So let me preface this first with an e xp lanation. I keep a lot of my collection in their boxes and in the basement of my apartment which was until recently dry with a dehumidifier going and everything. Then my roomate shut off the dehumidifier and i caught it today, about a month later, when i went looking for my arm gaurds. I just finished making another bow and was shooting it off in the backyard and gave myself a mean hit with the bowstring which is what prompted me to go looking for my armor. But in digging through the boxes looking for the gaurds i noticed some the armor of aragorn had started to rust. I managed to get it clean and it was just surface stuff but it got me worried. I am still going through the rest of the collection looking for more problems but have found none yet.

So here is the question:

What is the best way to care for the swords and armor?

I generally oil the blades of the swords on display with the Hanwei sword oil about once a month but those are stainless blades on a lot of those and the more valueable pieces like the MC Sting and some of the metal helmets and LE swords are in the basement where they generally go untouched and are prone to rusting in the humidity rich climate of new england when the dehumidifier is turned off. To make matters worse my house is about 40 feet from the ocean so the wind blows the salty air right at us all year long.

Looking for any help or suggestions here, withing reason of course, im not going to build a climate controlled chamber like at the smithsonian to house the collection, although i would love to build that hobbit house for the collection when i get the cash.

[quote=""dpegasusm""]To make matters worse my house is about 40 feet from the ocean so the wind blows the salty air right at us all year long. ...Looking for any help or suggestions here, withing reason of course.[/quote]

Why Dpeg, this is your LUCKY DAY!!! I have just the solution for you.

You say you live near the ocean?
Well I live in the dry, dry, dry dry Southwest! Humidity is under 15% most of the time.

Just box up your collection and send it to me! (Address forthcoming...I will even pay shipping! and insurance!)

You can bet I will take very good care of it...treat it just like my very own!

So, just let me know when you're ready to send it.
And best of all, I won't even have to hit you on the head!

If you are unwilling to go with Deimos' suggestion, I would counsel you to oil your armour also, not just your blades. Back in the day when armour was actually used, this had to be done just to keep it in operating condition and free of rust. Even just some WD40 and a soft rubbing cloth would go a long way to forestalling this happening in the future.

LMFAO. If for some reason i didn't think that i might have to go down there and hit you on the head to get it back then i might actually do that lol. my climate is probably one of the worst for preserving a lage collection, i guess salt air is better than storing them under the salt water.

lets see what other people can offer before i let you steal everything on the grounds of preservation.

to valkrist: i do oil it just only about once a year because i ave to get it out of the basement to do so. should i be doing it regularly?

Yes, given the climate and conditions you live in, once a year is not enough. I can't say precisely how often you should be doing it, but I would be taking a look at least once every three months at the minimum.

And if you'd like yet another option, Renaissance Wax works very well. Just like oil, it keeps air and moisture from interacting with the metal, but you don't have to re-apply it nearly as often as oil since the wax's protective layer is extremely robust (couldn't think of another word).

It is, however, more e xp ensive than oil, so there's also that to consider.

EDIT: Easier to work with on swords, as Valkrist has pointed out

I have some Ren wax myself and I agree it works great. The reason I didn't mention it is because we are talking about armour here, and I've seen the amount of detail on the metalwork of Aragorn's pauldrons and vambraces. The issue with the crystalline wax is that it will take a prodigious amount of effort and patience to not only get it onto every nook and cranny of that armour detail, but also to then make sure there are no small and unsightly buildups and tiny pockets of wax in hard to reach places. Spreading that stuff and rubbing into a smooth blade is one thing; applying it to a complicated piece of armour, making sure every surface is covered, and then removing any excess buildup can soon turn into a nightmare. I wouldn't recommend it, but that's just me. I think oil is a far better (and less stressful) choice for armour.

[quote=""Jamanticus""]And if you'd like yet another option, Renaissance Wax works very well. Just like oil, it keeps air and moisture from interacting with the metal, but you don't have to re-apply it nearly as often as oil since the wax's protective layer is extremely robust (couldn't think of another word).

It is, however, more e xp ensive than oil, so there's also that to consider.[/quote]


yes i was going to ask if anyone had used that stuff. i was also thinking about Silica Gel (the little packets of "DO NOT EAT" that are in all sorts of boxes) would adding some of those packets to my boxes work well?

Yes additional silicon gel packets will help. Cut off your roommates hands so he can't turn off the dehumidifier, and then as Val said, oil once every three months minimum.
WD40 is a moister inhibitor as well.
If the armor pieces are small enough for plastic bags, I'd suggest wrapping them up after oiling.

In the tooling industry, a lot of guys kept their tools on oil soaked rags lining their toolbox drawers (I'm not talking sopping wet, just sprayed down with WD40).

[quote=""Thranduil""]Cut off your roommates hands so he can't turn off the dehumidifier.[/quote]

sounds like a plan but i don't think that he would like that and the gf wouldn't like the mess it would make. i think he has become rather attached to that part of his body.

thanks everyone for your suggestions including Demios (sorry it didn't work out man, mabye next time) i think i am going to oil them, stuff some silica packets in there for good measure and then wrap em up and put em away taking them out occasionally to repeat the process. also included in my plan of attack is wiring the dehumidifier in the permanent ON position and rigging the floor around it with high e xp losive... than if that doesn't work bring on the RMC!

