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Care and Preservation of Antique Edged Weapons

Introduction

This essay is intended to provide the sword collector with some options in the cleaning and preservation of sword blades. The primary focus will be to provide suggestions for techniques in removing surface dirt and active surface rust from sword blades. We will cover our philosophy on cleaning and preserving sword blades, the main types of sword blades, the different types of sword blade decorations, and finally suggest a number of approaches to sword blade cleaning and preservation.

If you have a Japanese sword, specific information on the cleaning and preservation of Japanese sword blades is also available. Please click here for information on cleaning and preserving a Japanese sword ( Link to Japanese Sword Index page).

For all other types of swords, please read on.

Philosophy of Sword Blade Cleaning and Preservation

As with any antique it is not desirable to alter any characteristics of the piece that act as indicators of its age. Characteristics such as the patina and/or coloration of metal, the worn surface and dark aged color of woods, etc. are important indicators of age and are critical to the correct age dating of antiques. This relates to swords in that while we would wish to clean and preserve the hilt, grip and blade, we do not want to remove any true signs of age such as metal patina on the hilt and blade. We do wish, however, to stop any active rust and to remove any loose rust (whiskers, powder, etc) from the blade and apply a protective coating of oil (or wax) so the rust will not return or reactivate.

In order to avoid readers getting the perception that we encourage collectors to take chisel and grinder to their swords to "spruce them up", we must preface this article with some philosophical words. Having seen at a recent auction an entire collection of swords (20+) that was ruined by an ignorant collector who used a grinder and polisher to remove rust and add a shine to his blades, we must urge collectors not to use any drastic measures on their swords. It is simply not needed and almost always reduces the value of the sword.

Keep in mind that any alteration of the blade from "original" condition, must be an improvement that does not alter the age characteristics of the sword, otherwise the value of the sword DECREASES rather than increases. Be aware that no matter how you try, you can never increase the quality of a damaged blade, you can only reduce the implications of the damage. With that in mind, they key is to do any cleaning or preservation with a light touch so that you do not add to the problem.

Type of Blades

The first step one must consider in deciding to clean or preserve a sword blade is to understand what type of blade you are dealing with. This will tell you what type of cleaning and restoration is appropriate and what techniques are to be avoided. The commonly encountered blades on European and Asian swords can be broken down into categories based on the type of blade treatments and decoration.

Types of Blade Decoration

A number of types of blade decoration will be encountered in modern and ancient swords. Each puts restrictions on what the sword collector can do to the sword blade without damaging it or reducing its value. Familiarize yourself with the types of decorations and how they are generated so that the cleaning options and restrictions can be understood in the context of the physical characteristics of the blade.

Engraving - Engraving is a method of sword decoration where a sharp chisel is used to carve out metal from the surface of the sword leaving grooves in the surface. This process actually removes metal. This technique is used to generate decorative designs in the sword blades such as stars, flags, crescent moons, floral patterns, etc. Engraving is also used to inscribe lettering such as a makers name or a patriotic motto. Engraving has been used for hundreds of years as a decorative style and was very popular up until the advent of acid etching in the early 1800s. In modern swords (1900's) it is most often seen used in conjunction with acid etching for the engraving of names and inscriptions. Because the edges of the engraving can be damaged by harsh abrasion, one should never use harsh abrasives or heavy polishing pressure on engraved blades.

Acid etching - Acid etching is a technique used in sword decoration where a pattern is marked on the smooth surface of a sword blade with an acid resistant material such a lacquer wax. The blade is then immersed in acid which removes metal (by chemical action) from the exposed areas, leaving the wax coated areas untouched. The sword blade is then removed from the acid solution, the acid is washed off of the sword blade, and the acidproof coating material removed (by mechanical buffing or melting of the wax). The result is a blade with areas that have been eaten away by the acid leaving them lower than the surrounding areas of the blade. The deepness of the acid etched areas versus the untouched areas gives a three dimensional characteristic to the pattern. Often after the areas have been etched the whole sword blade is polished smooth to provide a bright look to the blade. In many modern swords, the areas that are touched by the acid are left rougher than the untouched areas which are still smooth. This gives a visual tonal contrast as the etched areas appear a much darker grey. Because the edges of the etching and the surface texture of the etched area can be damaged by abrasion, one should never use and harsh abrasives or heavy polishing pressure on acid etched blades.

Treated Steel - There are several blade treatments used on swords. These consist of bluing, tinning and silvering. Bluing is the most common that is encountered.

Plating is process where a metal coating is applied over the steel of the sword blade. Sometimes the underlying steel is acid etched before the blade is plated.

Gold Gilding and Plating - Some of the very high quality swords will have some gold plating on the blade. This is either gold leaf that has been placed on the blade and hammered or heat treated into place (gilding) or is gold that has been directly plated (chemically or electro-chemically) on the steel. This gold layer is very thin and very soft. Because of this one should NEVER USE ANY ABRASIVE or heavy polishing pressure on gold gilt or plated blades.

CLEANING

First off, if you have a Japanese blade (or even suspect that you have a Japanese blade) please go to the end of the article which will tell you exactly what to do for cleaning and preserving a Japanese sword blade. If you have something other than a Japanese blade one can use several levels of cleaning depending on the type of blade.

