Hello List.

I see so many swords displayed horizontally on a wall or in a case, but few displayed vertically. I would like to display my collection on my walls vertically (blade up, pommel down)... what have others done to display their collection in this manner?

Are people fabricating their own brackets or is there a brand out there people can recommend?

Thanks,
Rick

Rick,
Hello and welcome to myArmoury.com. :) This topic has been discussed many times before. The forum search function will yield many results. Good hunting!

I have looked through various threads... thanks for point me in the correct direction. None of the brackets out there really do what I want to achieve but I do have in mind what I need to do. One of the posts did indicate the use of magnets to hold blades against a stock material. So my question is, when using magnets on antique weapons, isn't possible the magnets will actually cause the antique blade to become magnetized? Wouldn't this in fact, hurt the value of the sword? I have some pieces from the 1600's that I would not want to "damage" by applying magnets to them.

Anybody have any opinions on this one way or the other?


Thank you.

--Rick

Applying a magnet to any ferric surface, be it a ancient sword or modern refrigerator, can induce a magnet field in the surface (its actually a way of manufacturing magnets; expose unmagnetized iron or so to a stronger magnetic field to magnetize it).

I... haven't seen many (any?) sword displays with the swords displayed tip-up. Tip-down is easy, since you can just hang it from the crossguard and have the center of gravity below the hanging point. Tip-up, you'd have to bracket it along the blade at some point to keep it from tipping over off the wall. Best I can think of is an armature consisting of a series of brackets gripping the crossguard and blade, sort of like what you might see in a museum. It could be made to be rather unobtrusive and hold securely, but would take some metalworking know-how to pull off effectively.

Thanks Eric for the info.

I kind of expected this was case with the magnets.

As far as vertical displays with the point up, this is what I had in mind:

Essentially have a would bracket mounted to a wall protruding out about 5 inches. With a groove for the pommel to rest in, the sword is vertical, blade tip up. Another bracket about 16" higher up would have a magnet (covered in felt to make sure scratching didn't occur) at the end would rest against the blade keeping it upright. Leather tethers would loop around the blade and hilt to protect against being knocked off the display.

All the displays I have read about or seen appear to be either horizontal displays, display cases or racks for multiple pieces. I really wanted to go with one bracket pair per sword... it really makes it a center piece.

I work with wood, so I will make something eventually and when I do, I will post some pics for feedback from the forum.

The magnets are not going to work, so I will need to come up with another way to securely hold the sword in place while not obscuring any portion of the blade. I have some idea's in mind to give a try.

--Rick

you could still hang the cross from two prongs or hooks ("at the bottom") to absorb the full weight and then use something like the MRL sword bracket near the tip (at the top) to keep the sword from falling off the wall via rotation. tr

Check out the link below to see some good looking swords displayed tip up. They're not wall mounted but it shows that it can be an effective way to display them. For some reason I do like the use of perspex in brackets. It doesn't look very historical, but it helps to focus the eye on the blade without distractions. Here's the link:

http://www.arscives.com/mastersofire/displaypics.htm