How to preserve Marine Raider Stiletto?

K

KWW

Joined
Jan 18, 2014
Messages
4
Hello all,

I have a Marine Raider Stiletto that I want to preserve. I believe it to be original. The blade has spent the last 50 years or so covered in something- WD40, something- then wrapped in plastic in the sheath. The etch is in good shape as well as the handle. My question is, what is my best option to preserve it? Cover the whole thing, including the handle, in a thin layer of pretroleum jelly and rewrap it in plastic to prevent the handle from oxidizing and crumbling?

Thanks!
 
Has anyone done any more research on this? I also have an original WW2 Camillus Raider and would like to proactively preserve it. The blade has a blackish patina and surface rust, but the Usmc etching is still visible. The Zinc alloy handle is in great shape, but due to its inherent chemistry, these are known to become brittle as time marches on. I know that keeping them dry is the first imperative, but what else can be done?
 
I have heard that a coating of petroleum jelly will help keep the zinc ions from leaching out of the handle, but I am skeptical. The below link comes from the collectible toy train universe, but it attempts to address a similar cracking issue with zinc alloys in antique train sets. It talks about moisture and impurities being the roots cause and suggests that certain industrial “parylene”coatings may be an answer to preserving zinc alloys indefinitely. Any chemists or material scientists on this forum care to chime in?Corrosion-induced cracking of model train zinc-aluminium die castings
 
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