MJS Posted Tuesday at 01:34 PM Report Share Posted Tuesday at 01:34 PM 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 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROKUJURO Posted Tuesday at 02:55 PM Report Share Posted Tuesday at 02:55 PM 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. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted Tuesday at 04:23 PM Report Share Posted Tuesday at 04:23 PM 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atm Posted Tuesday at 06:37 PM Report Share Posted Tuesday at 06:37 PM 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schneeds Posted Tuesday at 08:45 PM Report Share Posted Tuesday at 08:45 PM 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% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george trotter Posted yesterday at 02:31 PM Report Share Posted yesterday at 02:31 PM 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... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted yesterday at 04:57 PM Report Share Posted yesterday at 04:57 PM I know a lot of collectors use this. Works well for me. Under the Kurobara name maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chinaski Posted yesterday at 05:04 PM Report Share Posted yesterday at 05:04 PM 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeLuucas Posted yesterday at 05:44 PM Report Share Posted yesterday at 05:44 PM 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 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chinaski Posted yesterday at 06:19 PM Report Share Posted yesterday at 06:19 PM 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george trotter Posted 9 hours ago Report Share Posted 9 hours ago Thanks Brian and all, very helpful. I will look it up. Regards... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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