Rusted 17th C persian shamshir within decayed scabbard

katana · 10th September 2010, 08:11 PM

Hi Celtan,
olive oil is a good idea. I used a similar process to 'liberate' a very nice African dagger from an equally intricate scabbard (leather with woven reed patterning.)

I had the knife/scabbard standing up-right and introduced small amounts of olive oil around the mouth of the scabbard and left to 'stand'......many....many repeated doses later I was able to get a little 'movement'. Constant additions of oil and gentle applied pressure/ movement, eventually allowed the knife to be removed. Although the scabbard 'survived' the leather and reed work had become saturated in oil ....wrapping in absorbant paper removed a lot of this excess, but the oil had darkened the leather and lighter coloured woven reed decoration permanently.

The oil helps 'break up' the rust (between blade and scabbard), softens the leather a little (useful if the leather has dried out and shrunk) and provides lubrication for the blade to 'slide' out of the scabbard more easily.

Hope this helps

Kind Regards David

10th September 2010, 08:11 PM	#3
katana Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Kent Posts: 2,658	Hi Celtan, olive oil is a good idea. I used a similar process to 'liberate' a very nice African dagger from an equally intricate scabbard (leather with woven reed patterning.) I had the knife/scabbard standing up-right and introduced small amounts of olive oil around the mouth of the scabbard and left to 'stand'......many....many repeated doses later I was able to get a little 'movement'. Constant additions of oil and gentle applied pressure/ movement, eventually allowed the knife to be removed. Although the scabbard 'survived' the leather and reed work had become saturated in oil ....wrapping in absorbant paper removed a lot of this excess, but the oil had darkened the leather and lighter coloured woven reed decoration permanently. The oil helps 'break up' the rust (between blade and scabbard), softens the leather a little (useful if the leather has dried out and shrunk) and provides lubrication for the blade to 'slide' out of the scabbard more easily. Hope this helps Kind Regards David