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Display Case-Advice Appreciated


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Thought I would get some consensus from the community on a project I'm trying to get done.

BLUF- Trying to make a sensible medium-term display case that doesn't inherently constitute damaging the blade but in which the BLADE IS OUTSIDE OF THE SHIRASAYA.

 

Intro- I have not come across a display case (bar one made to handle earthquake tremors) that really is custom-made for nihtono. 'Museum case/choji oil pot in the corner' seems of limited value as its impractical for my home setting and the atmosphere control is poor.

 

Aim- So I'm trying to configure a wall mounted display case, electronically controlled atmosphere, maybe filled with gas instead to give that added security. I can't find anyone who's tried this so I am aware it may be a novel idea for some. Nonetheless, why not? Got initial quotes, bulb requirements from Nakahara's book (trying to recess the bulbs into the frame to minimize atmospheric affects).

 

If it isn't obvious already, the end-state is an ability to appreciate the nihonto as practically as possible behind protection on an  everyday basis. 

 

Does anyone have any practical advice/experience for such a project? 

 

Regards,

 

Cameron

Draft_Case.pdf

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Hi Cameron, I picked up some glass, shop display cases, each holds upto 45-50 swords. I got a sign factory to make some perspex stands to my design. Try a shop-fitting company. These have LED lights, and room on the base for other stuff.   

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Cameron,

 

Seems you've put quite a lot of thought and effort into this project, if the blade is worthy of this elaborate housing I don't see why you shouldn't proceed with it.  With the addition of a one way valve, and suitable gasket material, your case should be capable of containing the inert gas of your choice.  Best of luck!

 

-S-

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thanks for the confidence!

 

nonetheless, smartest guy in the room knows hes not, so what could i be missing in this? I cannot be the first to think of the beauty of being able to admire these things without the process of unpacking...

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Cameron, nice project.

 

Try to make it from wood not from chipboard. i made my tansu from maple wood that has a very smooth surface with a fantastic feeling.

 

10 cm space could be very less i think.

 

Good luck.

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Most importantly do not allow any dust inside to settle on swords, I guess especially they have to be not in oil to be truly appreciated.

Moisture wise my experience is 35-40% is fine without producing rust with once a year wipe. Ocean air is absolutely horrible but anything else seems to work.

 

Lighting wise depends on period. Gendai can be easily displayed like you show.

 

Kirill R.

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Cameron,

 

?????????????I'm confused!  You've gone from a hermetically sealed exotic gas filled storage unit, and now like the idea of long term storage of your naked blade in an atmosphere with 30 to 40% humidity....good luck with that.  Why bother with a case at all, just set it out on a stand and be done with it.

 

-S-

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ok now you're confusing me! humidity controlling and exotic gas being competing objectives i presume(ie if i do one i don't need to do the other)

 

Can you control humidity enough to the point where corrosion is not a risk at all(sensible once a year wipe being expected)? Seems risky?

 

(wall mounted case not a stand because I'm not creating museum in my study where a kid is going to knock over centuries of metallurgy into his face...and scratch the hamon)

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well i am dealing with having to presume on your presumptions, so please forgive me. 

 

You've gone from a hermetically sealed exotic gas filled storage unit, and now like the idea of long term storage of your naked blade in an atmosphere with 30 to 40% humidity....good luck with that.  Why bother with a case at all, just set it out on a stand and be done with it.

 

Liking the previous comment wasnt me changing a plan, just acknowledging the comment. 

 

The recommended temperature for museum items is 16 to 20°C.

Relative humidity should not drop below 40% or rise above 70%

-Basic museum advice. 

Aim for 40-60% RH, according to the condition of metal and oxide formation or the presence of organic components. Unstable and corroding metals may need dryer conditions, as low as 10%.

-Arms, armour and metals advice 

 

Remember-

So I'm trying to configure a wall mounted display case, electronically controlled atmosphere, maybe filled with gas 

 

So next presumption is- you think 30%-40% is a terrible idea? 

Please appreciate it feels like i'm beginning to get competing advice (although I may not be understanding something which might be why it seems competing, which I'm more than happy to be corrected on)

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Cameron, you will get competing advice since nihonto is the field where the number of senseis is large, though the number of people actually dealing with swords is much smaller.

The bowls with liquids you see in Japanese museums next to swords is not choji oil.... They are typically WATER to "protect" the lacquered koshirae when its exhibited in the same case as the blade. Which is sort of silly, but the tradition is tradition. Somebody told museum folks the lacquer has to be exhbitied with bowls of water, and so it went.