Simple Clean and Oil - This approach can be used with all blade types 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 except Japanese

The minimal approach is to remove all dust, dirt, and active surface rust with a light oil and a soft cloth. The oil can be gun oil, or "3-in-1" oil or some other light machine oil. The polishing can be done by applying a light coat of oil to the blade and very gently rubbing the blade with a soft cloth or a paper towel. This should remove the loose dirt and rust and will leave a protective coating of oil on the blade. Repeat this process, wiping the excess oil and rust off after each time. The light coating of oil that remains when you are done should be enough to prevent any further rusting of the sword.

Note - We have had some suggestions from collectors that oil is good for cleaning blades but is perhaps not the best protectant for sword blades, as it can attract dust particles which in turn attract moisture and cause spot rusting. They suggest using paste wax (like carnuba or car wax) as a preservative coating on the blade. This leaves an oil free, dust repellant, moisture barrier on the blade. Sounds like a good idea to me. So I would suggest two approaches, 1) Clean with oil (or oil and steel wool, or simichrome polish as described below), then clean with soap and water to remove oil and/or polish, dry thoroughly, and apply wax, or 2) clean with scotchbrite pad with no oil or polish, and apply a coating of wax to preserve the blade. This note is motivated by a collector who used the oil approach and had some rusting (See Dear Mike at bottom of article).

CAUTION: If the sword you are working on has a leather grip or scabbard, it is very important that you do not get any oil on the leather of the grip or scabbard!!! The leather parts on swords are usually very dry, and any oil will significantly damage the leather, sometimes to the point of making it immediately fall apart. So keep the oil off the leather and wash your hands when you are done so any residual oil doesn't get spread around. It is advisable to clean and re-oil your sword blades every 6 months (more often if they are kept in a moist or humid environment) in order to keep them safe from rust and moisture. Be aware that the light pressure you will use with this technique will not remove stains from the metal of the sword, this will require a little more finesse (see Light Polish). Do not apply heavy or even moderate pressure if the blade is blued, has gold engraving or gold plating as this might damage the bluing or the gold material. A light touch is the key with these blades.

Light polish - This approach is used on blades that do not have significant rusting and DO NOT have bluing, gold plating or nickel plating. It can be used with blade types 1,2,3 only.It is a good method for removing finger stains, old oil, and other stains off of sword blades. It is very gentle, and because of this is time consuming.

The light polish utilizes a semichrome polishing compound that contains gentle cleaning chemicals and a very very light abrasive. This is technique can be as the first method tried if the blade is clean, or can be used after oil and a light cloth has been used to remove most of the loose dirt and rust. The very very light abrasive is the key in this technique as it is light enough to take the stains off of a steel blade, but not abrasive enough to significantly wear down the edges of the engraving or etching or to scratch the sword. Now you don't get this gentleness for free. The use of semichrome polish requires the polisher to rub the area to be polished gently for a long time. Perhaps 10 minutes per inch depending on the stained areas. Perhaps longer. At first it will seem that nothing is happening, but with perseverance, you will slowly (very slowly) notice a change for the better.

Light Abrasive Cleaning - This approach can be used to clean unrusted, moderately rusted or heavily rusted blades. This should only be used on blade types 1,2,3

A light abrasive cleaning can be achieved rubbing the sword with 000 steel wool with a light oil as a lubricant. The light gauge of the steel wool means that the strands of steel (actually it is iron) are very thin. Since iron is softer than the steel of the sword blade, the steel wool will abrade before the steel of the sword does. The rust and staining however, is softer (hopefully) than the steel wool and will be removed with light or (if needed) heavy finger pressure. This should show some good results with moderate to heavily rusted blades. You can press hard with this stuff on these rusted blades. It is not recommended to use any other grades of steel wool as the iron fibers are too thick and may cause scratching. Once you are finished with your steel wool cleaning, take a light cloth and wipe off all of the oil and the remnants of the steel wool. Do this two or three times. It is important to remove all of the remaining fragments of steel wool because if they are left they will rust, and rust your blade with them. Once the blade is clean, you can take a little oil and new cloth and wipe the blade down leaving a protective layer of oil (or do the wax routine as described above).

If this technique is used on clean unrusted swords, it can help in removing stains. But be careful with the steel wool on engraved or etched swords so that you do not apply so much pressure that you start to wear down the edges of the engraving or etching.

Currently we cannot recommend any other cleaning techniques for swords.

Preservation

To preserve the blade it is advisable to periodically apply a light coating of oil to the blade. As stated previously, gun oil works well, Japanese clove oil is good too (and smells nice). One other technique favored by a local collector is to clean the blade thoroughly, make sure it is dry, then apply a coating of wax to the blade. I think he uses Pledge furniture wax. Johnsons wax has been suggested by another collector since it does not contain acids harmful acids. He says the wax keeps out the moisture, and the protective coating doesn't need to be renewed as often as oil.

As always, keep your swords away from heat and humidity. If you live in a humid environment, check them reasonably often to look for active signs of rust.

