Reacquainting myself with items in my collection...

PocketKnifeJimmy

PocketKnifeJimmy

Joined
Aug 4, 2013
Messages
3,989
My collecting hobby first entails acquiring something that I feel to be an interesting object.
I then place a light/thin coat of oil on any metal components the item may have, and/or proceed with doing any other form of preventive maintenance it may need.
And, lastly, I find a way to incorporate it into my domain's interior decor, (which usually means it will in some way be displayed behind glass).
This all means my items are kept in a manner that allows them to be visually enjoyed without too much worry of them getting dusty and needing constant maintenance, (especially since I also keep my air quality climate controlled).
My recently obtaining some Renaissance Wax, and liking it's results, I have been treating some of my carbon steel knives with this substance.

That's where my reacquainting comes into play here, my having made it a habit to perform routine maintenance on all of my "interesting objects". That usually entails the use of a soft cloth and some light preservative oil, but the Ren Wax is now a part of my preventative maintenance arsenal.

Anyhow, that is when I get a chance to randomly pick this or that item out of my collection to perform that preventative maintenance.

The Renaissance wax is not difficult to apply, but it certainly takes longer than just a quick light oil wipe-down.
This means my time in handling the item to apply the Ren Wax is extended a bit. That can be a pain in the arse, but it also lets me reacquaint myself a little better to items that I haven't handled in a while.

As an example... Today I was applying some Ren Wax to this Cold Steel Cinquedea dagger, and it was a nice calm experience learning every detail about this piece that, while it didn't break the bank to obtain it, is surprisingly a very well constructed item with a lot of curb appeal 👍😊👍

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Here's one I just finished applying Renaissance Wax on.
Again, since the Ren Wax takes a bit more effort than just wiping things down with a little oil, one really gets to notice the details that maybe one would not notice so much otherwise.

This Taiwan made Cold Steel Laredo Bowie has a O-1 Carbon Steel blade. The fit and finish is really, really nice! For a guy like myself, (56 years old), that remembers items made in Taiwan as not being things of a notable quality, this knife specimen shows me how times have drastically changed. If it had made in Germany, USA, or Japan on it, it would be no surprise to me... But, made in Taiwan?... Yeah, they've really come a long way over there! 👍😊👍

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I definitely want to get some of that ren wax to apply to some of the pieces in my collection. Most are stainless and probably don't need it but some are high carbon and I also have a couple of antiques in desperate need of a coating.
 
Legendary_Jarl said:
I definitely want to get some of that ren wax to apply to some of the pieces in my collection. Most are stainless and probably don't need it but some are high carbon and I also have a couple of antiques in desperate need of a coating.
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There are a few stacked leather handled knives that I have that look dry. I already tried Ren Waxing a few, and it's panned out real well for me, so my other dry looking stacked leather handles will eventually be getting the treatment too 👍

It did wonders to not only this knife's blued blade, but also to it's stacked leather handle 👍
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I did this Antique Nepalese Kukri this morning with the Ren Wax... It did add a little life to the wood handle, but otherwise just coated it in an invisible film that will do for it what it helps do in museums 😊

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When I Ren Waxed treated this one the other day, I fell in love with it all over again.
When I first purchased this knife and received it in the mail, I fell in love with it, (figuratively speaking, of course).
It's simply a very well crafted specimen. It also happens to be one of only two fixed blade knives that I own that has a tapered tang. The buffalo horn handle scales, and it's nickel silver fittings, are all done really well and look very dapper. It's file worked spine, highly polished blade, and it's maker's pedigree, all really had me feeling great about having purchased it.

Well, the other day, while giving it the Renaissance Wax treatment, I felt that way about it all over again 👍

Oh, and with this Wostenholm Bowie having been produced in Sheffield England, it seemed very proper to use Ren Wax on it, since it too is a product of that same Nation 🇬🇧

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I got reacquainted with this knife while giving it the Renaissance Wax treatment this morning.

It's a Bowie knife made in Sheffield England by the Egginton Group that currently, and for quite some time now, has owned the Wostenholm brand.

I remember wanting to buy one of these knives some years back, but I couldn't find a dealer that sold them in the USA. I believe the price for them at the time was something like $450 to $500 direct from the manufacturer, but I really didn't want to make such a transaction from across the sea.

So, it was one of those things that just came and went, my leaving the idea on the back burner as a possible future purchase.

Well, the opportunity arose to buy one when I stumbled across a US vendor online that had a few in stock. It was being sold for $500, but also included a Mahogany finished wood box that alone currently sells for $190 on the manufacturer's website, and it too being made in Britain.
So, I didn't hesitate at all, my actually making an old fashioned phone call to them to make the transaction happen.

I was hoping it would be a nice representation of a hand made Bowie from Sheffield England.
I'd watched some of Egginton's videos online showing how they are produced, and it seemed obvious that they were sticking to pretty old school methods of manufacturing, similar to how GEC does here in the USA. That's something I can appreciate 👍

When I received it, it did not disappoint, it truly showed a solid effort at honoring the famous Wostenholm brand.

This morning it was nice to go over every inch of this knife while applying the Ren Wax to it. It's nice to see and feel that, while surely disappearing, Sheffield's hand made craftsmanship is not totally gone 🇬🇧

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Here is the presentation box that it came with, which I keep carefully stored away...

