetic to the historic integrity of the sword.

These photos below are of the grip pre shipment to me and best show the perished state of it, albeit not in a very large format. The grip itself hasn’t fared too badly in the shipping and other damage, which was done mostly to the disc guard and knuckle guard:

[IMG]grip by Greg Larkin, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]$_59a by Greg Larkin, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Will Mathieson]

Greg the grip is worth conserving. Put nothing on it that softens leather or it will come off with handling. There are modern materials that stabilize antique portrait frames etc.
I have used Paraloid B-72, a thermoplastic resin effectively and it hardens hard and clear and can be painted/dyed etc. Just brush it on as a liquid and it will soak in. Repeat depending on amount required. The grip should just soak it in and not require anything further unless you would like the grip all black and shoe dye will work well..

[Larks G]

Greg the grip is worth conserving. Put nothing on it that softens leather or it will come off with handling. There are modern materials that stabilize antique portrait frames etc.
I have used Paraloid B-72, a thermoplastic resin effectively and it hardens hard and clear and can be painted/dyed etc. Just brush it on as a liquid and it will soak in. Repeat depending on amount required. The grip should just soak it in and not require anything further unless you would like the grip all black and shoe dye will work well..

Thank you Will, that’s just the sort of advice that I’m after and I really do appreciate that. It’s not a product that I’ve heard of before so I’ll be interested to learn more and can see an evening with Google ahead of me.