Armor Display Case

[Justin Grant]

I purchased my first "complete" armor this year from Toraba and have it displayed in my den. However, the wife's cats took a liking to it and went as far as to sleep on its shoulders at night. This, as you can imagine, was not to my liking. In addition, we have gas heat and while the summer months were nice with the central AC, the winters with the dry heat had me worried about the urushi and the base metals reacting at different rates with the dry heat.

 

While I knew that building a hermetically sealed case was out of the question, I set out to build a case that would buffer the climate change and cause the air inside of it to react a bit slower allowing the materials time to adapt to the change over a longer period of time .

 

I used tempered .187" thick class and a .250" mirrored back. I took 2"x2" oak and cut a .200" wide and .200" deep groves in it. Each joint is held via a dowel pin and glued. The glass was sealed in the groves with silicone (clear). The silicone and extra depth and width allow for the wood and glass to expand and not bind. The case has glass on the top, bottom, and 3 sides. As mentioned earlier, the mirror is the back of the case and is not pinned or glued to the case. The glass is a bit longer on the back side allowing the back panel to slide onto the glass and then I have some draw latches to pull it in tight. I then made a simple 3 sides lid with a 4" lip that slides over the top of the case. This lid also has a LED light to show off the armor. This light does not produce UV or heat, so my hope is that it will not harm the materials of the armor. The oak has 4 coats of black stain and several more of satin clear to "seal" the wood.

 

It is heavier than I thought it would be, and is hard to slide. Getting the armor in and arranging the "legs" from behind is also harder than I thought, but it came out great as far as I am concerned. The glass bottom makes the armor look like it is floating when you see it.

 

I am a metal smith, and wood is not my thing, so I am sure someone like Grey or another skilled finish carpenter would do a better job. The total cost for such a case was under 400$ US. The glass was 2/3's of the cost.

 

The cats are not to excited about the case, but I am glad they are not sleeping on it anymore!

 

I have a small hygrometer in the case that will help me monitor the temp and humidity.

 

Here are some pictures of the case and the armor before the case. In one of the pictures, you can see one of the offending critters on a small loveseat next to it! Since the case is larger than I pictured in my head, I will have to remove the large fish tank from the room and move the hutch down and balance the room, but for now, my armor is safe from drastic temperature changes and the critters!

 

Thanks

 

Justin

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/1040542998 ... directlink

[drbvac]

Pretty impressive - looks museum quality !

[cabowen]

In Japan they often put a glass of water in the case with lacquer ware for moisture....

[Justin Grant]

Thank you Dr. Barrett. My eldest daughter said something similar. My wife said something like ..."where are us non-samurai to live..."

 

Chris, thank you for the tip. My goal is to keep it at 50%. I'll use your tip if it drops.

 

I am building a corner wall hanging unit for my Kabuto. I'm sure the wife will be thrilled.

 

Justin

[estcrh]

Looks great, you might have a new line of work.

[IanB]

Nice one Justin. Just keep an eye on any russet bits - oak and iron react rather badly together but since you have painted the wood there should be no problem.

Ian

[Bugyotsuji]

Looks great. I am sure it enhances your wife's reputation and looks too! (Tell her...oh, and that it will guard the house...)

 

Are the lights as bright as that all day through? You may get fade in the lacquer and in the cloth/string colors/colours.

[Justin Grant]

Are the lights as bright as that all day through? You may get fade in the lacquer and in the cloth/string colors/colours.

 

No, the light is only on for a short period each evening, if at all. That room is darker during the day; each window in the room is covered by the roof of the covered wrap around porch. So no direct sunlight gets into the room, in addition each house window and the armor case glass, are UV filter glass. The LED light in the case is 1.3w, and that is bright for LED, but I will only switch it on when I want to look at it in detail. Otherwise the light from the room’s lamps and ambient light will still illuminate the case sufficient to enjoy the armor.

 

 

Ian, I too was worried about the red oak, but my only other options were coffee wood, zebra wood and bubinga and I could not see coating them in black stain (wife's requirement for the wood to "match" the other furniture). I could not find poplar in the dimensions I was after. I will keep a very close eye on the armor; I will be vigil about it.

 

I like it, and it was a fun build. Thanks for the kind words!

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Justin,

You also had maple, birch, beech, and a variety of soft woods you could have used. I would prefer any of these to oak for a project like this because I think the wild grain of oak works against the straight lines of the cabinet.

Looks nice, though. Grey

[Justin Grant]

Hi Justin,

You also had maple, birch, beech, and a variety of soft woods you could have used. I would prefer any of these to oak for a project like this because I think the wild grain of oak works against the straight lines of the cabinet.

Looks nice, though. Grey

 

Hi Grey,

 

I could not find any stock of this wood in my area to the pre-made dimensions. My father owns a cabinet carpentry shop, and he had the exotic woods, but nothing like the maple, birch, beech, etc. He wanted me to use maple and what I found was large pieces that would need to be cut down and made into the sections I wanted. I have limited tools for wood, and my father’s shop is super busy with paid customer projects so that option was out if I wanted this completed before fall. The Oak was the only material in the right size and quantity available to me.

 

I built this with a simple table saw, miter saw, drill and tape measure with a vernier to calibrate the depth and width of the cuts.

 

Thanks,

 

Justin

[drbvac]

Well you may have found a new source of income :D