Scabbard keeps having wood dust

N

notareus

Joined
Jun 19, 2001
Messages
10
My scabbard keeps having wood dust after a i leave it unsheath for a while. also if i were to put the knife in the scabbard, the blade would start to rust a little. I sunned the scabbard for bout 1 week but the dust proiblem is still there.

anyone with the same problem? how do u cure it? could it be some pest and fungus?or is the scabbard dirty. can i put wax, wd40 silicone oil in it to prevent the rust? this is inconvenient since i cant use the scabbard in that condition. the exterior is perfect.

many thanks
 
I vacuumed out one sheath that I had sanded with sandpaper glued to a stick. To remove the dust, I used a narrow length of vinyl tubing attached to a reducer that I made from a small plastic bottle and lots of tape (looked like a madman's creation, but it worked
smile.gif
) If you keep getting dust time after time, something must be in there making it. If you can vac it out, and then check the bag, you may learn whether you need an insecticide, which you probably don't want to use without good reason. There are a number of products which will seal the wood, and the vacuum tube can also be used to help dry the inside after any liquid wax, lube, etc., has been used.

Insects, termites, etc., aren't as far-fetched as a possible cause as it may sound at first. These sheaths have done a lot of traveling, and could have picked up hitch-hikers, might have brought their own passengers, or some of your local varieties might have wandered in and found Nepalese wood to be tasty
smile.gif
 
So you've taken the scabbard, turned it upside-down and tapped the mouth of the scabbard against a firm surface in an attempt
to get all the dust out? You've tried using
a long twig/stick to rout around in the scabbard to remove all the dust? The basic
things anyone would do, right? But it keeps
producing more dust? Is it a fine 'sawdust'?

Strange. It would seem wood dry enough to cause more wood dust wouldn't cause the blade
to rust. And if the wood was green enough to
cause rust it wouldn't produce more wood dust. Fungus/molds/mildew may be corrosive but shouldn't produce wood dust. I wonder if you've got a Nepalese 'Newari' termite? That could create wood dust and it's excrements might very well be corrosive.

Any petroleum based chemical you use to preserve the blade would probably be lethal to such little critters (in time or in large
quantities). Most interesting. Let us know
if you find the cause and/or what works to stop this. I'm sure the other forumites will
have much better thoughts on this matter forthcoming.

Oh yeah, Welcome to the Cantina notareus
smile.gif


------------------
The khukuri village idiot
 
I had this problem once with a (not HI) khukuri sheath. Turned out to be tiny bugs that lived in the sheath. They ended up eating tiny holes in the leather, and riddling the wood. Raid did not faze them. I solved the problem by burning the sheath.
 
My warehouse received some cardboard-cartoned goods from Puerto Rico. They came in Friday afternoon before a long weekend, and Tuesday when they were moved to pallets, there were holes in the sealed, ferrite hardened concrete floor where they had been standing. TERMITES, but with big red S's on their chests, or thorax or whatever. Final cost to cure the problem was over $15,000, including a couple of false starts with the local exterminator, and finally jackhammering out three sections and hauling them out back to be soaked in gasoline and burned.

When we finally realized we had BIG bug trouble, we sent several we had caught to the state agriculture dept., and they all but shut us down, and had people there immediately, until the rubble was burned. The only chemicals that would kill them, we were told, would cause enough toxicity to close the building permanently.

When we are all gone, there will still be bugs.
 
Excuse me for deviating slightly from the topic but I would like to share this tidbit.
I am not surprised that bug-spray (Raid) did
not kill those bugs. Alot of those insecticides are basically neurotoxins. Seems
to affect some bugs more than others. For example a healthy Nevada cockroach will just
keep moving right along after a spray (hey
mister, thanks for the buzz, see 'ya
smile.gif
).
But the insecticide DOES have adverse health considerations for you and any pets.

Now I'm not recommending this for steel blades, but this does work to KILL all manner
of crawling insects. The original article I
had read was geared toward a NONTOXIC bug spray for lawn and garden. Its a simple
formula. 1 part beer to 1 part dish washing liquid. Basically it gives the bugs terminal
indigestion. NO $#!t and it works very well too! Schlitz and Palmolive is particularily
devastating. They'll be curled up in the
fetal position and spasming in moments.

Now most of you probably think I'm clowning
around but I'm not. Your store bought insecticdes are dangerous, this is not. Don't
believe it will work? Try this; next spider
or roach you want to kill, just put a few
drops of dishwashing liquid on them and watch what happens. To be honest roaches are as
tough as nails and will go a few inches before they stop. Black-widows and the rest
die now. And somebody please try this out on
a scorpion for me. I'm betting on 'Madge'.


