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British climate and nihonto care.


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Hi all 

 

Just a question for my fellow UK members. 

 

Does the climate in the UK mean that our swords are more prone to be protected from rust ? 

 

As we do have a dry climate and only a few occasions in the summer it would be humid. 

 

I've recently been oiling my swords, and one thing I'm noticing is that I'm applying more oil than I should. Even though its Just a dab. I'm doing the usual second wipe with a dry cloth for excess oil. 

 

However I find myself examining my blades on a weekly basis without taking the blade apart. Out of the joy of viewing them. 

 

I haven't seen any orange or brown rust. But I absolutely wish to make sure that im not doing anything to encourage it.

 

Regards 

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 It depends on if you remove the old oil first and how. My opinion after cleaning using 99.9% isopropyl alchohol using tissue paper on top of optical grade cloth, I reapply oil and let it rest for a minute or two in order to absorb into openings and the metal itself. Follwed by the removal of excess. Just be careful of what you use to apply the oil and how much pressure. Too much pressure can cause minute scratches, however over oiling can be a problem if it clumps or leaves smears to attract moisture. In addition, you do not want extra oil seeping into any saya. Furthermore, be careful on drawing and returning the sword to its saya as that is where most damage can occur. Can you share a picture and description on the blade?

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Hi Paz,

I don't normally oil my blades but I live in the Midlands and I might think differently if lived elsewhere in the UK. The only times I oil my blades these days are if they are going into storage for any reason or if I've sold one and it's going to be in transit. To be honest, I'm more concerned about oil staining the blade than the risk of it being affected by moisture where I am - at least in the normal course of things.

 

I think that if you live in a modern house that is dry and with central heating and you aren't close to the sea, then you shouldn't need to use oil - it's important in Japan due to the levels of humidity there. If you're nervous, keep doing what you're doing but get a piece of carbon steel and keep it with your swords and monitor it for a couple of months to see if any rust forms, if not then your swords shouldn't be affected either.

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Thanks John I'm south west not near the sea at all. I do notice staining when I first oiled them which I quickly cleaned off. I've got isopropyl alcohol for this in case it happens again. 

 

What il try do is apply very thin coats of oil. And monitor them. It's good to know that we can keep them unoiled for some time. 

 

Regards 

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44 minutes ago, Alex A said:

Im more concerned about leaking pipes than the climate.

 

If your going to oil blades you only need a TINY amount of oil.

 

 

Due to my past habits with modern steel swords, I've noticed the following. 

 

When I oiled modern steel  t10 steel shinken,  such as Chinese made katanas hanwei,  Paul chen ect. You could oil them with standard coat or more and leave them. Which I did without rust for 10 years. The oil didn't bead, or drip like water and you could see no staining. 

 

But nihonto for me acts completely differently as they should due to the difference in steel. If I apply the same method for the modern steel on nihonto,  I find the oil is way more than needed. Even If its a dab on tissue.  

What seems to work after I checked this morning, is after oiling. I'd check the next day, and do another wipe with a tissue. 

 

 

Trial and error for me. 

 

Regards 

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Alex A said:

Once tried a light machine oil and that went beady (beady a word?:laughing:)

 

So went back to using a gun oil thats never caused an issue.

 

Some long episode threads on various oils, worth having a search .

Thanks Alex I've stumbled across some.

 

Think that's where I got the word beady lol. 

 

If you ever buy a hanwei sword ( I'm sure you wont) it will come with a heavy load of wax, which greases the blade beyond beleif. You have to wipe it a few times before you can see anything on the blade 😆.  It looks like snot. 

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