Preserving wooden kris hilt

[A. G. Maisey]

I had never heard of the involvement of the British Museum in development of this wax, Paul.

I've never used it, principally because I have always found the materials I grew up using to be totally satisfactory. Bear in mind:- most of what I know was learnt from my father, and if I were to say he was a traditionalist, I'd be understating. My favourite wax for a long time has been Antiquax, which is a blend of beeswax and carnauba wax. I also use an aerosol wax --- Marveer --- that is made of the same materials.

Its certain that microcrystalline wax will provide better protection against moisture than the natural waxes, because it is more elastic. However, I'm afraid I have a deeply ingrained prejudice against using petroleum based products on wood. I'd be happy to use it on a french polished finish --- which I guess would probably be the finish involved in the historic furniture you mentioned --- but I'd take a lot of convincing before I'd be happy with it on a polished wood surface with no french polish on top.

When I think about it, I've possibly got a philosophical objection to using a material that will freeze a finish in time. I can completely understand why a conservator working in a museum would wish to halt a finish at a particular point in time, but to me, fine wooden objects are living things --- not unlike a keris --- and they should be permitted to continue the aging process, not be stopped in this progression at one spot, forever. A personal view, and I do not seek to convince anybody that this point of view is correct.

For a while back in the 1950's and 1960's I had a nice little sideline going turning Cadet Martinis into sporting rifles. Don Black did the metal work, I did the stock work. I reckon that I stocked just about every calibre you could build a Martini into. I bought 20 of them during the first week Mick Smith had them in his window at ten shillings each. Later on I bought a few more, and they cost me a whole lot more than ten shillings.

Anyway, most of those stocks had a hand rubbed oil finish, and on the two I still have, its as good now, or better than it was 50 or so years ago. That's the main reason I like hand rubbed oil finishes.

If the British Museum found that natural waxes could cause some deterioration in an old finish on furniture, well, I'm sure that is so. That I have never heard of their involvement demonstrates that my knowledge is somewhat dated --- and I guess also that I've never read the Renaissance ads before tonight.

However, although I am more than prepared to admit this deficiency in my knowledge, I will also comment that in my limited experience my methods and materials have proven to be totally satisfactory --- maybe because I have not been involved in conserving historic furniture.

I was involved in custom knife making for a while, and at that time Renaissance wax was highly favoured by both knife makers and collectors. I always thought there was more hype than reality attached to it, but I can see now I was wrong.

Edit

I've just recalled something that I heard about Renaissance wax from other custom knife makers. It seems that once you apply the stuff, its there forever, it has an ingredient in it --- polysomethingorother --- that makes it somewhere between difficult and impossible to remove from a wooden surface. This could be a positive, or a negative factor, depending upon one's point of view.