Summer's almost over... It's goop time.

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Sep 7, 2001
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I apply goop to all my stuff near the beginning of fall and before spring. I figure that's when the biggest changes in room temperature happen (the beginning and end of central heating seasons). I also keep a small (open) container of water by the heat duct to keep the air from getting too dry. It seems to be good for chapped lips so it's gotta be good for horn in my reasoning.

I store em' in a lidless Home Depot bucket in a closet.

How often do you fine folks goop yer khuks and how do you store them? Gimme some ideas because my method comes from my own reasoning and that's usually bad.
 
I got a BAS last winter and the horn split nearly the whole way down the back because of the heater bringing the humidity to O. AC is always running too, I don't think that crack will ever get to seal up.
 
Bruise,
I've been putting pure lanolin on the warmed horn and wrapping them with cling wrap for a few days. Then I re-coat the handles and blades of the khuks with renniasance (spelling?) wax. This is only the ones I won't be using for a while. Users get enough from my overly sweaty mitts.
I'm not sure if the wrapping is good or not. It is not as messy though. I hoped it would keep more lanolin on the horn and not the floor.It seems to work. I also have a tendency to forget them if there are more pressing matters and this is easier.

Since you're in Saudi Arabia :D :p maybe you have similar conditions (8500ft and bone dry up here at the house) to Western Colorado.
In a closet I have them in old airtight boxes from the surplus store. I keep a few silica boxes inside for moisture (like we'd have any here in the high desert LOL) and it's been more than a year on some and they seem great. No cracks like I used to have....:o That wax is great for sealing in the lanolin it seems.:)
 
Are you talking about the product called Goop sold in auto supply stores as a hand cleaner?

I have a tall, narrow jar partially filled with olive oil that I immerse natural material (not wood or stacked leather) handles in. A couple of days, a quick wipe, and it seems to work. I don't remember where I learned this trick, but I've used it on old ivory, buffalo horn, deer and elk antler. Has kept them in good shape for a long time now, 30 years in some cases. Don't waste the extra-virgin on this project. Save it for salads.
Brian
 
I use the term "goop" for the various lanolin based products that folks here use on their horn handles. Roger Smith (a couple of posts above) uses pure lanolin. I use a boot conditioner that has lanolin, and Hooflex. Someone around here uses Bag Balm.

I always worried that vegetable oils and such would go bad after a few months. However if you've used it for over 30 years it must be good.

I like the saran wrap idea. I may try it myself. Why not just keep the saran wrap on and store it that way? Dunno. At about sea level air tight containers are probably overkill for me though.

Does the pure lanolin bring out the grain of the horn? I find that my boot goop after a few days on will start to show a translucent grain pattern.
 
I don't think enough actually penetrates deep enough to go rancid. I doubt if it goes in more than a few thousandths into that kind of dense material.
I recently did a stain penetration test on some ivory "polymer" grip material. I put a sample in a jar with wood stain and alcohol. After a 2 month immersion there was about .1" penetration. I know, I know, apples and oranges... Still any wood worker knows that a "penetrating" finish comes off even open-grain wood with a very few plane passes.
Another county heard from...
Brian
 
Ive given up caring for all my sharp and pointies, and now just keep them in a pile to gather rust and dust.:D :p :rolleyes: Though, on a serious note, as my collection has gotten larger, and my time devoted to each piece much more limited, I have been surprised at the resilience of the pieces that only a dozen knives earlier I had babied the hell out of.
 
That Goop reference confused me also.
I have also bought Goop as a hand cleaner, and I feel obligated to let you guys know it's one of the best out there. I work for a printing company, and I get ink on my hands every day, and it is quite difficult to get remove, except with Goop.
 
I took the term "goop" from a Charlie Brown comic where Lucy sold "goop" for 5 cents. No one knew exactly what it was but Charlie Brown said it was the best goop he had ever tasted.