------------------
The khukuri village idiot
 
i just found out that there are holes in the scabbard. bout 17 of them. they are pin holed sized and sure looks like theres some insect boring thru it and surface thru the leather. I poured rather hot water into the scabbard in hope that it will kill all pest and is now wedged with pieces of wood after coating with mineral oil. I will probably spray either oil or wax into the interior when the scabbard dries. Very tempted to bake it in the oven to accelerate the process.

Was also thinking of making a scabbard but without the holes for the karda and chakma. issit still traditional? (as in do the kamis in nepal do it this way?. Sting ray skin is another option
smile.gif
 
Welcome to the cantina Notareus!

I'd probably consider something like putting the scabbard in a sealed container with some mothballs for a few weeks. You want to make sure you kill any eggs as well as mobile stages of the bugs.

The dishwashing liquid is a surfactant, that is, a substance that breaks the surface tension of the water. That's why it works on grease and dirt. Insects (and other arthropods) breathe from the outside. They don't have lungs, but rather pores on their outside surfaces (usually legs, I believe) through which they take in oxygen. Normally, if they get water on themselves, the surface tension of the water keeps it from clogging their pores, but the dishwashing liquid breaks the surface tension and allows the water to get into all the little openings that the bugs would normally get oxygen through. They "drown" in a drop of water.

I'm not sure if the "beer and dishwashing liquid" solution would do the job inside your scabbard. I suspect that if you want to avoid burning the scabbard, you will need an airborne agent. And you will probably need to apply it for an extended period to kill the larvae that emerge from eggs over time. That's why I would probably recommend something like sealing it in with mothballs. Either the naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene types should work fine. Both are quite toxic, especially in the concentrations that build up in a sealed container. Just make sure to keep it sealed for several weeks.

Paul


------------------
Paul Neubauer
prn@bsu.edu
A tool is, basically, an object that enables you to take advantage of the laws of physics and mechanics in such a way that you can seriously injure yourself.
 
I wonder if the scabbard carried the bugs or if it was invaded in Malaysia. There's gotta be something around that the bugs don't like -- I notice here in Reno most critters really don't like an ammonia based agent like Windex. It either kills them or they run like hell. You might want to give it a try along with the other remedies, not, and welcome to the Cantina.

------------------
Blessings from the computer shack in Reno.

Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
Khukuri FAQ
Himalayan Imports Archives (33,000 + posts)
Himalayan Imports Shopping Site
 
:
We ndns sometimes have the same problem with our feathers.
The dayumed bugs can destroy an Eagle Feather or any other feather in just a day or two!!!!
And it's usually because the feathers were allowed to lay in something unprotected.
Kept in a Cedar Chest or Box feathers can be kept beautifully for hundreds of years.
I have had the privilege to hold Eagle Feathers over 200 years old!!!!
I don't think anyone has figured out where the bugs come from.

A lot of us put newly aquired feathers in the microwave for about 20 seconds or so.
Guaranteed to kill the bugs!!!!
biggrin.gif


You would have to remove the brass or other metal chape to use the microwave though.

I sometimes use the 20 seconds in the microwave up to about 5 times, after letting the feathers cool so they won't burn up.
That's after newly aquired road kill feathers have been thoroughly washed
in dish soap to clean them from any yucky stuff.



------------------
Yvsa.

"VEGETARIAN".............
Indin word for lousy hunter.
 
As I recall, RevNick had this same problem.

His solution (which worked!) was to put it in the freezer for a week inside a plastic bag.
 
the weirdest part about it is that when i saw the wood dust initially, i wrapped them in papers with moth balls and then wrapped them in plastic bag with another 5 moth balls. it was standing there for months. this package was then placed in a wood box (pine) with another 2 unsheath cover and 3 khukuri and other knives in those packing peanuts. the other 2 scabbards are not affected. bot the box is now showing signs of the powdered dust at one corner of the base. I have already poured moderately hot water and will try freezing if problem persist.

a quick peer into the scabbard shows that the interior is very dry. wonder if it could be pest. i do not know. the cover is too beautifully done to be taken apart. (not sure if the leather shop is able to do a good job in replacing the leather with that kind of workmanship)

i am very tempted to pour kerosene into the scabbard to kill what ever is inside and followed by silicone oil wd40 or wax into the interior.
 
notareus,
I usually think it's impolite to post references from one khukuri forum onto the other one, but no one else seems to remember the problems folks were having over on Go Ha, so:
here, here, here, and here are the stories of powder post beetles imported from Nepal.

Freeze 'em.
biggrin.gif

Berk


------------------
Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges.-Tacitus

[This message has been edited by Berkley (edited 06-20-2001).]
 
thanks very much for the info.... it sure is a lot of reading. think it would most certainly help
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top