Walking around the SOS last week I ran across a SA dagger that stopped me in my tracks. After talking to the seller he explained he had picked it up from the Vet about 6 months ago. Looking at it with the heavy coating of dried grease on the blade and yellow patina on the fittings i thought it looks like a vet dagger to me .. After walking away once because of the grease,I came back and bought it.... This dagger had a hold on me... I had to get it. Getting it home and looking at it I decided to pull the throat and clean the runners not something I take lightly and something i have only done to one other dagger. I allowed lots of time and using a craftsman # 41541 screwdriver( a prefect fit) it went off without a hitch .. Here's pics of the runners after I cleaned them and the screws after I reinstalled them .. I'll post picks of the blade and Dagger later .. Regards,Jeff ..

Sometimes they have to be dissected and cleaned in the interest of preservation.
As a general rule, of course we don't want to "mess" with a piece very often, but sometimes it is necessary.

Nice job, that one had to be cleaned-Mike

My thoughts exactly mike .. I don't like getting a dagger knowing it's got to be cleaned but with this one I could see a diamond in the ruff under all that grease .. Regards,Jeff

Hi Forton congrats on your trophy of the Hunt. Sometimes it is unavoidable and the runners need to be taken out. Some oppose this action..but preservation in this case for the sake of history and the dagger itself is most important. below are a couple of pics..of my Gebr Becker..which had dried oil and some verdigris on the high ridge parts of the runner where it touched and squeezed the blade to hold it in place inside the scabbard. Im sure your runners now look like mine..with a nice application of Ren Wax. well done on a great dagger and producer and a well done on preserving history. Regards Larry

I will admit Larry the runners on my Dagger do not shine like yours... WOW they look new. I removed the oil/grease from the runners with WD-40. I had not finished cleaning the runners in the pic I posted and had just removed large chunks of dried oil/verdigris, you can see a outline of it on the runners. Something else that I like about this dagger there are hardly any runner marks on the blade, Something not seen a lot now days... Where can I get Ren Wax?... Regards,Jeff

I forgot the name of that cotton wadding that can be found in automotive and walmart stores..that has a kerosene derivitive in it. Google it..Amazon.com sells it for $18. someone help me out with the name of it...but i used that first to loosen the topical mess as seen on your example..a process that one needs to take their time with..after I removed all the hard stuff..I used simi chrome...to dig down to the brass. Once it was totally wiped clean with no black residue on the rag..I applied the Ren Wax..just like car wax...and you need a little bit..which goes very far. Thats why my runners shine is because of the Ren Wax. Amazingly the blade without a sound glides into the scabbard with a nice click we all like to hear. Regards Larry

Are you referring to Never Dull wadding polish? It is made by Eagle One.


JDiehl

Yes thank you Mr Diehl..thats what it is called ...great stuff to use when beginning a removal process. Best Larry

Thanks for the information .. Regards, Jeff