Nihonto & Fireplaces - A Bad Idea?

[TheGermanBastard]

Hello Members,

 

I would like to hear your thoughts on keeping Nihonto in a room with a (closed) fireplace please. A bad idea?

 

I know that fire will basically work like a boost for rusting metal. Anyboy who has ever looked at wood fired oven will notice this likely.

 

Now I wonder if it is a smart idea to have Nihonto stored in my living room where we just had a fireplace stove installed. The ake with the blades housed in Koshirae / Shirasaya and storage bags is located about 3m away. Do you see any problems with this setup and an increased possibility of the blades catching rust?

 

Thanks for your thoughts,

 

Luis

[vajo]

Luis,

 

i can tell you i have a old german sword near a open fire. Since 7 years. Nothing happened. But beware that the room will be very very dry. And a koshirae could get damaged.

 

 

You must oil the blades, they will be a little static.

More difficult is the TV. The smoke dust go inside the electronic when you let the fire window open. But this is the same effect when you have burn candles near the TV or HiFi.

[BIG]

Never, ever any problems...

 

Best

[Wayben]

The fireplace will cause low humidity which should not be a problem for blades. However, it will cause issues (shrinkage) with wood items such as the shirasaya or tsuka. They will possibly crack with too low humidity. Humidity is something that is very much a concern with my acoustic guitars.

[Dave R]

 Humidity is a problem with central heating as well, which is why I have a bowl of water in the room at all times. I have to keep topping  it up because my Cat thinks it is a water bowl just for him..... Cats!

[Jean]

Koshirae and shirasaya must be stored separately, that’s a rule of thumb, because of humidity needed for lacquer and not for blades

[PNSSHOGUN]

Just keep an eye on them, as others have stated the lack of humidity could cause issues.

[TheGermanBastard]

Thank you very much for your thoughts!

[Gordon Sanders]

What humidity do most of you keep your place at?  I am in Hong Kong and I try to keep my place around 50% or so with dehumidifiers.   normally pull a liter of water every 1 to 2 days out of the air 

[TheGermanBastard]

I have 60% here in Germany. I wonder what humidity level they keep inside museums running a virtually artifical climate.

 

As some pointed out allready we have diametrical demands. While wood will demand higher humidity, swords will benefit from lower ones

[uwe]

Try to keep humidity at about 45%. Fireplaces are not the problem in principle, as long you keep the items out of the direct radiant heat! Central heating is rather to consider, because it tend to dry out the room air.

[PNSSHOGUN]

Where I live it's usually quite dry, I keep some indoor plants around to boost the humidity up a little.

[Guido]

I wonder what humidity level they keep inside museums running a virtually artifical climate.

 

The NBTHK keeps swords at about 21° Centigrade and below 55% RH - both in storage and on display, both swords and koshirae.

[vajo]

Thanks Guido.

Thats a very helpfull information.