Knife collection storage

nitrox1

nitrox1

Joined
Nov 25, 2002
Messages
262
Quick question for the group. What do you store your collections in. I know a lot of us lock the unused ones up in the safe, but do you store them in a roll, box ,etc.

I have one of those rolls with elastic that holds the knives. I need another one. How is the roll by Benchmade. I like the fact it uses pouches. Will the pouches hold a folder say, the size of a Strider AR. Any and all recommendations appreciated, with links to the products if possible.

Thanks everyone,
John...
 
In one of these:

8drawerchest.gif




Also have 2 of these for tools:

532larg.gif
 
My good ones are in a fur-lined drawer when I'm not carrying them. My other knives are everywhere, ready to be picked up and used at a moment's notice. .
 
I use one of these:

bigSafe.jpg


And, within the safe, the knives are mostly in Bills Custom Case pouches.

The problem with a lot of rolls is that they're plastic. A lot of Plastics outgas. This is why the inside of the windows of a new car get that sort of dull film that's hard to get off. That same thing can happen to your knives. Plastics can also stick to surfaces that they're in long-term contact with. So, plastics you have to be careful about.

Anything cloth also has risks, specifically the dyes used to color cloth. Wood, ivory, bone, horn, etc. can absorb the dyes from cloth that they're in long-term contact with and be discolored.

Leather is a risk because of dyes and tanning chemicals.

Most paper is acidic and there's also the dye-transfer issue if it has printing on it.

And, of course, you have to be careful about anything that might trap and retain moisture.

Packing foam materials are very risky. They outgas, they breakdown over time, and they retain moisture.

Bill took all of these issues into consideration when he selected the materials for his cases.
 
Just to append what Gollnick has written....

The cases I show above have felt in them which pulls moisture away from your tools. Gerstner has been doing this for decades. Felt will not discolor your knife handles. Pure velvet is what discolors ivory. Other than that, you're ok.

Leather can be treated and the acids removed (or water-locked). Just be careful and ask first before you store long term in leather sheaths.


That's a beauty of a safe, Gollnick. And for anybody that's seen even a partial sampling of his collection - it's well worth it!
 
Gollnick, could you open that door and get a shot inside, so we can see what you got ? :D

I mean, I just want to see how well it's made inside :rolleyes: .

Robbie Roberson :p
 
As much as I hate to admit it they are stored in pouches that are stored in an large old shaving kit.
 
Knife rugs, blades soaked in clp, stored in a plastic tub that is air tight when closed.

Robin Brown
 
I have been using those glass hinged top display cases with feet to angle them up. Everything is displayed in a built in shelf area that used to be used for nic nacs, I guess. I redid the shelves in glass with a nice light at the top. I like my knives to be visable and admired, in my home.

Now I am running out of room, and I did not want to spend $500 on a wood "tool box" so I bought one of these: http://www.displaygifts.com/kc01b.htm

They are a good way to go if you want a decent budget storage area.
Maybe some day I will buy a Gerstner. I think they are works of art!

What I don't want to do is wrap up my knives and store them away. If I have to unwrap and unpack them, to enjoy them, I will simply stop collecting and buying knives. They have to look nice and be easily accessible.
 
I don't like the wraps because they can cause the knives to rub together and make one of your collector pieces less than mint condition in a hurry.

My storage technique for my most valuable knives is very simple. I have always used small display cases that hold about five knives a piece and insert the knives into the displays and carefully close the lids to cover them so the knives have pressure from the glass on them to push them into the soft white material that comes with the cases. These cases are cheap and usually black harder carboard material with small metal pins or nails that stick in on two sides to hold the lids down. Then I set all of the display cases aside and pull out my good codition military ammo boxes with the built in rubber seals on the lids. (Key to making this work, the ammo box lids must have good condition rubber seals.)

I place the ammo boxes into a warmed up oven (by warmed up I mean heating up the oven to like the low setting and inserting the ammo boxes minus lids into the oven so the boxes get hot, actually nice and warm but not so hot that you can't touch them with your bare hands but borderline to that point) Then I take them out of the oven and insert what I want stored in it and place the lid on it. As the box cools it naturally sucks in causing natures own vacuum seal for you making better use of the built in rubber seal on the lid so the knives stay in the condition they were in when you put them there. Then after all of this I put the ammo cans in my safe which is fire proof.

Of course you could just vacuum seal the knives individually too, but I'm old fashioned I guess. My dad used this technique for storing ammo and that is where I learned it. Some of the ammo he packed up this way is coming up on 45 years of age and based on past boxes we have opened and shot up it all still shoots just fine and is dry with no signs of corrosion or any other deterioration so I believe this technique works very well.
Hope that helps some.
 
The other material to watch out for is felt. A lot of display cases are lined with felt. Cheap, craft-store felt is not color-safe.

I vividly remember a balisong knife I was shown that had wonderful ivory inserts in the handles. But, when I turned it over, the ivory was stained. The collector who owned the knife for many years kept it in a cheap display case lined with felt and the ivory had absorbed the dye from the felt. Ruined. What a shame.

The felt used to line the drawers on genuine Gerstner chests is museum-grade. It's color-fast. But, I worry about the cheap knock-off chests.

As for photographing inside the safe, the interior is lined with dark grey carpet material and it's just really dark in there. I have to use a flashlight to find anything. You can buy light systems for safes, but one of the major reasons to have a safe is fire protection. One of the leading causes of household fires is electricity. So bringing the electricity inside the safe just didn't seem like a good idea to me.
 
Mr. STR's oven procedure should be safe. You have to watch out for sealed containers, ammo boxes, etc. A number of years ago, way back on rec.knives, a fellow posted that he'd gone out of the country for a year. Before he left, he put all of his stuff in storage. He put his collection of valuable knives, a lot of Randalls, some Loveless, etc., into an ammo box along with some desicant packs. When he got back, all knives were hopelessly rusted. Ruined.

The conclusion of those who discussed it was that the culprit was the desicant packs. "But," you might object, "they absorb water."

That's right, they do absorb water. But they don't make the water disappear. It's still there. And if temperature changes enough, those desicant packs will actually work in reverse and humidify the interior of the sealed container causing the rust.

You see, he didn't bake the packs before he put them in the container. So, they were loaded with water and ready to burst (well, to release that water) at even a small temperature change. To properly use desicants, you have to bake them first. For many packs, it's 250F for 16 hours. Take them out of the oven, put them directly into your sealed container, close the lid, and that'll work.

But, use thusly, those packs are powerfull and will dry out leather wood, ivory, horn, bone, etc.

It's a tough call. I once asked the curator of the US Air Force Museum who specializes in guns and knives what temperature and humidity is ideal. His response was 50/50. Temperature of 50F, 50% Relative Humidity.
 
I have some in a box, some in displays made of wood or hardboard and ones in "non-moisture" rolls. I also keep the room shut with a humidifier that continually stays "set" to minimal moisture.
 
TOB9595 said:
That is a very unique cabinet. What is that. Or maybe, what was that used for originally. Quite cool!!
Tom
Click to expand...

Thanks. I bought it from a local Chinese cabinet maker to house my slipjoint collection.
 
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