What is the best solution to protect blades

[Yuri D.]

Is is WD-40, vaseline? Any experiece with other substances?

Yuri

[Dick Pumphrey]

Hi Yuri,
The absolute best thing you can do is very gently clean and polish your blades with SEMICHROME POLISH. Please do not ever put any thing else on your blades. Vaseline will crawl it's way into every part of your daggers and so will oil or WD-40. Any oil base material will trap moisture under it's self against the steel of your blade. BIG MISTAKE to use anything like those substances. SEMICHROME will gently clean and also leaves a very slight residue on the surface which also provides some protection should some dummy handle the blade. You will not believe the grunge it will take off of your blades the first time you use it. I promise it will not damage the blade surface or finish in any way. I have used it on my daggers for over thirty years and have NEVER had any problems. Check at antique stores or hardware stores for tubes or cans. Hope this helps.
Best Regards,
Dick

[Skipper Greenwade]

Yuri,

I echo Dick's comments regarding Semichrome...I won't use anything else on my blades.

One other bit of advice... store your daggers out of their scabbards to prevent runner marks, scratches and damage from condensation. I keep many of my daggers in zipper storage cases - the scabbard in a soft cotton sock and the dagger and hangers on either side. I stack them in a gun safe with the identification written on a small tag affixed to the zipper pull. It is a very space efficient and safe way to keep up with your "toys" and works equally well with a bookcase, closet shelf ro just about anywhere you choose to keep your daggers.

Hope that helps,
Skip

[Yuri D.]

Thanks guys for that excellent informaton!! What about displays? Is it wise to display daggers and swords inside the scabbards or outside?

Yuri

[Skipper Greenwade]

Yuri,

I am overwhelmingly in favor of displaying and storing daggers and swords for that matter out of the scabbards unless there is a good reason not to. I'm not exaggerating when I say that many of my daggers have not been in the scabbards since I got them.

A quick look through the reference books and the collection photos posted here and on other forums would suggest that most collectors opt to display their Blanke Waffen out of the scabbards.

My two cents' worth.

Skip

[Yuri D.]

It just seems that they take up less space if they are in the scabbards.

Yuri

[Dick Pumphrey]

Well Gentlemen, here I go rocking the boat again. I never take my daggers out of the scabbard except to clean them. The scabbard was intended to protect them from the start and what in and out wear you have was done long before we bought them.
However, I do take the scabbard apart when I first get a new dagger and clean all the interior and interior parts. This is just my way of preserving my investment. But to each his own, Ok.
Regards,
Dick

[Yuri D.]

Dick,

Your idea sounds good. I would like to clean my scabbards. What would be a good way of doing this?

Yuri

[Dick Pumphrey]

Yuri,
I always use Dawn dishwashing detergent because it is a very good grease or oil cleaner. A pistol cleaning-rod a very small amount of Dawn and HOT water on a small piece of clean cloth does a good job cleaning the interior of the scabbard. The scabbard tines can just be wiped clean with the same "solution". Do not remove the bottom scabbard screws from party-form daggers (SA-SS-NSKK etc.) as there is a small weight that is very hard to get back in. Just be sure you let all parts dry completly before reassembly. This has worked for me very well. Just remember SMALL amounts of detergent and water. Ok?
Dick

[janvs]

While Semi-Chrome may put a nice polish on the blade (without an abrasive), I'm unconvinced of its use as a preservative. Clearly, corrosion caused by high humidity/condensation is the chief problem to worry about. My own feeling is that a light coat and buff with Ren-Wax (or perhaps the silicone sprays other use)and then storage of the dagger (in the scabbard) in a space where the humidity can be lowered through the use of dessicant gels (watch out however with daggers with wood such as 1st Lufts as low humidity will crack the wood) is the way to go.


The vast majority of daggers have been stored in their scabbards for 60+ years with no ill effects. I would hazard to guess that FAR more blades are damaged or destroyed trying to "conserve and protect" than if they were just left alone. In my mind, it is much more likely that I'll accidently scratch the blade surface than anything bad happening to the blade because it remains in its scabbard. Blades with plate lifting or rust/corrosion are most likely caused by poor handling or high humidity.

[Rich Yankowski]

Blades

I use simi-chrome to clean some of my blades,not all.But I do use a spray 'dry' silicone on many of them.This seems to do the trick.Plus if you use silicone on the blades and cleaned runners,you will go a long way to prevent those nasty runner marks.I store about 95% of my daggers out of their scabbards,but in glass-topped display cases.The other 5% are waiting for cases.I prefer to keep my blades out of the scabbards,since I've bought a few 'near mint' pieces that had runner marks on the blades,not from going in and out of the scabbards,but just from having the runners pressed against the blades for so long!Plus,by storing the daggers out of the scabbards in display cases,I get to enjoy those nice shiney blades!I think that a nice shiney blade next to a well aged scabbard heightens the visual appeal of the item.And a constant humidity helps a lot,don't go from hot-cold-hot-cold,etc.;that is a sure cause for condesation,and rust!BTW;Another product that is well thought of(the British Museum uses it a LOT),is REN-WAX.It's supposed to be a preservative for everything from metals to wood to leather to even paper artifacts.I've never used it,but I hear that it is the best choice for preserving artifacts. Here is one of my daggers in it's bed.

[Yuri D.]

Very attractive way of displaying daggers.

Yuri

[Colorado]

Use silicon

I have used Simi-Chrome only when the blade needed it. Apply Silicon, and you would be surprised what comes up in the cloth even then.

It helps reduce runner marks. I too store mine in the scabbard. I also handle mine, so an individual display case would not work, nor would true mint examples work in my collection. Near mint to down right excellent will work just fine.

[Mike B.]

There is also a product called Muthers Finest chrome polish that works well in cleaning, as well as giving a nice lite shine and protectant residue.

[Phil DeWitt]

Daggers in or Out of Scabbard?

As a gift from a vet friend, received a heer dagger in minty minty condition.

This was before I had any interest in collecting.

Kept the dagger in it's scabbard until someone wanted to see it, or I wanted to simply look at it... this went on for about four years, not a whole lot of use..

Then I noticed that the original runner marks, which had been very faint, had grown considerably over that time.

Now I keep daggers/blades together but separated.

To each his own.

Best Regards,

Phil

"The Shadow knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men!"