Nickel Silver Oxidation

colu41

colu41

Joined
Dec 24, 2014
Messages
1,598
Now I love working with nickel silver, compared to 416. But i've ran into a problem recently. After finishing a sheath, I put the blade in it, in the house, and overnight the nickel silver guard was almost gold in color. With slight oxidation. Now I'm not sure if maybe the sheath may still have had a little bit of moisture caught inside from the dye & sealant, so I'm wondering if this is a common problem, and how I can prevent it while shipping?
 
Was the sheath at all wet when the knife went in? How was the leather finished, oil, snow seal? Not sure how the leather was tanned, but I'm sure the ph of leather can vary with they type of tanning ingredients used. Any moisture in the leather can change the ph in materials in contact with it. Other than that, not sure & interested in what others will say.
 
valknut said:
Gonna follow this if you don't mind. Do you have any pics?
Where do you get your NS from?
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From Jantz. And I use resolene as a finisher. It may very well be still slightly wet. I just wanted to make sure this wasn't going to be a big problem in the future.
 
do you use veg tanned leather ? chemically tanned will corrode things faster. but i am guessing it was probably the moisture. a thin coating of mineral oil will help protect it during shipping.
 
john april said:
do you use veg tanned leather ? chemically tanned will corrode things faster. but i am guessing it was probably the moisture. a thin coating of mineral oil will help protect it during shipping.
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It's veg tanned. And yes, thanks, I'll have to put a small cost on before shipping.
 
It is nickel silver - Mostly coper with some nickel and other stuff. It will always tarnish to a yellow color. If you buff it hard to bright shine, it may turn bright gold in a day. The air quality makes a difference in how fast it happens. Sulfur compounds in the air make it change faster. Big cities and places with manufacturing smokestacks or coal fired power plants add to the problem.
I just let it patina to the natural color.
 
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