Jean, WD40 has very limited capability as a long term protective against corrosion. It does have good short term capability, and as a moisture displacer I personally believe that it is supreme in its field. I have used and recommended WD40 for moisture displacement prior to applying oil and after blade cleaning & staining for many years, I believe I started to use WD40 some time in the 1950's, and I have been using it ever since. It is not just a good product, it is a great product. But it does have limitations.
The manufacturer advises that in a protective environment it has about a two year life as a rust preventative, and in an unprotective environment about half this time.
Prior to oiling a blade my complete preparation is to remove old congealed oil with a toothbrush & mineral turpentine, I then drench with WD40 and stand the blade and allow it to dry off overnight, the following day I brush on a mixture of +/- 50% sandalwood oil and either Singer sewing machine oil or medicinal paraffin.
I buy the sandalwood oil by the litre, it works out a lot cheaper that way.
I then tightly wrap the oiled blade in a plastic envelope.
Blades prepared in this manner can go for 20 years and longer with no maintenance at all.
I live waterfront to a salt water lake. I do not have any rust problems with my blades stored in this way.
The tradition in Jawa for oiling a blade with sandalwood or rose or jasmine oil is to comply with the concept of respect to the keris and to make it a pleasant place for any entity which may care to visit. Yes, the fragrance of the oil does penetrate the wood of the wrongko and the open grain of a blade, and this is exactly as is intended.
The downside of oil penetrating wrongko wood is that it leads to staining and material deterioration, which mean that in a wrongko where the gandar is attached to the atasan with an adhesive, this bond will eventually be loosened, and the gandar will become detached. Once oil has contaminated the joint surfaces of atasan & gandar there is only one adhesive that I know of that will give a degree of adhesion, & that is button shellac used as a hotmix glue. Button shellac is a very weak adhesive, and the joint will separate very easily.
Javanese wrongko joints frequently use button shellac, but keris from other keris bearing societies normally use a fish based wood glue (traditionally) or a modern adhesive at the present time. These other societies do not observe the same traditions as those which apply in Jawa.
In any case, whether one relies on oil soaked wood to prevent rust, or plastic film & oil, or constant repeated maintenance, this much is true:- nowhere in the world will we find a museum curator or conservator who recommends storing ferric materials on or against wood or any other cellulose based material.
Another thing that is true is this:- a good quality gun oil will provide far better protection against corrosion than either WD40 or Singer sewing machine oil --- but the stink of the stuff will surely guarantee that no spiritual entity will ever come anywhere near that keris.
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