Display ideas.
 

Following on from previous threads, discussions with friends and some head scratching, I decided to try and find a better way of displaying some of my collection.
Firstly I wanted a rack that would be usable for multiple types of sword and have room for some daggers too.
Secondly I wanted to display my Khanjar with it's belt attached.
As you can see, I spent some time creating a rather large wooden rack for the swords and daggers....
The Khanjar was more of a problem, so you'll see from my 'solution' I pretty much 'phoned it in' on that one ;)

Anyone want to show their latest display solutions?

Beautiful display and i must say that i LOVE the idea. May use it to display my other "non" displayed swords and daggers :)

This is my display:

Hi Gene,
Nice display but IMHO as previously commented, the "heavy" mounting board detracts from the items. My pick would be perspex to construct a rack of.
Personally I like to see the items "floating" rather than heavily attached to something. I have published the following pics before, but they give example of my meaning.
Stu

Well, ok here are some of mine:

VERY NICE!! :D DISPLAY CAN BECOME A REAL PROBLEM IF YOUR COLLECTION BECOMES VERY LARGE. I AM STILL TRYING TO FIGURE A WAY OF SAFELY MOUNTING THINGS ON THE CELING THAT DOSEN'T LOOK SILLY. ;)
A SUGESTION FOR MOUNTING A DAGGER WITH BELT WOULD BE TO MAKE SOMETHING SIMULAR TO THE FITTINGS USED IN WRISTWATCH BOX THAT HOLDS THE BAND IN PLACE WITH THE WATCH NICELY PRESENTED. SOMETHING LARGE ENOUGH AND STRONG ENOUGH MAY ALREADY BE IN USE FOR OTHER THINGS. THANKS FOR SHAREING YOUR EXCELLENT COLLECTION. :)

Thats quite a collection you've got there Abdullatif!
Nice selection of types, but not too varied. Well displayed, I really like the large sloping rack!
Well done mate :)

Best
Gene

Hi Stu,

I think that perhaps of all of us, you have the collection that is the most difficult to display.
So perhaps it is only fair that you have the advantage of having such an amazing collection ;)

As you know I only have two Arabian daggers (both with belts) and I can see why so many have sadly been parted from their belts, presumably in some cases by collectors wanting to more easily display them.

I have to say that for me (and I know it's just personal taste) I wanted a 'traditional' wooden main display rack. But it was also important that it could accomodate a variety of swords including straight, curved, long, short, bare bladed or in a variety of width scabbards.
With all that in mind, there were always going to have to be compromises.
The last one I made used wooden hooks like a Katana rack, but I found that bare blades tend to lean forwards or back and not want to sit 'straight'.
So! I did a few experiments and having looked at a friends tried the 'pegs' approach.
If you use a shallow angle on the pegs, and combine them with sturdy back 'pillars' the blades tend to sit straight and not 'tip forwards'. Also, it seems to work (as you can see in the pic) for just about any type of blade or scabbard.

Combined with centrally placed pegs and a back board for daggers.......
Then a top and bottom shelf for 'sundries'...


So I can put my long Jambiya on the top shelf because the belt fold nicely to form a 'stand' of sorts, but I still had no way to display the Khanjar....

I actually am going to try a 'futuristic' acrylic stand for it when I get time. But for now I think the Chinese plate stand (because it's a nice one) looks pretty good! :)

Best
Gene

Ahh, if only I had the room to create specific displays.
They look great!

ROTF!!! If only the ceiling was an option!!
The watch idea has some legs though ;)
You're very kind about my tiny collection (thats the best half you see there)

Display
 

I've been asked this question a few times....

My approach;

Step 1/ Buy a renovator and convince the broom pilot that what your doing is a good thing. Done.

Step 2/ Bang as many nails as you like in to the walls whilst you work out your displays. Over done.

Step 3/ Finish the renovations....stop banging nails in the walls for fear of being stabbed in my sleep. May never get done.

Step 4/ Stop buying swords.....yeah right!!

Step 5/ Mount a very large or several large colour coded boards with routed edges attached to the wall. Ensure recesses are in all the right spots for the correct grade of earth magent that is to be glued in place... the other end of the magent covered in velvet and let the magnets do their job leaving the effect of floating swords....not a new idea the magnets, they are seen in use with these pages....just my preference to mounting them....Wait and see.


....thats the long term plan....


Gav

The Rack.
 

Salaams,
Definitely like the big rack.. My team want one of those capable of showing 30 swords.. I thought of having a dining room totally surrounded with racks loaded floor to ceiling with swords. :shrug:

Salaams, I think that looks great.

Thank you Ibrahiim,
:)

LOL, sounds like a good plan Gav!

Thanks all! I had a carpenter make this one for me. Its always nice to get a costume job.

Beautiful displays - all!!!!

