A nihonto display case at home

MJS · September 17

Hi all,

I would like to display my small collection of nihonto in a showcase at my home. I did a serious Ikea hack using two large Bestå units to build the ~0.5 m³ case itself, and bought a high quality sliding door system and a nice lighting system using a rail and small LED spots. The photo shows the case as I have it currently, although the interior is entirely temporary and will need quite a bit of work. I would love to hear your well informed advice on the next steps.

First off, I would really prefer to show the swords without their saya, which will require a lot of planning and good care of the climate inside the case. Swords that I've seen so far in (western) museums seem to be displayed without oil, from a display perspective that would be my preference. That would at the very least add more requirements to climate control.

Specifically, my questions are these:

Do museums actually display their nihonto without oil? If so, what are the climate control requirements (aside from RH 45-50%) and maintenance procedures?
The interior of the case is made of multiplex that has been stained and then dried/aired for a long period of time. Based on these materials, can I expect any issues with corrosion if there will be a low air-circulation situation?
Does anyone have construction drawings or something similar to make sword stands? I intend to use cloth to cover them, unless someone convinces me to use perspex or some other funky material .
If using cloth to cover the stands, would white be a better color or should I use a dark color? I've seen both and most museums seem to go with white.

I would be really grateful for any advice on these points.

Of course, if anyone is interested, I would be more than happy to post details on the construction of the display case so far.

Cheers,

Mark

ROKUJURO · September 17

First thing is: Oil on a sword blade will never be applied so thickly that it is visible to the human eye. A very thin layer is applied in case the environment requires to do so. This oil is then removed with clean paper (or microfiber textile) so only very tiny amounts are left in the microscopic crevisses of the HADA.

Second: In Japan, naked blades are not displayed in private homes. Even in KOSHIRAE it is seen as inappropriate and pretentious.

Brian · September 17

I use the spray sword oil that is very common, take a clean, soft white tissue and fold it a few times. Then spray once or twice onto the tissue, and wipe gently from the habaki side to the tip.
As mentioned, if you can see a layer of oil, it's too much. And apply oil onto the wiping surface, not directly to the blade. Less is more.

atm · September 17

5 hours ago, MJS said:

Does anyone have construction drawings or something similar to make sword stands? I intend to use cloth to cover them, unless someone convinces me to use perspex or some other funky material .

If using cloth to cover the stands, would white be a better color or should I use a dark color? I've seen both and most museums seem to go with white.

I think your display looks great so far. I display mine, too, as I enjoy looking at them even in passing. I keep mine in shirasya, though. I made sword racks that are screwed to the back of the display case. Each rack has six slots and is made from MDF that I cut with a scroll saw and then smoothed out with a router. Since you’re covering them anyway, they don’t need to be pretty. I bought a cheap sword stand from Amazon and used it as a pattern to design and construct mine—mainly to get the spacing and shapes. Once cut, I glued thick felt to it to cushion the shirasaya and koshirae. Over that is a white satin sheet (also from Amazon), which hides the stand and helps highlight the swords and fittings. But with your dark background, a black satin might also work well to highlight the swords and fittings.

Schneeds · September 17

I looked into the display issue a lot on the forum here before deciding to do a custom internal build on a pullout gun safe. A major concern of displaying bare blades is dust. Dust will penetrate anything that is not air tight, and inherently contains moisture. So if you're talking about long term display you're looking at an airtight build within a safe humidity range <45%

george trotter · September 18

22 hours ago, Brian said:

I use the spray sword oil that is very common, take a clean, soft white tissue and fold it a few times. Then spray once or twice onto the tissue, and wipe gently from the habaki side to the tip.
As mentioned, if you can see a layer of oil, it's too much. And apply oil onto the wiping surface, not directly to the blade. Less is more.

Brian,

I haven't heard of a spray sword oil...what is the brand / description?

Regards...

Brian · September 18

I know a lot of collectors use this. Works well for me. Under the Kurobara name maybe?

chinaski · September 18

2 hours ago, george trotter said:

Brian,

I haven't heard of a spray sword oil...what is the brand / description?