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Some years ago, a member here came in and gave us a heads up about a great deal. The deal was to buy one of these Ontario Knife Company knives from an organization called 'Task Force Dagger Foundation', which is set up to raise funds to help out military personnel that are in need.
These knives were donated by Ontario to the TFD Foundation as a way for them to raise funds for their cause.
It was a truly awesome deal, costing only $25 + $10 shipping for each knife, ($35 total per knife). These are made of 440A stainless steel, and each came with a leather sheath and Ontario Knife Company factory box.
The deal was even much sweeter than that, since 100% of the proceeds went directly to TFD Foundation's nobel cause 👍😊👍

Well, I purchased three of them, my keeping two, and the other one being gifted to a close friend of mine.

This first photo shows one of them before I applied the Renaissance Wax...
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And here they are after being treated with it...
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I have forgotten who it was that gave us the heads up on these knives, but thanks again for sharing the deal with us!
👍😊👍
 
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Yesterday morning, instead of getting reacquainted with one of the items in my collection, it was me getting acquainted with a new addition to my collection.
I spent some time cleaning it up with a soft cloth, soft toothbrush, and some rubbing alcohol.

This is what I met her as...
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And here she is once I gave her some tlc and a full treatment of some Ren Wax...
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It can be a bit tedious to get things acceptable, but after it's all done, it always feels good to have put in the effort 👍😊👍
 
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PocketKnifeJimmy said:
I got reacquainted with this knife while giving it the Renaissance Wax treatment this morning.

It's a Bowie knife made in Sheffield England by the Egginton Group that currently, and for quite some time now, has owned the Wostenholm brand.

I remember wanting to buy one of these knives some years back, but I couldn't find a dealer that sold them in the USA. I believe the price for them at the time was something like $450 to $500 direct from the manufacturer, but I really didn't want to make such a transaction from across the sea.

So, it was one of those things that just came and went, my leaving the idea on the back burner as a possible future purchase.

Well, the opportunity arose to buy one when I stumbled across a US vendor online that had a few in stock. It was being sold for $500, but also included a Mahogany finished wood box that alone currently sells for $190 on the manufacturer's website, and it too being made in Britain.
So, I didn't hesitate at all, my actually making an old fashioned phone call to them to make the transaction happen.

I was hoping it would be a nice representation of a hand made Bowie from Sheffield England.
I'd watched some of Egginton's videos online showing how they are produced, and it seemed obvious that they were sticking to pretty old school methods of manufacturing, similar to how GEC does here in the USA. That's something I can appreciate 👍

When I received it, it did not disappoint, it truly showed a solid effort at honoring the famous Wostenholm brand.

This morning it was nice to go over every inch of this knife while applying the Ren Wax to it. It's nice to see and feel that, while surely disappearing, Sheffield's hand made craftsmanship is not totally gone 🇬🇧

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Here is the presentation box that it came with, which I keep carefully stored away...

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I have seen pictures posted here of these sorts of shadow-box displays from you, and a couple of others (unless my memory's bad, and they're all from you!) and I have to say that I love it as a presentation method. Sort of a smattering of items that really give you a feel for the historical period that they're from. Common items from a time period, that we find as interesting artifacts in this day and age. I like everything about it.
 
Quiet said:
I have seen pictures posted here of these sorts of shadow-box displays from you, and a couple of others (unless my memory's bad, and they're all from you!) and I have to say that I love it as a presentation method. Sort of a smattering of items that really give you a feel for the historical period that they're from. Common items from a time period, that we find as interesting artifacts in this day and age. I like everything about it.
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Very kind words, Sir... Thank you! 👍
 
I just finished "acquainting" myself to these two latest Linder acquisitions that arrived in today's mail.
I gave them the Ren Wax treatment, and they'll now be incorporated into my collection 😊

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The Dagger has already found a home in this display case, since it seemed like the place it would feel right at home in 👍😅👍

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jfk1110 said:
Some great pieces you've got.... I too like your method of display...👍👍👍!
Very cool.... Keep em comin.......please!
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You may not know how much I really appreciate that, but I really do mean it when I say... Thank you!

You see, it seems to irk some folks here on BF that my collection of knives is just that, a collection of items I mostly keep behind glass. That what I share here on this forum are pictures of knives I own for the strict purpose of having them as objects of visual display, and for the purpose of posterity... not for using them as the tools that they are. But... it's my hobby! 😊
I know there are others like me here, but some may be in the closet about it to avoid comments like...

"Free that knife from it's bondage"

"I see no use for a knife that doesn't get used"

"You have nothing here to offer since you don't actually USE your knives".

I've run into that sort of thing over the years that I've been here on Bladeforums.
Some of it as little digs, and some blatantly rude and belittling.
It's not specific to BF, it happens everywhere in life, since humans will be human, that means the good and bad are always present.

So, again... Thank you folks for expressing that you actually enjoy my sharing of my hobby 👍😊👍
 
No worries--- opinions are like assholes, everyone has one and there's shit behind every single one too....
You get to play with your toys anyway you want brother!!!!!
I appreciate your toys and the time it took you too set up each display!!
As I said. Keep em comin!
 
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