storing knives

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svarch

Joined
Nov 25, 2001
Messages
5
i got a new map chest to store and display my knives.i would like to line the drawers with foam to cushin the knives and make the chest more attractive,but i'm worried about the foam breaking down and harming my knives.any suggestions?
 
Hi svarch- Welcome to the forums :)
If your storage chest is anything like mine it has the foam cushion on the bottom but I've laid a nice piece of red felt over the foam. It looks much nicer and you can get the stuff for pennies at any arts and crafts store, and if you just want to keep the foam part and your worried about it breaking down then just replace it every now and then, I'm sure it's very cheap.
Be imaginative, I'm sure you can come up with all kinds of cool sh!t.
Donald.
 
thanks for the reply.my concern wasn't for the foam but the effect of breaking down foam would have on the steel.example: you don't store blades in their sheaths because the acids in the leather will corrode the metal,celuloid plastics used for handle slabs eventually breakdown and emitt a gas that will corrode metal.my concern is on those lines.is there a prefered foam medium for this application? i was considering carpet foam, but what about computer foam or cushin foam? my wife suggested polyfil or felt. am i over thinking this?
 
The problem with red (or any other color) felt is that the dye can migrate into some common handle materials. Ivory is famous for this. Stag, bone, and horn can too. Even unsealed woods have been known to pick up colors from material that they sit on for a long time. This can come from most any cloth, but felts seem particularly bad for it. The solution is to buy museum-grade materials.

Foam materials often out-gas chemicals that can stain knife materials. They're particularly famous for "clouding" polished blades. Foam can break down over time, but that's a long-term thing and usually also involves UV exposure. Foam has a nasty tendency to trap moisture and keep in near the blade.
 
I believe that museum-grade fabrics are available from:

Testfabrics, Inc.
P.O. Box 420
Middlesex, NJ 08846
Telephone: (908) 469-6446
FAX: (908) 469-1147


And felt from:

University Products, Inc.
P.O. Box 101
517 Main St.
Holyoke, MA 01041-0101
Telephone: (413) 532-9431; (800) 762-1165
FAX: (800) 532-9281

They probably both have websites. Finding those sites is left to the reader as an exercise.
 
...We went through this when we first started collecting, and after a few different tries, we decided to use 'gun rug' style zippered pouches, left slightly unzipped.

Being that most of our knives are larger fixed blade models with sheaths, this method works best for us.

We keep each sheath separate, in a ziplock bag with an identifier tag, such as "Randall, #1-8"

The knives are all locked in the former gun, (now knife, safe..lol), and the 'knife rugs' keep them from dinging each other.

This separation of knives allows for ease of deployment...such as for cleaning. ;)

If you're more interested in folders, I've recently seen a very well made soft sided satchel case with several large folder style pockets, each containing small 'pouches' for individual knives.

I hope this helps.

(I know, I know, I didn't address your question, but should your display case idea fail to pan out, there are alternatives....)
 
Are Sackups Knife Protectors any good? They are socks for your knives; they are grey silicone treated cotton pouches.

Are knife rolls better for storing? Vinyl roll with leather tie straps, heavy cloth lining or velvet lining and a carrying handle.
 
I would stay away from any kind of regular untreated foam for long term storage. The stuff in camera and gun cases works but simple foam has a habit of attracting and retaining moisture. As Melvin stated keep the sheaths away. I put them in old (clean :)) socks and store them in plastic bags.

I use pouches (partially opened as Melvin stated), knife rolls, Renn Wax, Sword oil from Japan (via Murray Carter) on high carbon and Damascus and Rem oil (moving parts if any) and try to keep the environment as constant as poss. That regime has done the trick for me over a long period of time. For long term storage of high carbon steels, I use the sword oil or Rig and wrap the blade in plastic wrap.

Keep in mind that it is best to make sure the knife is clean before applying any protective stuff. A chamois does the trick for that, but you need to make sure you keep the chamois clean from grit. Use it and keep it stored in a zip lock.

For older knives with celluoid handles. Keep them apart from your non celluloid knives. I have not had it happen, but experts have said that that stuff can break down and result in steel caustic fumes. I use Renn Wax on these (as well as all other handle material) and have not had an issue (yet), but I do not store these in my safe with the other stuff.

I like pouches from Wilkenson and the large rugs from Bill's Custom cases. When I dealt, I transported folders in one of Bill's 12 pack duffels. (Basically a well made canvas duffle that will hold up to 9 of his 12 packs.)

There are other methods just as effective, but these have evolved and worked for me.

Knife rolls worked for me, but under the condition that I did not leave them rolled up for a long time. I would keep some fresh silca packets in there too. I have not tried them for long term storage.
 
thanks for all the replies guys
i'm trying to make this map chest thing work for me. i could line the drawers with the sheepskin like material found in knife cases.does anyone have a source for the stuff? what about using funfur? most fabric stores and even walmart stock it.
steve
 
I would keep some fresh silca packets in there too. I have not tried them for long term storage.
Click to expand...

Ya gotta be careful with that stuff. It's a very powerful desiccant and can really dry out some materials. Wood in particular can just have the life sucked out of it.

The other potential problem with it is that once it becomes full of water, changes in humidity and temperature can actually cause it to give off moisture. A couple of years ago, a forum member posted his experience. He went out of the country on an extended trip. So, he put all of his expensive knives into one of those ammo boxes, the kind with the water-tight seal, and threw in some of those desiccant packs. When he got back, all of his precious knives were hopelessly rusted. The conclusion of those who discussed it was that the cause was the desiccant packs. These packs are first supposed to be baked in an oven (usually 250F for 16 hours) to drive out all of the water. Then, they're supposed to be put immediately into a SEALED container. They will absorb any moisture remaining in the container immediately and then protect the contents agains any minor leaks. Using them in the unsealed drawers of a cabinet is probably not a good idea. They'll quickly absorb water out of the air until they're soaked. Then, if the temperature or humidity changes, they can release that water into the drawer environment.
 
It doesn't pay to get too paranoid unless you live in extreme conditions somewhere. There is a stainless steel Gerber fixed blade in its leather sheath sitting in an emergency kit (one of those ammo cans with an o-ring around the top) in my car. The last time I looked at it, it had been there 7+ years (as long as I've owned the car) through summer heat and winter rain, and it was fine with possibly a tiny rust spot or two along the edge.

A couple of months ago, I found a buck 110 that had been in an ordinary dresser drawer (inside a house, but not otherwise particularly protected) for about 20 years, and aside from some dulling of the brass bolsters (which polished right up), the knife was fine with no evidence of any corrosion.

Now neither of these knives had particularly fancy handle material. I suppose natural woods might suffer the most from tempreture and moisture variations, but the lesson learned here is that these tools are pretty rugged. So long as you keep them pretty dry, they're going to be OK for a long time.
 
i dont trust dessicants for long term storage either.
any comments on the fake,sometime multicolored fur (funfur) you find in fabric stores?i think it's some kind of synthetic.
what about the stuff lining knife pouches, anyone have a source?
steve
 
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