Handle preservation

[SADagger]

Has anyone tried to preserve their daggers this way?

Fishers Quick Reference states
"One recommended way to do this is by immersing the grip in a wood preservative, such as Watco Natural Wood Oil. Immerse the handle in the solution for about an hour. Making sure that the handle is not floating on the surface but is completely dipped so that the center tang hole is flooded. After, wipe the grip down with a soft clean cloth, and then apply 2 or 3 coats of Watco Natural Carnauba Satin wax"
"another good product is for protecting the wood is macadamia nut oil."

Has anyone had any experience with these procedures? Does it affect the color of the handle??

[Larry Lipps]

IMHO, I believe that keeping daggers in a humidity and temperature-controlled environment is far preferable to all the oils on the market. After seventy years, most of my dagger handles are still in good shape. After three thousand years, most of the wood items removed from Tutankhamun's Tomb had not deteriorated because the temperature and humidity remained constant. This just doesn't sound like something I'd want to try.

[Tiger 1]

Immersing a wooden grip in a penetrating oil like Watco can cause some shrinking or swelling as it drys. This much oil will also darken the wood and can take a longer while to thouroughly dry or harden. Doing anything this drastic before using lesser methods of treating the wood is IMO not a good thing. The grip has survived well without extra attention and will continue to do so on it's own if reasonably stored . More daggers and other collectables are damaged or impaired unnecessarily thru the good intentions but poor conservation techniques of well meaning collectors.

If you must do anything more than cleaning and using a fine furniture wax on your wooden grip then I would suggest using a drop (one drop) of boiled linseed oil and rub it in with your fingers. If the one drop gets absorbed before you spread it out over the grip then use another one. The object is to apply the oil progressively and not top drown the wood with oil. You can always add more but it can be a bitch to remove excess oil especially one that has driers or hardeners in it like Watco.

One of the cardinal rules of conservation is to do as little as necessary and idealy should be reversable. Many times a gentle cleaning is all that is required. Most importantly whatever process used should not impair the original finish needlessly.

Just some thoughts,

Tony

[Skipper Greenwade]

Unless the grip in question has some really serious problems, I would heed the advice offered by Larry and Tony. If it is so far gone as to be inconsequential, you have nothing to lose. In that case, though, you might be beter off to consider replacement with an original grip as another option.


Best,
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