[quote=""dpegasusm""]thanks everyone for your suggestions including Demios (sorry it didn't work out man, mabye next time).... [/quote]

Oh yeah, I'm sure you're real sorry

OK here's my Serious Suggestion: . Contact your local/regional SCA or Medieval LARP group and ask them how they preserve their armour and weapons.
THose folks don't use vaults and climate controlled rooms to store their gear for the same reason you can't, too e xp ensive. Well, maybe a few of the well-to-do members do that.
But most of them are like most of us. We all have to watch our budgets and e xp enses. ( And how'd you all like that market dive yesterday????)

Yet it is even more important that they keep their gear in top shape because they actually use it and their limbs (if not their lives) depend on the integrity of their armour.

So get ye to a link to the SCA (RI is in the East Kingdom) and contact the Armourer. Or maybe he's called the Earl Marshall. Bet they can help you out.

[quote=""Valkrist""]I have some Ren wax myself and I agree it works great. The reason I didn't mention it is because we are talking about armour here[/quote]
Oh, oil is certainly a better choice for something intricate like armor. My post about the wax was mostly geared towards the swords part of "What is the best way to care for the swords and armor?"

EDIT: Edited the wax post to make it more clear

I always used pledge to clean everything. There is a pledge that doesn't have any scent and works perfectly on the swords and helms. Use a mircofiber cloth and a dry cloth to wipe everything down. I've never had a problem until I had the helms packed away for a long time and had a little rust on them. A quick buff with the pledge and they looked brand new again.

[quote=""Boromir's Bane""]I always used pledge to clean everything. There is a pledge that doesn't have any scent and works perfectly on the swords and helms. Use a mircofiber cloth and a dry cloth to wipe everything down. I've never had a problem until I had the helms packed away for a long time and had a little rust on them. A quick buff with the pledge and they looked brand new again.[/quote]
I forgot about Pledge! A long time ago their was an article about Pledges "other" uses, it's performance, and ease of use.
Good idea!

I know endust works as well. I've always tried to keep my collection free of any real oily type stuff that would collect dust. Same thing as cleaning my engine bay on my sport truck. Only wipe it down and keep it free of dirt and grime build up.

I don't even oil my stainless blades, I just wipe them from time to time. Works perfect. For anything that is prone to rusting, a thinl layer of oil should do it. Just wipe it off and reapply it once in a while.

i am most concered about the MC sting, Glamdring and the armor which are not sainless. the stainless stuff is easy to deal with. the brass on the armor and the scabbards is also a major problem. but thatnks to everyone who has contrubuted suggestions.

Darlak how often do you recommend oiling? once a month or further apart. the MC sting and Glamdring are not part of the collection of mine that are on display -- to much risk with spilt drinks late at night.

[quote=""dpegasusm""]i am most concered about the MC sting, Glamdring and the armor which are not sainless. the stainless stuff is easy to deal with. the brass on the armor and the scabbards is also a major problem. but thatnks to everyone who has contrubuted suggestions.

Darlak how often do you recommend oiling? once a month or further apart. the MC sting and Glamdring are not part of the collection of mine that are on display -- to much risk with spilt drinks late at night.[/quote]


Haha... I had to take mine down when my two kids 8 and 3 started being able to reach the stuff... I have everything boxed until they are old enough to appreciate it or move out of the house!!! That or I complete my theater room and mount everything in there. I think its a nice way to display the collection.

I would definitely say for the non-stainless, carbon blades NOT to use WD-40 or Pledge or anything like that. Maybe it won't hurt them. But I've read before not to do so. So why take the risk. For stainless, however, WD40 is great.

Get some Ren Wax, gun oil, sword oil, etc. That's all you really need. And a soft cloth, as has been suggested. How often you oil depends on how much you handle your blades and how much contact with the outside world they get (dust, etc). If it's in a display case you could go months without oiling it, assuming it has a well-protective coating on there already. Ren wax sort of diminishes the sheen of a lot of weapons, especially the thicker you rub it on. But it also protects leather and grips and stuff. But for the shiny parts I'd recommend a thin layer of gun oil or sword oil (it's pretty much the same thing). Grab some Paul Chen sword oil or something, off the top of my head. But use sparingly. A little goes a long way and over time it will trickle down the blade and soak your display case. That's gravity.

On the bright side, the swords you're working with are very easy to keep from rusting. Out-of-scabbard displays are healthier for a blade. Storage in scabbards is much harder to maintain and you could be doing everything right and still have rust turn up. Japanese blades, in the wise words of my best friend, are as touchy as a clit.

What in the hell is a RMC ????????????

hahhahaha its an inside joke on this forums. Read Val's post about halfway down the page:

http://www.ucforums.com/showthread.php?t=4800&page=2

The rusty meat cleaver. It's the next confirmed UC release, and it will be a museum edition. It's e xp ected to be released some time in 2013, as they are going to bury all the swords, to achieve a rusty and authentic look.

[quote=""Darlak""]The rusty meat cleaver. It's the next confirmed UC release, and it will be a museum edition. It's e xp ected to be released some time in 2013, as they are going to bury all the swords, to achieve a rusty and authentic look.[/quote]

Although for some ine xp licable reason, they'll make the hilt parts mega-shiny and highly uncanny compared to their blades. This, however, will make them look even better!