[A. G. Maisey]

I cannot accept that hardwood hilts will always crack.

My experience does not bear out what you say, either, Rick. Yes, fancy grains are more susceptable to checking because of the internal stresses, but I've seen museum pieces of European furniture that are 100 and more years old, that have not checked. In the next room I have a suite of bedroom furniture that dates back to the 1930's and that has some of the faniciest grain timber you'll ever see, and that has no checks at all.

If we look at hardwood in other applications, it does not necessarily crack with age, and if I look at the old wooden hilts I have, many of which are made from hardwoods, what I see is some that are cracked, some that are not.

I believe that the cracking depends on the material itself, and the conditions that have had effect upon it during its life.

In respect of preservation, I like a good quality furniture wax for polished surfaces, whether or not that polished surface has been finished with french polish or shellac. I like fine furniture oil for carved wood. An aerosol furniture polish that contains waxes such as carnauba is also OK for carved surfaces, but it should not contain silicon. To distribute on carved surfaces you can use a soft old toothbrush.

It is possible to take up the cracks in wood --- even heavily cracked wood --- by application of raw linseed oil. Its a lengthy process and can involve months of daily rubbing for, say, half and hour, which is really not all that hard to do if you just sit and rub the oil in every night while you watch the TV news.

To prevent an oiled blade from staining a scabbard, and to retain the oil on the blade, which provides the blade with protection, I wrap the wet blade in a plastic sleeve. If you belong to the Exuberant Display Clan, this won't work for you because the untidy plastic edges stick out of the top of the wrongko, or maybe the sleeve won't allow the blade to go all the way into the wrongko. However, if you belong to the Protect & Conserve Clan, plastic sleeve storage of blades is the way to go.

The conservators whom I know recommend storing ferric materials on inert surfaces, such as glass, in a temperature and humidity controlled atmosphere. This is maybe a bit extreme for a home collection, but it shows the way that the trend should go.

EDIT

A really good example in contradiction of the idea that fancy grain will always check has just occurred to me:- gun stocks.

Some of the fanciest timber you'll ever see is to be found in gunstocks, especially old English guns.

It is extremely unusual to find these old stocks with checking, where it is found, the gun is in a condition that indicates lack of care.