My apologies for the confusion. :(
 
Of course, Goop is Goop,
but when you don't get specific about what it is, everyone gets confused, unless it has a standard meaning in these parts.
 
Hi Bruise,
Thought I would answear your questian from this side of the pond, but first I want to say I look in here{The Forum} for khuri information, as well as waiting to see that HI kuk I just have to have, but many times your comments make me laugh or smile, Thankyou.
My favorite gloops are neatsfoot compound leather feed for horn and babyoil for horn, wood & metal, bieng a mineral oil it never dries just soakes in, so I only use a little on wood,it penertrates realy deeply over time, I think its great for restoration work myself.

best,
Spiral
 
Bruise, here's a suggestion to employ along with your "goop" application. For years I've used an issued rubberized fabric "waterproofing bag" to keep my sleeping bag, etc., dry. In Afghanistan I discovered they can also work in reverse, i.e., if they can keep moisture out they can also keep it in. Pick one up cheap at an Army surplus store and use it to store your khuks in during dry conditions. Works like a dream.;)

Sarge
 
Originally posted by BruiseLeee


I like the saran wrap idea. I may try it myself. Why not just keep the saran wrap on and store it that way? Dunno. At about sea level air tight containers are probably overkill for me though.

Does the pure lanolin bring out the grain of the horn? I find that my boot goop after a few days on will start to show a translucent grain pattern.

Wow, an idea that someone else finds useful. Cool!
I thought about just keeping the wrap in the horn but I wasn't sure about the evaporation during storage. I thought Federico or one of the other really smart guys around here had suggested the wax so that it could seal it in. It made sense at the time.

I have found that just letting the horn soak in the pure lanolin wrap for an extended time does indeed seem to bring out more visible grain.

I have also used a vacuum machine from the kitchen with the lanolin wraps. I placed a khuk in a tall jar and put one of the seal lids on. It seemd to work the best, but I may be looking for results. How much work is really necessary?

IIRC Berk had said that regardless of the measures, the blade would lose its shine and the horn would turn somewhat grey. I wanted to keep that from happening as long as possible. So in true anal rententive fashion, I may be going overboard with the airtight containers and such, but it means that I can sleep at night and not get up at 3:00am wondering if rust has begun a long stay on my prize khuks.

On reflection, I may be revealing more about my personality than is strictly necessary....
:footinmou :o
 
No goop on my kukris, but at least bi/tri-monthly inspection to make sure oxidation hasn't creeped in. The less I do to these old warriors the better.

Bill has sent a squadron of dust bunnies here to help with maintenance. Better than what I can do.

As the doc's oath sez: "First, do no harm..."
 
Originally posted by JDP
As the doc's oath sez: "First, do no harm..."

Have I made my khukuries lanolin addicts? :eek:

Sitting around in the bucket waiting for their next fix.
 
Originally posted by Brian in Chi .....Olive oil ....I don't think enough actually penetrates deep enough to go rancid.
Two points to ponder.

An old acquaintence worked as a craftsman bookbinder.
He used olive oil on leather for binding books,
because he claimed it was archival and non-drying,
and it would not go rancid.

Probably the lighter grade olive oil the better.

I seem to recall that at one time, olive oil was the
lubricant of choice for sewing machines,, and maybe clocks.
[wrong. It was whale oil I think.]


Recent reading tells me that linseed oil works so well
as a wood finish because it goes rancid quickly.
The stink of rancid oil is from the new compounds forming
[oxidation from oxygen, I think;
so no oxygen=no rancidity=no goopiness]
that preceed / accompany polymerization of the oil into a solid.
Oil that never skims or stinks is good for lubricating
and other non-drying uses.
Oils that get sticky, get a film, stink are drying oils.
Faster drying oils are the ones most usable for finishing
without the use of drying additives..

There's a lot of chemistry involved in the many
combinations of compounds from different natural oil sources,
but the above is the basic point.
 
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