 

35-40% humidity, most importantly absolutely no dust works fine with not oiled bare blades in a display case, periodic oil/wipe is required but not too often. Unless you have ocean air, which contains micrometer aggregates of solt and water which will corrode anything rather rapidly. But then you probably have much more than 40% humidity, so it needs to be dealt with anyway.

 

Exotic gas, hermetically sealed display - sorry no museum, no exhibit, no probably places like sokendo that do show unoiled bare blades do that. Way too exotic.

 

Now for lacquer you are better off with 80% humidity, but whether this is required is debatable and depends strongly on what are the pieces displayed.

There are museums like kodaiji that do almost 100%, and there are places with more valuable works that do 60%, and there are museums displaying them at standard 40%. 

 

Kirill R.

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Exotic gas, hermetically sealed display - sorry no museum, no exhibit, no probably places like sokendo that do show unoiled bare blades do that. Way too exotic.


 


sorry- please clarify this last bit


 


sealed gas not done because of cost. But could alleviate the remaining risk, ie wouldnt be a negative per se?


 


The bowls with liquids you see in Japanese museums next to swords is not choji oil.... They are typically WATER to "protect" the lacquered koshirae when its exhibited in the same case as the blade. Which is sort of silly, but the tradition is tradition. Somebody told museum folks the lacquer has to be exhbitied with bowls of water, and so it went. Did not know that- I thought it was choji oil. Which confused me even more after i read on yuhindo that choji oil can be corrosive in many cases

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Cameron, to keep the dust away some matter of sealing needs to be provided. It does not have to be at the level of what is colloquiavlly referred to as hermetic, but it should be dust free.

 

Dust and microparticles (they tend to be in micron size range order-wise) like aggregates of salt and water, or "pollution" elements and water are your biggest enemies by far. Otherwise as long as you don't leave a fingerprint on a blade or allow for some similar mishandling the chances of rust just popping up are very low. I had blades for 2 years in a "general" museum with no additional preparation done and no maintenance provided, if only because curators wiping the blades would represent a greater danger to them than just leaving them alone - and they were fine.

 

Yet in Kamakura I would think twice about keeping blades unoiled even in hermetically sealed (sort of) shirasaya.

 

Kirill R.

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To be honest I don't know exactly. With lacquer the serious risk is that when such zero humidity case is opened, humidity goes to normal and the object experiences rapid change and can warp a lot, potentially cracking. Same reason it is sometimes bad idea to wipe it with a wet cloth after taking out of 30% humidity museum case. With blades... no idea.

 

Also a very quick and dirty "museum grade" test of how bad the air in your place is, is to monitor how long it takes for something made out of sterling silver to darken.

There are museums in places where it darkens within a month, and they are more paranoid about everything they have - there are sometimes random generators of things like sulfur particles in cities, and those can be dangerous. But again this manifests mostly outside the controlled environment.

 

Kirill R.

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Very interesting conversation, thank you. 

 

It's been a long plan of mine to create a quality piece of furniture to exhibit bare blades. My initial plan was to keep blades and fittings in different environments, because they have different needs in terms of humidity. I never reflected on residual micro-pollution from air quality and fine dust, however. This is new to me. 

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Thanks! There is plenty of electronics that uses iron parts hanging in air, operating at 100C, so the corrosion is sped up by what, a factor of >>10 - and not a single part is known to fail for corrosion in 20 years of operation.

Provided the humidity is very low, air is filtered and sealants used are tested against gassing off something chemically active. Otherwise it will cease to function in a month to half a year.

Yes, different iron alloys have very different susceptability to corrosion, but "historical steel" is not the worst. There are elements like silver which are not commercially usable in air under almost any condition oxidation wise, but iron is not among them. 

 

On the other hand when it comes to fittings than air quality can still be an issue. A coal firing electrical plant can easily "restore" the damaged shakudo but potentially even change over time the patina color of yamagane etc. There were so many studies trying to determine why almost all shakudo is 1% gold, 1% silver, copper and some arsenic, and one thing they found that more silver rich versions, while still capable of the basic effect (blackness due to overlap of absorption profiles from copper and Raleigh scattering of small metallic particles produced by aggressive oxidation of the surface) were profoundly more difficult to control in terms of oxidation's impact on silver.

 

Kirill R.

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I remember growing up, my aunt had a cabinet for displaying antique silverware. The wares would not tarnish. Maybe a silverware cabinet would suit your purpose? Out of curiosity, I was looking for one, but found something else more like what you described, hermetically sealed, humidity controlled, temperature/pressure regulated and nitrogen charged:

 

http://stashc.com/the-publication/storage-furniture/cabinets/hermetically-sealed-case-for-the-storage-of-objects-in-a-stable-inert-atmospher/

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