Hot (dry) air
 

I recently moved and I'm concerned that the air is dry now that the furnace is on at the new place. Some rattan rings on the handle of one of my Dhas have come loose. Not too bad yet but the season is young. I was going to coat the hilt in mineral oil to give it some moisture. Will this work? Does anyone have any other suggestions? The environment here is very dry in the winter and humid in the summer.


By the way the Dha is one of my favs. Not the fanciest dress but REALLY nice in the hand. I'd say the blade is older than the hilt but it was definitely fitted to be used. I've always guessed that it was re-fitted about 60 years (or so) ago around WWII.

Thanks for any advice,
Shawn

Here's some (bad pics)

Hi Shawn. Unfortunately, while rattan is an excellent material, it does dry out rather easily once removed from a humid environment.

Living in Florida, I don't normally have a problem, but my better pieces reside in a climate-controlled safe, and I keep a close eye on those.

Rather than mineral oil I use Rennaisance Wax. I apply lightly and work it into the nooks and crannies.

Andrew

Dha Dha

Do you have forced hot air or radiators? If it forced air you can have a humidifer installed on the furnace if it is the other type of heating you buy a portable humidifier and keep it on low. You will have to add water every day to every other day during the colder drier months.


Lew

It's a balance ...
 

AddedThere is simply no substitute for humidity IMO in maintaining rattan in good shape. Some of the oils and waxes help, but eventually rattan does dry out in low humidity environments. Wood cracking is perhaps a more common and serious problem from low humidity. So keeping your collection warm and somewhat moist is important.

Sometime ago we had a discussion of how humid should the environment be for wood and rattan preservation, while at the same time keeping the risk of rust to a minimum. Not sure that we ever settled on an ideal value, but IIRC a relative humidity of 40-50% at a temperature of 65-70 F (16-19 C) seemed to be a good starting point, and then see how things develop. During very cold periods (such as a Minnesota winter, where -20 F and colder is common) it is hard to achieve this degree of humidity without fogging the windows and having ice form on the colder surfaces. That's a price to pay for trying to maintain tropical items in the frozen North. :D

Ian.

Here's a link to that previous thread: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=952

Thanks. I've called for a humidifier to be installed ($400). They are coming next day... Is the mineral oil a good idea as well? I like to leave things as untouched as possible is all. Maybe I should move to Florida :)

Oil will darken the rattan so just use a good wax as stated above. After the humidity restores the moisture the rattan this way it will seal it in.



Lew

Agree with Lew, let the piece come back to normal before waxing or the wax may keep the humidity out.

Rick

I have one of these, there has been some discussion that these are tourist pieces. Just adding some hot air.

Hi Tim. I have a few tourist pieces as well. There are certainly wide ranges and grades of quality. This one is all business though. I don't know if you can see top of the blade on my (low grade) photo but it is flat and very chunky with some file markings then a raised spine on the front 3/4's. And I know you can't see the hamon mark along its cutting edge. If so, there are some very well armed tourists out there. :D