Olive oil as a conservant.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by Dmitry

I am a strong opponent of applying wax.
Somehow these swords and guns made it to the 21st century after hundreds of years of not being waxed.

Salaams Dmitry, Loads of museums use renaissance wax so it is a recommended method ... I use plum oil which is in fact sewing machine oil... great for weapons with moving parts and blades etc..and once a month part of the cleaning routine on my stuff.
Olive oil works. There are some exotic indian hair oils that also get a good result as well ! Obviously in a damp environment it is more difficult and I always think keeping weapons out of scabbards is better .... Hope you find some decent olive oil ya

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[Dmitry]

I was somewhat partial to the wax, until I found out that it can be damaging to the object it's on. The moisture-repelling properties of a microcristalline wax, i.e. the Renaissance Wax have been overblown, it appears.
Here's an article from the Journal of the American Institute of Conservation, which casts serious doubts on the waxing.
http://cool.conservation-us.org/jaic...35-01-001.html
Imho, the conservation product ideally must be easily removable. The wax appears to be incredibly difficult to remove, if the need arises.

[Matchlock]

Hi Dmitry and Ibrahiim,

It is true that microcrystalline way has established in museum conservation since at least 30 years. I too used it very often when working for museums.

Regarding those pieces I treated with microcrystalline wax some 30 years ago I cannot see any negative outcome, they are still rust free today.

I for my part, as I have often stated here, keep it with Dmitry sticking to the traditional conservation method by olive oil which has proved to preserve arms in arsenals for may hundreds of years.

Best,
Michael

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by Matchlock

Hi Dmitry and Ibrahiim,

It is true that microcrystalline way has established in museum conservation since at least 30 years. I too used it very often when working for museums.

Regarding those pieces I treated with microcrystalline wax some 30 years ago I cannot see any negative outcome, they are still rust free today.

I for my part, as I have often stated here, keep it with Dmitry sticking to the traditional conservation method by olive oil which has proved to preserve arms in arsenals for may hundreds of years.

Best,
Michael

Salaams Matchlock~I agree however (and I use olive oil here because it seems to work well enough on my 150 or so weapons and its cheap and quick) renaissance wax wasn't available decades ago...so I wonder what they used then> Goosegrease?... they certainly used that on their arrows to reduce drag and pierce armour..

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[Dmitry]

Again, our posts have crossed, Michael.
I once tried to remove the Ren.Wax from a blade. And I couldn't do it. I tried Acetone, a couple of commercial solvents, and still the white patches of wax wouldn't come off. Apparently it's possible to remove with special solvents, under lab conditions.

One might ask - why on Earth did you try to remove the wax?
Answer - I had put a very thin layer of it on a perfectly shiny nicely etched blade, and the sheen became dull, as the wax creeped into the miniscule pores in the metal, which were not evident to the naked eye.

Just my $.02..

[Matchlock]

Hi Dmitry,

This of course is the one question almost never asked: how can that wax be removed?

With the wax I used (it was mixed for me by a concervation company) I always succeeded rubbing it off with acetone. Sometimes I remember rubbing hard and trying several times, somtimes using a piece of wood soaked in acetone. To hear it does not work probably depends on the solvent originally used in your wax.

Anyway, warming the metal should get to wax our of those pittings as well.

If it does not, I suggest just ignoring it is there and applying a thick layer of olive oil above it. It should work.

Sadly I am not experienced in chemistry myself.

Best,
Michael

[cornelistromp]

Originally Posted by Dmitry

Again, our posts have crossed, Michael.
I once tried to remove the Ren.Wax from a blade. And I couldn't do it. I tried Acetone, a couple of commercial solvents, and still the white patches of wax wouldn't come off. Apparently it's possible to remove with special solvents, under lab conditions.

One might ask - why on Earth did you try to remove the wax?
Answer - I had put a very thin layer of it on a perfectly shiny nicely etched blade, and the sheen became dull, as the wax creeped into the miniscule pores in the metal, which were not evident to the naked eye.

Just my $.02..

Renaissance wax can easily be removed with white spirit.(terpetine)

best,

[Matchlock]

Originally Posted by cornelistromp

Renaissance wax can easily be removed with white spirit.(terpetine)

best,

Right, Jasper,

Provided that that was the solvent originally used I think ...

That's exactly what I was trying to refer to anyway.

Best,
Michael

[Multumesc]

It may well preserved with silicone oil for weapons.

[broadaxe]

Originally Posted by Multumesc

It may well preserved with silicone oil for weapons.

Indeed. What was done in the past is not necessarily good. Olive oil is NOT a good preservative, as it contains acids and water, and it hardens to a thick film that would jamm any fine mechanism.