Hanging a basket hilt sword on a wall -- myArmoury.com

Robert Faleer

I recently received a Paul Chen / Hanwei Scottish basket hilt broadsword as a gift and I would like to hang it vertically (hilt up) on my office wall, next to a Grant pattern targe shield that I bought in 1974 from Inverness targe-maker James McConnell. I have mulled over a few ways to do this securely, including a guitar hanger (not really an option), one of the large sword magnets that has recently come on the market (our IT people are not wild about that!) and other things of that sort. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated (and by the way, metal fabrication is not my strong suit--so please, nothing involving welding or general blacksmithing). Thanks!

Glen A Cleeton · Posted: Sat 05 Mar, 2011 5:07 pm Post subject:

Hi Robert

I use the top half of the one shown below. It has enough of an offset for me to hang an A&A German Bastard with the large side rings. These come in silver tone as well or could be painted any color. If the offset is not enough, it could be mounted on blocks as thick as needed but I think it will clear /offer enough for most baskets. I had used the pair for a couple of diffrent swords before getting the GBS but it cradles the big ball pommel of that one quite nicely.

Not quickly found in stock on some sites but I did get a quick hit for Knight's Edge through Amazon
Two Piece Vertical Large Sword hanger set

Denix and iirc od26 od27 for the model number

Cheers

GC

Nathan Robinson · myArmoury Admin

I don't over-think or over-engineer stuff. I've used a picture hook and just hook the hilt onto it. I put some fabric on it so as not to have metal-on-metal. Done deal.

GG Osborne · Posted: Sat 05 Mar, 2011 5:20 pm Post subject:

Ditto. Works just fine. Just ask the 25 or so basket hilts hanging on the wall in my office!

Christopher Gregg · Posted: Sat 05 Mar, 2011 6:55 pm Post subject:

Me too. Picture hooks usually work just fine. If your basket doesn't allow vertical hanging easily, then simply use a piece of leather, plastic or cloth cord, tie it through the desired portion of the basket, then loop it on the picture hook. I have my Mad Piper basket hilts suspended on an angle, crossed in pairs (such as in this picture:

Robert Faleer · Posted: Sun 06 Mar, 2011 5:41 am Post subject:

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions! I think you are right, simple is better. Glen, I've also looked at the sword hanger that you recommended and I will keep it in mind.

I had also thought about attaching a slotted box frame to the back of my targe (ala the Mad Piper) so that the sword could be run diagonally behind the shield with the requisite basket clearance from the wall. Maybe eventually, but I don't know if I like the idea of drilling screw holes into the back of the shield. I think I'll stick with simple! Again, many thanks!

David Wilson · Posted: Sun 06 Mar, 2011 4:43 pm Post subject:

Christian Fletcher used to make these neat little hooks that were extremely simple in design. You won't see them in the picture below, but you'll see how they can be used.
Sadly, he doesn't make them anymore. However, Hanwei makes a somewhat similar, if not as simple, hook, seen here at Kult of Athena (but available from other vendors as well):
http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=...ord+Hanger

You can use it for hanging straight-bladed swords with simple hilts, and for baskets, just hang the sword by the basket, using the... hanging dealies (a little technical lingo there)... and it works great for me. Okay, I'm not good at describing it, but hopefully the picture below will kind-of illustrate how it's done (with the older CF hooks as mentioned above, but the principle is the same with the Hanwei hook):

Robert Faleer · Posted: Sun 06 Mar, 2011 4:58 pm Post subject:

Thanks David. I actually have one of those Hanwei-type hangers floating around the house somewhere (we moved a year and a half ago and lots of packed up stuff has yet to be unpacked, so hopefully I will run across the little varmint). If nothing else, the next time I visit the Chicago area, I'll probably drop by Kult of Athena to see what they've got--my brother lives within a 15 minute drive of their store.

Thanks also for attaching the photo of the your basket hilts. Cheers!

Karl Schlesien · Posted: Mon 07 Mar, 2011 7:34 am Post subject:

Karl Schlesien · Posted: Mon 07 Mar, 2011 7:41 am Post subject:

In the photo of the swords is Rob Roy MacGregor's sword. In case someone is interested to know.

http://www.keeptothecode.com/bboard/viewtopic...11ae5b78ad

Glen A Cleeton · Posted: Mon 07 Mar, 2011 11:23 am Post subject:

Christopher E. · Posted: Mon 07 Mar, 2011 11:26 am Post subject:

By-the-sword.com has these cool magnets (http://www.by-the-sword.com/acatalog/Sword_Hangers.html) that I like to mount to a couple of wooden plaques to build up the thickness. I currently have a 3-ring rapier and a basket hilted broadsword displayed in this fashion. The thing I like the most is that they create a very clean and unobstructed display look. Here are a couple of pics that show the idea. The first shows my rapier on the far side and an Albion soverign I used to own. I paint the plaques black, cover the magents with black felt and screw in a solid closed loop hook so I can use some airplane cable and small lock to lock the swords to the plaques that are attached to the wall...won't stop the determined thief but prevents casual toying with buy those who don't ask permission.

Photobucket image

Robert Faleer · Posted: Wed 09 Mar, 2011 11:19 am Post subject:

Thanks again, everyone for all the very helpful suggestions. And Chrisopher E., I like what you've done with magnets--a great display!