I can assure you that I have never (and would never) remove any belts from any Jambiya that I might acquire! Those you see without belts came that way, and I very much doubt that anyone would remove a belt just to make it easier to display!
Stu

Gene....further to my previous comments regarding the use of perspex/acrylic, check out DOMs post MY EDGHED WEAPONS MAY 2011 and you will see what I mean.
Stu

Oh god no, I didn't mean you personally. I mean't that I can see why it may have happened in the past when collectors were a little less 'appreciative' of these items.
Of course I know you wouldn't do such a thing mate :)

P.S. I've seen much worse things done to display weapons: Scabbards discarded, hilts drilled..... :(

Best
Gene

Of course not Gene. I did not for a moment think it was aimed at me, but it appears that the majority of these things which come up for sale tend NOT to have the belt attached, if of course they ever did. Somewhere on the Forum I think there was a post relating to the making of (particularly) Yemeni Jambiya, and in that country at least, most of the parts are made by different tradesmen......Blade, Handle, Belt etc., and assembled, rather than being made as one piece.
Did you have a look at DOMs post? His use of Acrylic/Perspex looks absolutely great IMHO.
By the way you have email.
Stu

Dom has a magnificent collection, and I agree that the acrylic stands avoid distracting from the object itself. I have not found any acrylic racks, however, that are designed for wall mounting. At some point the available horizontal surfaces become a bit crowded. :shrug:

Hi Berkeley,
Long time no hear! Suggestion regarding wall mounting of acrylic stands would be to fashion some L shaped pieces of acrylic and attach to the original stand using suitable PVC cement which fuses the surfaces (as used with PVC Gutter)
Regards Stuart

They can also be drilled, tapped and screwed as a local acrylic custom works does 5 mins form my home.

I guess this is just a glitch, Stuart? Just to avoid others messing things up: acrylic and PVC are very different beasts. I'd recommend to only utilize dedicated adhesives for each.

Regards,
Kai

Yes ....sorry Kai. I probably did not clearly convey what I meant, which was to use a cement which fused the acrylic. The PVC Gutter thing was used as an example.
Regards Stuart

Display.
 

Salaams, Its an interesting subject and we were just looking at the different designs ~ We tend to be a bit old fashioned .. so we are looking to re engineer an old Omani Door to take say 15 to 20 Omani swords rather like the woodwork version with the pegs. For the modern look perspex looks great.

Sure thing, Berkley :)

Like so?

.

Hello Fernando,
After seeing your beautiful cup-hilt swords on the wall, i had an idea. With the right type of string this fixation is nearly invisible and surprisingly stable. ;)

btw. disregard the sword. It's just a modern made replica.

Best Regards,
Thilo

Hi guys,
very sad to don't share with you ideas of display,
but for the time being, I'm in this stage ... :o
in one/two months, I should be in the picture :p

à +

Dom

http://img862.imageshack.us/img862/4118/brochant4.jpg

just to help (?) you
don't be upset agains me because it's in French
but I didn't found something similar in English
the pics could give you ideas, and may be in your native countries,
you should found someone able to made more or less ... a copy ?? ;)
http://www.adequate-vitrine.fr/accessoire_soclage.php

à +

Dom

USE OF THE CEILING
 

It's not impossible to use the ceiling. I'm lucky in that the old part of the house has beams ( although I doubt if they are all the original ones ). I put some thin slats across them and it makes a good place to store / display spears.
I don't really have a choice as the ceilings are so low there is not a lot of wall space anyway.
Admittedly it can cause a crook in the neck and anyone much over 6ft tall has to stoop, but beggars cannot be choosers !!

I have seen beams added to ceilings by screwing them to the upstairs floor joists so it can be done almost anywhere. ( Aesthetics and the "Other Half" permitting of course ) :D

Dom - Good luck, it appears you have your work cut out for a while.

Roy

Hi Roy
whoooaaa !!
really amazing, impressive,
but when there is no other alternative, it's a solution, or,
either move to a largest house ... :rolleyes:
much easier to said than to do ... :p

for me, end of July everything should be back in place ... :D

à +

Dom

BRAVO!!! A GREAT PLACE FOR SPEARS AND BLOWGUNS AND OTHER LONG ITEMS. :D
I HAVE CONSIDEERED USING SPEARS FOR CURTIAN RODS BUT SOMEHOW IT SEEMED UNDIGNIFIED AND DISRESPECTFUL TO THE SPEARS TO HANG A CURTIN ON THEM. A BANNER, FINE RUG OR TAPESTRY PERHAPS BUT FRILLY CURTIANS DEFINITELY NOT! :eek:

HOLY CRACKER! :eek:

It's really interesting to see how we all come up with different solutions, depending on weapon type, available space, tollerance of the women in our lives........

My collection is very much space limited. The Mrs is quite good about these things being in the lounge, but there are 'limits'. Especially with all the many, many other things I collect crammed in there too.

Stu,

I like the arcylic stands, but they didn't it my requirements for the available space. or the 'theme' (Wood and metal ;))
I find Nandos Rapier holders interesting.

Dom,
You've got plenty of space to fill there buddy ;)

I would put it precisely by the opposite order :eek:

And the pictures posted were not favourable; they have precious details.
I order hem from a web site in Spain.

This system is also very practical. You can adjust the stands to the intensity of pieces you wish to display and or according to their (hilt) width.
I have it mounted (also) in the lounge, on the wall close to the corner above the TV set.
The wife is not so keen in domestic decoration gadgets, so i use all bits of space available.

.

laugh laugh my friend :p
when on last April I initiated a suject under title ; "Existentialistic question"
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=13606
it's wasn't innocent :p ...
I had had a feeling that sometime with our "sweet heart" the subject wasn't always easy ... :D

à +

Dom

Another accessory idea that looks good with arms display - a swimming pool:-): http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/sw...room-pool.html

One inconvenience is the water being too close from the pieces; they will rust faster :eek: :eek: :eek: