Blade Storage/Display aka Bawanna's Blade Addiction.

Bawanna said:
My wife wasn't fond of the white wire plan. She brought home a couple shadow boxes yesterday. I need to figure out how to mount the knives and then either hinge the glass front or just make it hang off hooks over the knives.

They are only 12x18" so the 25" siru might not go. Maybe diagonally but it will be close. I like the idea of keeping the dust and stuff off them but I still want to hold them whenever I want without a bunch of hassle. Everything in that room gets dusty, I've tried to do some of the more dusty activities out in the shop but I hate going back and forth fitting and stuff.
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I was using shadow boxes and meticulously gluing pegs/shelves to the backs to hold knives. It was a PITA to get them level and in the right place to balance the blades. Changes were seldom accomplished. Then, I stole some ideas from other folks and am in the process to making new boxes using old wood from a barn I'm tearing down. :D

Theft #1 -add THIN sheet of steel (18/20/24 gauge) to the back of shadow boxes.
Theft #2- cover the steel with an appropriately colored piece of cloth. (to make whichever knife I'm displaying stand out)
Theft #3- use rare earth magnets to hold the knife/knives to the steel. Obviously, one needs more/larger/thicker magnets to hold up Western W49 bowie knives than a Kabar Acheron.

My modification compared to the shadow boxes I've used in the past is to make the front hinged so I can access the knives easier. :) The shadow boxes I have used in the past screwed shut making the display more permanent and harder to change. The going is slow because my dove-tailing skills draw extremely heavy vacuum. :eek: It's a good thing I have 2 barns to tear down and have a lot of 80+ y.o. weathered wood to work with.

This setup makes it real easy to rearrange a display if you need to add a knife or remove one.
 
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If you get strong enough rare earth magnets, you can hang whatever you want straight on the wall over any screw/nail heads behind the drywall.
 
I had thought of the magnet idea but I was afraid of magnetizing the blade. Anyone consider that an issue.

Also a magnet has strong straight pull but not great sheer value. Doesn't the blade want to slide off the magnet. I suppose a bigger stronger magnet would hold it properly.

What I did was notch the store bought shadow boxes. I just don't like dealing with buying glass, otherwise I would much rather have built my own although I don't have any barns to tear down, wish I did, that's a great idea. The store bought box is too flimsy to hinge.
Anyhow I notched the shadow box to fit over that 1 x 3 cross piece, drill a couple appropriate size holes and just drop a 8d duplex nail into the hole. Just pull the two nails and the box comes right off. Works for now.

Round three I might try your magnet idea, I think that has some merit too.
 
Bawanna said:
I had thought of the magnet idea but I was afraid of magnetizing the blade. Anyone consider that an issue.

Also a magnet has strong straight pull but not great sheer value. Doesn't the blade want to slide off the magnet. I suppose a bigger stronger magnet would hold it properly.

What I did was notch the store bought shadow boxes. I just don't like dealing with buying glass, otherwise I would much rather have built my own although I don't have any barns to tear down, wish I did, that's a great idea. The store bought box is too flimsy to hinge.
Anyhow I notched the shadow box to fit over that 1 x 3 cross piece, drill a couple appropriate size holes and just drop a 8d duplex nail into the hole. Just pull the two nails and the box comes right off. Works for now.

Round three I might try your magnet idea, I think that has some merit too.
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I'm not worried about magnetizing the blades as I feel it will take a long time to have any great effect.

I use thin plexiglas. It's lighter, safer and easier to cut than glass.

The straight pull vs shear hold does come into play. I just use more magnets. Also, no earthquakes to speak of in central Texas to vibrate them off.:D
 
Good points zzyzzogeton. I also think if the blade did get magnetized it would demagnetize as soon as you whack something with it. Probably not an issue.

I just don't know of a good local source for plexiglass but that is probably a lot more sensible than glass. We don't have major earthquakes but a shaker now and then. Being under glass or plexiglass is comforting. I don't worry too much about them falling off. More likely I'll drop one on my foot removing or replacing it on the rack. Almost did it once already. Safety first.

I love your signature line by the way, both of them. I used to always carry a folder but hardly ever any more. I have one good one but even it don't ride with me very often. Fixed blades all the way for me.
 