Regards...

You can buy Camelia Oil in a Spray Bottle.

https://www.amazon.c...ca314019cb3e807&th=1

GeorgeLuucas · September 18

https://www.amazon.com/KUROBARA-Tsubaki-Japanese-Maintenance-Camellia

Here's a link to the spray tsubaki oil that Brian mentioned. I encourage anyone to find a source other than Amazon, but it was the easiest to find :rotfl:

Another oil tip, that helped me early on, was checking on my sword 24 hours later.
If oil has collected, or is beading anywhere; you can soak it up or spread it out. Also, you will know to use much less the next time. I quickly got a feel for how much was needed.

Cheers,
-Sam

chinaski · September 18

37 minutes ago, GeorgeLuucas said:

https://www.amazon.com/KUROBARA-Tsubaki-Japanese-Maintenance-Camellia

Here's a link to the spray tsubaki oil that Brian mentioned. I encourage anyone to find a source other than Amazon, but it was the easiest to find

Another oil tip, that helped me early on, was checking on my sword 24 hours later.
If oil has collected, or is beading anywhere; you can soak it up or spread it out. Also, you will know to use much less the next time. I quickly got a feel for how much was needed.

Cheers,
-Sam

Yeah, I found out one squirt is all that's needed. Kind of looks "streaky" if you do more than that. One squirt, wipe, then wipe off again with a Microfiber towel. That seems to be working for me so far.

george trotter · September 19

Thanks Brian and all, very helpful. I will look it up.

Regards...

buchtas · September 24

On 9/17/2024 at 3:34 PM, MJS said:

Hi all,

I would like to display my small collection of nihonto in a showcase at my home. I did a serious Ikea hack using two large Bestå units to build the ~0.5 m³ case itself, and bought a high quality sliding door system and a nice lighting system using a rail and small LED spots. The photo shows the case as I have it currently, although the interior is entirely temporary and will need quite a bit of work. I would love to hear your well informed advice on the next steps.

First off, I would really prefer to show the swords without their saya, which will require a lot of planning and good care of the climate inside the case. Swords that I've seen so far in (western) museums seem to be displayed without oil, from a display perspective that would be my preference. That would at the very least add more requirements to climate control.

Specifically, my questions are these:

Do museums actually display their nihonto without oil? If so, what are the climate control requirements (aside from RH 45-50%) and maintenance procedures?

The interior of the case is made of multiplex that has been stained and then dried/aired for a long period of time. Based on these materials, can I expect any issues with corrosion if there will be a low air-circulation situation?

Does anyone have construction drawings or something similar to make sword stands? I intend to use cloth to cover them, unless someone convinces me to use perspex or some other funky material .

If using cloth to cover the stands, would white be a better color or should I use a dark color? I've seen both and most museums seem to go with white.

I would be really grateful for any advice on these points.

Of course, if anyone is interested, I would be more than happy to post details on the construction of the display case so far.

Cheers,

Mark

Very nice display, I like the naginata there. You have given me inspiration on how to make my own display when I have space for it.

Also I think i would be kinda ticked off by the middle section of the sliding mechanism, but that is just me.

Emil · October 4

Might be a bit expensive but you can use this as an inspiration

https://en.katana-case-shi.com/

https://www.instagra...atana_case_shi_shop/

Gakusee · October 4

1 hour ago, Emil said:

Might be a bit expensive but you can use this as an inspiration

https://en.katana-case-shi.com/

https://www.instagra...atana_case_shi_shop/

Just an inspiration is probably not doing it a service, A lot of work goes into Nakamura san’s work. He keeps experimenting and innovating.

Schneeds · October 4

Those look fantastic and the built in lighting is excellent. One can dream!

That got me searching for other options. Here is something a fair bit less expensive and probably much more secure that still looks nice: https://invictasafes...shotgun-invictasafe/

Emil · October 5

10 hours ago, Gakusee said:

Just an inspiration is probably not doing it a service, A lot of work goes into Nakamura san’s work. He keeps experimenting and innovating.

