Here is more to the puzzle. This is a small knife I made many years ago. The guard is brass. It has been in a leather sheath for a long time. Note the green slime (it is more like a wax). No kerosene involved.
yes the end of my pump is a piece of leather we're blaming Kero for leathers fault all kidding aside do you think it could be somthing with leather/steel/brass or a combination of these with say neatsfoot oil or whatever they use to treat leather? i looked at my lamp tonight and for sure i have the slime green in my lamp pump. by the way nice knife BTM
Now, That is Verdigris , The copper in the brass, reacting to the tanning salts in the leather. Doesn't seem to harm the brass, but the green stuff is somewhat poisonous...
I've never seen verdigris that I'd call "waxy," otherwise I'd agree that's verdigris on the knife. (That is a pretty knife, too. None of mine ever came out so well.) When you remove the green stuff, does it leave pitting/roughness? If so, I'd vote verdigris. If not, perhaps slime. Along the lines of what BTM is suggesting, did you oil the knife with something petroleum-based, similar enough to kero that might support slime? Salt + long-chain carbons + humid atmosphere = ??? I don't know what to say about the green on the pump leather --I suspect slime rather than verdigris-- but I can say that none of my afflicted lamps have ever been near leather. Salty atmosphere, of course --but so were the two other lamps on the boat, and they were fine. And why did the green slime so completely permeate the cotton wicks? My guess is that there are two different green-o-genic forces at work: verdigris, which may or may not be responsible for marring the knife, and some form of hydrocarbon-consuming bacteria/fungus/archea that gooped up my lamps and Christer's stove. Polish for the verdigris, acetone for the slime. Alex
I still don't think the green in our stoves/lamps is from the oil eating bacterias you might find in diesel tanks (especially at sea). Regarding the verdigris on knifes, it's just as Baja says about the tanning salts from the leather. I have always been recommended to keep the knifes out of their sheaths when stored, and it's especially important to not leave them in there after usage in damp and rainy periods.
Yup, I've polished loads of that wax-like substance from different military articles in my early collecting days. Lots of Swedish ammo-pouches and gasmask-bags and such, were made of leather, with brass snaps and buckles. Leave in storage for a few decades, and, hey presto, green waxy stuff. Comes off easily enough with any brass polisihing agent. The gooey stuff leaves me astounded though. I'll make sure to watch out for how it happens if it happens to me.
The green stuff polishes right off and leaves no pitting on the brass. I agree it is something in the leather that promotes this. I made the sheath for it and dyed it dark brown and then waterproofed it. I will post a full photo tonight. If I remember my Chemistry 101, Cupric Chloride is green and Copper Sulfate is blue; if that is correct, it is likely a salt compound.
I stand corrected on verdigris: I now remember cleaning green waxy verdigris off a bunch of military surplus ammo I once bought. It wasn't in contact with leather, though. And it didn't act like the stuff in my lamps. I guess, short answer, I haven't a clue what that kero slime is --oxidation byproduct or biological exudate or whatever-- but I thank you all for all the info, especially for the tip on using acetone to get rid of it. Alex
Here is the knife after a quick polish job on the guard. The wood is cocobolo and the steel is H13 Tool Steel. This is a small skinning knife.
