trophy sword display ideas

[dda]

Hi all - been a few years since I've done much in the way of a project, other than the obligatory 1/yr state quarter map (wood plan) I do for a siblings family for christmas. Good to see this is still an active group - was my favorite forum 'pre-kid' when my garage was a shop and off limits to children's toys, cars, etc.

About a year ago, LOML started competing in bodybuilding figure competitions and turns out she's very good at it - 5 competitions later and she has 11 trophys! Anyway, this has given me an excuse to dust off the tools and build some displays. Problem is that 6 of the trophys are swords - one katana style, four claymore/broadsword style, and one smaller one (relative to the claymores). If I can figure out how to upload pics, I'll add them later. I'm looking for ideas on a display I can build. Am thinking of hanging the katana horizontally, as I see most sword racks but had the idea of hanging the others vertically, pointing down. Anybody ever seen this done? Any plans/pics would be appreciated.

[dda]

pic

Here's a pic of LOML with her claymores

[drumpriest]

This is what I built to hold my various swords

http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=31589

[dda]

Very Nice, Keith! I love cherry and this is pretty much what I had in mind for the Katana - just thought it might look a little odd mixing eastern/western swords on it? Do you have any pics of it loaded up?

Also, did you use a cleat in back for mounting? These things are pretty darn heavy....

[Uncle Cracker]

All the racks I have built for my swords have been the horizontal type, as mine are all in the Japanese style, and horizontal is the traditional way. I have seen display racks of the vertical style used in store displays, and it should not be difficult to visualize and build something along those lines, keeping in mind the dimensions and configurations of the particular pieces you'll be displaying. There would probably be upper and lower horizontal crossmembers, with appropriate cut-out slots on the upper, and countersinks on the bottom. The bottom "shelf" should extend out well beyond the upper, so the pieces will lean into the upper slots, and be more stable. You could add a removable crossbar on the upper crossmember to lock the pieces in place. The two crossmembers could either have vertical components fixing them to each other, or could be hung separately, much the same as a simple cuestick wall rack. The upper and lower crossmembers could also be mounted to a solid panel, which could house a mirror, coat of arms, or whatever decoration works for you. I think if you visualize a vertical display rack for rifles, there would be a good enough picture in your mind to build from (or maybe do an online search for "gun rack" or some such, for more ideas).

[drumpriest]

Here it is all loaded up. I've also seen some where they hang vertically, like a cross. Usually supported by the guard. You could do one that was wide and screwed into the studs, and had a T shape coming out of the wall with slots mortised out so that you can slide the swords into it.

http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=35977

This ones uses metal key hole hardware screwed into the back of the vertical pieces.

[Duff]

For something a little less hands on, I built this for a friend. The shelf on top, acts as the door. The case mounts on the wall and he lifts the shelf straight up to access the sword.