How Were Period Swords Cleaned/Preserved from Rust?

[Bob George]

Friends, any idea how swords during the Civil War were cleaned and/or preserved from rust, especially the German imports with steel hilts and scabbards?

Was steel wool available? What sort of oils were commonly used on swords (gun oil)?

Anything known to have been used on the sharkskin grips (not that I'm going to use them for preservation)?

Appreciate the input.

Regards, Bob




Robert Broadwater
NPS Volunteer

[advanceguard]

Re: How Were Period Swords Cleaned/Preserved from Rust?

sweet oil (olive oil), brick dust (rotton stone), firepit ash....Those are what come to mind

[Marine Mike]

Re: How Were Period Swords Cleaned/Preserved from Rust?

Steel wool was originally waste from lathes. Though it may have been used in a machine shop for burnishing, it doesn't seen to become a widely available product until after the Civil War. Brick dust and rottenstone are different products. Rottenstone and pumice stone is still available from H. Behlen. You can find it at Wood Craft stores .
Other abrasives available were flour of emery, emery sand paper, and crocus cloth. Some of these are becoming difficult to find due to the superiority of modern abrasives.
The next question is availability in which situation you are portraying. Barracks, garrison, or campaign will limit availability to the common soldier hence the brick dust and fire pit ash as well as Federal or Confederate impression. A common comment about war is long periods of boredom with small intense periods of terror. I would expect a light rusting if you are portraying campaign in a week of rain and maybe a little more stubborn for winter campaigns but would find total neglect inexcusable.

[Jeff Nichols]

Re: How Were Period Swords Cleaned/Preserved from Rust?

The following appears in Congdon's Cavalry Compendium (1864), Section 1, care of arms:

"Sperm or sweet oil and flour of emery should be used in cleaning the sabre and scabbard. Beef marrow is good to keep them from rusting."

[Bob George]

Re: How Were Period Swords Cleaned/Preserved from Rust?

Fascinating responses, many thanks. I'm not actually going to use these items on original CW swords, but when queried by the public on how swords were cleaned, I want to be accurate.

BTW, what is "flour of emery," some sort of abrasive powder?

It's a wonder any etching survived on original sword blades from the period using these sorts of cleaning methods.

Again, appreciate the scholarly input.

Bob

Robert Broadwater
NPS Volunteer

[Marine Mike]

Re: How Were Period Swords Cleaned/Preserved from Rust?

Emery is a natural stone that's long been used as an abrasive. You can go to the nail care aisle of your local supermarket and find emery boards. Flour of emery is the stuff glued to the board. The stone varies from orange to black. Most common thing with many of the old abrasives is they are some sort of natural silica. Most sand is silica and agate is another form so you see sand paper and agate sand paper. Sand is also an ingredient in making brick. It is mixed in with the clay. You can probably find out more then you are fully interested by looking at the Wiki for Abrasive, Emery, Sand or Silica. The natural occurring abrasive have enough impurities that they appear to fragment and breakdown in use causing the abrasive to become finer and finer. The newer industrial silica last longer due to less of impurities but will eventually do the same.
If the government property is taken care of from day one then it can be taken care of by a regular wiping by an oiled cloth. This would be part of their routine in maintaining their uniform and equipment. How well does this work? My grandfather had 1965 Case 400 series tractor that he was regularly on and off until he left the farm in 2005. The places where his Levis rubbed were highly burnished to a point of see yourself reflection.
Then there are the rest of us that live in one century and try to crawl back 150 years for a few days. An application of minimum of maintenance in our climate controlled houses will allow us to keep the appearance a lot easier then way back when but it needs to be applied regularly.

[JustRob]

Re: How Were Period Swords Cleaned/Preserved from Rust?

Rottenstone, which is available by the pound at your local hardware store in the tile section, is an excellent substitute for emery flour.

[Becky Morgan]

Re: How Were Period Swords Cleaned/Preserved from Rust?

If I may--
Very fine abrasives such as emery flour won't leave the heavy scratching one may associate with coarser materials, nor will fine wood ash. For present-day uses, it is also possible to get sandpaper in 2000 and 4000 grit at hobby stores. If you look at some old newspaper advertisements, you'll find all sorts of polishes, and there are a few period recipes around that are still acceptable.

My go-to for polishing anything old and delicate (that is not priceless and need not be kept in the condition in which it was found) is a damp thumb and baking soda. Soda is harder than most dirt and rust, but softer than any metal swords are likely made of, and being alkaline it also has the advantage of neutralizing skin acids from hands. It was once said that a good butler or maid in charge of silver could be identified by black thumbs from polishing flatware.

[Marine Mike]

Re: How Were Period Swords Cleaned/Preserved from Rust?

From Navy regulations:
4th. To clean the exterior of the barrel, lay it flat on a bench or board, to avoid bending it. The practice of supporting the barrel at each end, and rubbing it with a strap, buffstick, ramrod, or any other instrument to burnish it, is pernicious, and should be strictly forbidden.

5th. After firing, the barrel should always be washed as soon as practicable; when the water comes off clear, wipe the barrel dry and pass into it an oiled rag. Fine flour of emery cloth is the best article to clean the exterior of the barrel.

265. To Clean the Lock.—Wipe every part with a moist rag, and then a dry one; if any part of the interior shows rust, put a drop of oil on the point or end of a piece of soft wood dipped into flour of emery; rub out the rust and wipe the surface dry; then rub every part with a slightly oiled rag.

266. To Clean the Mountings.—For iron and steel parts, use fine emery moistened with oil, or emery cloth. For brass parts, use rotten-stone moistened with vinegar or water, applied with a rag, brush, or stick; oil or grease should be avoided. The dirt may be removed from the screw-holes by screwing a piece of soft wood into them. Wipe all parts with a linen rag, and leave the parts slightly oiled.

Though this is for small arms, particularly musket, the same cleaning compounds and techniques would be used on cutlasses and other edge weapons.

[Uncle Pig]

Re: How Were Period Swords Cleaned/Preserved from Rust?

If you were an officer you had an elisted man clean and polish your gear.

Mark Foster