I love his work, really great products

But I think it's a bit of a leap to recommend someone working on a IKEA DIY display to order a 2700 USD tabletop display from Japan 😅

Benjamin · October 5

Hello,

Here is my homemade koshirae display case.

I made it myself and made lots of mistakes (glue stains, scratches, littles damages on wood... I was not used with DIY) but I like it.

Glass is very thin UV protective polycarbonate to prevent discoloration by day light (same material as hothouse).

there is a sake cup with water inside to maintain humidity.

Lighting by led ribbon connected in invisible grooves back of the backboard.

That costed me less than 400€ and I could have done cheaper (I took thick plain beech for the backboard).

Blades are in shirasaya and cotton bag in the white furniture below. It that is made of paulownia, to maintain dryness (pure luck that I had this paulownia chest of drawers before my interest for nihonto). But the drawers are a bit short, I'm thinking to make a katanahako in paulownia like one I saw on Jauce, maybe adding a locking system.

Kakejiku are changed according to the season.

The bokken is there for it emotionnal value : cheap, twisted and 20 years old but that's my first one.

Emil · October 6

@Benjamin that's really cool, I like how the swords appear to be floating in the display case

I've ordered from here in the past, the craftsmanship another level, and the price is good.

I recommend using Google chrome as it can tra slate the whole website

https://www.katanatansu.jp/

Avidmark · October 7

On 10/4/2024 at 11:33 AM, Emil said:

Might be a bit expensive but you can use this as an inspiration

https://en.katana-case-shi.com/

https://www.instagra...atana_case_shi_shop/

Those are incredible! Im actually somewhat considering getting the tabletop version.

MJS · October 14

On 10/4/2024 at 6:33 PM, Emil said:

Might be a bit expensive but you can use this as an inspiration

https://en.katana-case-shi.com/

https://www.instagra...atana_case_shi_shop/

That looks great! I love the idea of including lighting with different color temperatures. The supports for the swords look very interesting, too. I really like the minimalistic style of back wall mounting, so that nothing in the display is distracting from the art. However, for more flexibility I decided to go with regular stands, but now I feel some doubt again. :dunno:

I have put in professional rail lighting from UFO (Ionic SX series, https://www.fiberopt...-lighting-system.php), they make fantastic bulbs. Super small, individually dimmable, several lenses and snoots, etc. I have a set of 3000K with a variety of lenses (mostly 16 and 20x50 degrees), but I might swap a few out for 4000K after reading about two different temperatures.

The glass doors are 6mm extra clear double-sided anti-reflective, with anodized aluminium frames (https://www.vitris.e...and-furniture/Supra/). There is currently a brush in between the two doors to minimize dust coming in, but I don't like the looks of the vertical aluminium element in the middle. Might go for something more subtle, but I'm not sure about an alternative that would be a) pretty dust-proof or even air tight, and b) very subtle.

It is a lot of fun to do this project: not knowing beforehand what it will end up like, but step by step ending up with something really nice anyway.

Thanks for all these great bits of information and wonderful ideas. I'll post updates as I go.

Mark

Schneeds · November 2

I finally put the finishing touches on my display. It serves as both a display and a safe, which is close to air tight; the glass is clamped to the frame via magnets so it is removeable. The inside is lined with Aspen, and the fabric is vintage Japanese silk. I installed the light bar and a hygrometer. I also carved katanakake inserts for storing in shirasaya in the summer months when I'm away.

Bart · November 3

This is my custom made cabinet. I have been displaying my sword like that for over a year and there is absolutely no signs of any rust. I oil it once a month and clean with isopropyl alcohol and oil once every 3 months.

chi fan wong · November 4

may i ask what kind of light you guys use in those cabinets?

Bart · November 4

13 hours ago, chi fan wong said:

may i ask what kind of light you guys use in those cabinets?

These are the lights I used, of Ali.

chi fan wong · November 5

many thanks. i have been looking for good lighting and the led strips are just not good enough and has too many dots of light which gets distracting. this looks like will work great.