Rick W. Suggests the use of pure P grade mineral oil since it has neutral Ph (non-acidic).

I appreciate your earlier advice. Hope this finds you doing fine.

I oiled my swords last December after I got your reply. Last week I took out my four 16th century European swords (I have been keeping them in long corrugated boxes in my closet because I have two little ones running around). Three of the swords were fine but my 16th century two hander had fresh rust in several places. I've decided to give the paste wax approach a try, as described by Ron Ruble on his web site. I e mailed him a couple of times with questions but got no reply. Anyway, according to his article on his website, he recommends using Johnson's paste wax and a Scotchbrite pad to clean fresh rust. I know several years ago I saw these items all the time, but I found neither item at either Home Depot or Ralph's (supermarket). I ended up buying some pure carnauba wax from an auto supply store and a rough sided sponge.

Thanks and regards, Rick

Hi I enjoyed reading your segment on care and preservation. I'd like to offer a couple of techniques and materials that I have found useful in conservation. My interest is primarily military/naval weapons for over 40 years. First, never do anything in a hurry. Second, use a jewelers glass in bright sunlight to get a clear look the weapons detail and any deterioration you might be trying to arrest before you do anything. Third, any implement you use on the blade should be made from softer material that that of the blade. Fourth never use rust remover or Naval Jelly no matter how fine or detailed the approach. It will destroy patina and leave the blade looking a flat grey colour and it may remove rust under gilt detail and consequently the gilding may be damaged or removed. Fifth, think of yourself as an archeologist rather than a mechanic. If the blade needs cleaning spraying the blade (just the blade) with an aerosol moisture displacing lubricant such as INNOX (In my opinion the best) or failing that WD40 and leaving it for a few hours. this will help soften dirt or loose rust and ensure minimum interference is required to coax it off. (I have found neither of these two products adversely effect blued and gilt blades. Spots of heavy flake rust can sometimes be removed by lifting off with a scalpel blade or coaxing away with a piece of bronze welding rod filed to a chisel edge. Do it in bright light with a magnifying glass. A fine bronze wire (toothbrush type) brush can be useful to agitate stubborn dirt out of details like proofmarks and makers marks. Once cleaned, a fine wipe with Fisholene deodorised fish oil will help ensure any active rust (and oxidization on non ferrous metals) is arrested and the blade has a fine dry coat of protection that can be easily removed if required. Alternately use a good wax. Wax appears to be the cornerstone to keeping the atmosphere away from the object. On a visit to the Mary Rose Exhibition in Sydney. "soluble wax" seemed to be mentioned more than anything else. Other Materials. Bone and Ivory - basically don't touch them. One very gentle treatment I have found (in a book on conservation) is to apply a thin coating of pure almond oil (available from chemists/druggists) to the bone or ivory once a year, leave it for a few hours and wipe of any an-absorbed residue with a soft cloth. I believe women use almond oil to keep their nails from becoming brittle. Leather - a leather treatment wax to keep the atmosphere at bay is the only treatment I know of and it should be used sparingly if at all. Oils of various types (Neatsfoot, Olive) can cause more damage than anything they might remedy. I would be interested to know of any solution for arresting deterioration in leather such as the orange powdering and flaking that clearly says the object is on the way out. Hope some of this is of interest. Thanks for an absorbing site. Craig L. Australia.

Just read your article and letters on restoration. My own focus is on Victorian and Imperial German officer's swords, by definition tending to be of more recent manufacture than many other collecting areas, and so often in better shape. Sometimes, I have bought pieces in sub-standard condition just because they filled a gap. My wife is very talented at cleaning and has brought some of these up to very good or even museum quality. In several cases, however, I have had to turn to Wilkinson, who have a restoration service. (You may already know that serving officers sometimes have family swords brought to parade ground condition and use them currently to preserve tradition.) Wilkinson will make an old sword look like new. This is both good and bad news. The good news is that pitting, chips, cracks, missing parts, etc. can be corrected. The bad, of course, is that your antique now looks modern. Wilkinson is best - and probably prefers - working on its own swords, but they have done beautiful work for me on an 1822 Royal Artillery sword with an 1895 blade (correct for field or garrison artillery), an 1892 infantry levee pattern sword (not theirs), a Model 1855 warrant officer's sword for the 3rd Lower Alsace IR, and a Bavarian light cavalry saber, which included chemical re-browning of hilt and scabbard. None were fit for display before restoration. The comparison, of course, is that no one hesitates to restore a vintage Rolls Royce, using authentic parts but even respraying, if necessary. Clean, sound and original is better, and more valuable, as we all know, but a restoration certainly beats scrap iron! One final remark: While steel or brass scabbards come up very well, leather doesn't work at all; the leather used today is more grainy and just looks entirely wrong for an older piece. If anyone wants to give Wilkinson a try, the coordinates are Wilkinson Sword, Ltd., 19/21 Brunel Road, London W3 7UH, England Tel. 011 44 (208) 749 1061 Fax 2304 My experience is that they are not very communicative. To get an estimate, you'd best just deliver the piece and then be patient. Oh, and they ain't cheap! Please feel free to share this information, if you think it would be helpful. Benjamin Brown

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