Bawanna said:
I had thought of the magnet idea but I was afraid of magnetizing the blade. Anyone consider that an issue.

Also a magnet has strong straight pull but not great sheer value. Doesn't the blade want to slide off the magnet. I suppose a bigger stronger magnet would hold it properly.

Round three I might try your magnet idea, I think that has some merit too.
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They work well but they will scratch the heck out of your blades. You need to cover them with some kind of tape or rubber pad or something. Most are nickel plated or even chrome. A little patch of that Mustache duct tape in an earlier post i saw would work well:D. This solves the sheer and scratching problem. Neodymium maggots come in all sizes. Discs work well for individual knives or smaller stuff. I have some very large ones capable of sticking a few cars together (1500Lbs)! They are fun and very dangerous:cool:if you dont know how to handle them. They CAN break bones! I still like em tho:D. Another thing I have done is cut a piece of angle iron to fit your display case (from scrap bedframe) and cover it in cloth or tape across the face your knives will be resting. Put some magnets inside the angle iron underneath so you cannot see them. The whole piece of iron will be magnetized and you can put the knives wherever you want them on the bar. If not strong enough in some areas (25" Siru) you can just add magnets to that area. Much like those kitchen knife magnetic bars you buy but much stronger. You do have to be careful removing them from a magnetic surface. One could poke yourself in the head trying to pull them off. Longer blades you can pull them off handle first with the tip resting on the back of the display until you clear the magnets and then safely pull them away.

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Something like this. Magnets on this bar were way overkill but you got the idea. The AK is so thick and compact it didnt want to come off. I think they may be magnetized now:eek: Note the one still in the Kydex. Oh and Gehazi...recognize the Victorian!
 
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Excellent thought on the scratching. Some sort of fabric or rugger etc would over come that.

I'm wondering now what the downfall of a magnetized blade might be if there is any downfall.

I was mentioning to Phil that the round cylindrical version magnets might work best to keep the blades out a bit to allow for handle. Keep the blade parallel to the surface as it were.

Some links showed a magnet with like 250# of pull. I'd have to use my van to pull the knife off the display and it could get really ugly.
 
Bawanna -

I get my thin plexi-glas for the shadow boxes at Lowes (HD doesn't carry it here in central Texas for some reason). If I need thicker(> .2"), I go through a local glass supply business.

The only negative that I see is that if the blade gets magnetized, you might be able to pick up nails in the yard with it. :D

I don't really worry about scratches from the magnets because less than a dozen of the blades in my collection are NIBs. The rest are all users to some extent and are already scratched. Plain old clear scotch tape on the magnet faces reduces the scratch factor and does not inhibit the magpull at all.

The magnets I use are the round ones and I stack them when needed. However, for thicker handled knives (Western W49, USN/USMC MK2s/MK1s/etc), I get the thicker ones so that I don't have to stack them very thick. The smaller ones are obviously cheaper per magnet but if you need use 3/4 stacks of 5/6 small magnets for a thicker handled knife, you might as well use 2 stacks of bigger ones.
 
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Float your magnetized Khuk on a piece of wood and leave your compass at home! I like it!
 
I like your use of gauze Gehazi, it is there for a backup to patch up any battle wounds.
 
I got my Ganga Ram in the mail today and added it to my China Cabinet Full of Sharp Things.

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That's the best use of a china cabinet I ever did see. Very nice. Open the door and grab what you need. I just love that.
 
Yeah it's a nice balance between displaying them and keeping little fingers away from the sharp things.
 
Ha!! You got that right! Wonder if my wife will let me use hers? Its full of shiny "clay pigeons" right now. Very nice GR.
Bawanna said:
That's the best use of a china cabinet I ever did see. Very nice. Open the door and grab what you need. I just love that.
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Seal it with these sticky rubber threads for house doors and add a little light bulb. This way it will be slightly warmer inside and drive excessive moisture out preserving your blades better.
 
Ahh! I wish I could leave my knives out like that. The humidity here is insane for high carbon blades and it is rather hard to discount the possibility of those razor sharp toys getting picked up by tiny hands...
 
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