Displaying Bayonets

[ovenpaa]

Erm, in the Bedroom on top of an old wooden 7,62x51 NATO box, at least I know they are safe from the Barbarians where they are....

[lasbrisas]

My 18 year old collects bayonets but has never shown an interest in displaying them, they just come out of a drawer now and then when we fancy having a look. We also don't advertise the fact that we shoot as a lot of people we have come across seem to be anti-gun, some parents even stopped their kids from coming round, my boys have been shooting since they were 11.

[Christel]

Part of my DK family and friends have been very quiet over the last couple of years, it started when I told them what I now do for a living.
I do wonder if there is a connection :roll:

When it was just shooting as a hobby it was kinda ok, just Christel up to her usual crazy tricks, a living on the other hand, have to draw the line somewhere hadn't we.

Ah well

[dromia]

It is quiet interesting trying to get a bank account or insurance as an RFD. The number of banks and financial companies that say they don't want your business because selling firearms is unethical. wtfwtf

Who are they to judge on ethics?

[ovenpaa]

I remember reading the terms applied to a card reader for electronic shopping. Basically about the only things they would not allow were on-line pornography and firearms related sales. We were talking about moving to Barclays for a commercial account and they said straight off they would not deal with our business. By all means come and talk however you will not be getting a bank account with us.

[DL.]

On a similar note, I would like to have a collection of Japanese swords, but really can't justify the expense, but was looking at making a wall mount along the lines of the one linked, out of hardwood, unpainted of course.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wall-Mount-fo ... 3f290da86b

[froggy]

I would like to have a collection of Japanese swords, but really can't justify the expense,

Start one sword a time and you'll get there ...
BTW without being cheap, NCO katana are fairly affordable...

[DL.]

I would like to have a collection of Japanese swords, but really can't justify the expense,

Start one sword a time and you'll get there ...
BTW without being cheap, NCO katana are fairly affordable...

I think I'll steer away from Gunto era stuff.

My understanding was that you can have shira saya (plain mountings) made, and then get the koshirae (formal mountings) fitted with a wooden blade, which I thought was called a shinogi, but a web search shows this is not the correct term.
This way a collector would have double the amount of spaces occupied on the display stand.

I think a bayonet collection would be far far simpler! :lol:

[froggy]

DL,

Master class blades are kept in shirasaya to preserve them (don't forget Japan is a humid climat) and are mounted in koshirae only when used. It sounds like you are venturing into the world of very fancy swords , in which case you will need to be both very knowledgable and extremely wealthy ... but WW2 military katanas are affordable. Wether the blade is traditionally forget or not, the condition of the blade & the gendai that forged it will dictate a lot of the value, so if you are ready to concider average condition and unknown gendai you can find nice swords for ok money.

I am not a collector and I only have couple of swords, this is by far my favorite .




It is a WW2 Naval Officer's Kai-Gunto made from an old koto tachi blade forged originally in the 14th or 15th century that was re-tempered at some point, probably in the Edo period. During the 2nd WW, the seppa for the tsuba are dated 1944, this familly blade was re-fitted as a naval sword with regulation compliant hand made scabbard made from same (tanned ray skin) and fittings.



You can see the hammon quite well but the blade is deemed by collectors as poor condition and therefore it affected the value a lot . About the price of a good condition matching K98. I think it is very good concidering that this sword is unique, took months to make, was owned and passed down by generations of some of the most prestigious warriors of all time, took active part and contributed to 600 years of tumultuous Japanese history. I find it absolutly fascinating.

The sword contains/impersonates the bushido code so I feel it would be a bit rude & disrespectful to just hang it on the wall. One of my project it to work with a cabinet maker friend and design together a simple stand for it.

[DL.]

Froggy, That's a real gem. It's not everyday people discover family owned swords in gunto mountings,was there a surrender note with that from the previous owner?
I traveled a few hours drive to look at a collection of Japanese swords at an antiques dealers - the oldest was produced by the state arsenals, you can imagine my disappointment!

I remebered the name of the wooden blade - it's called a Tsunagi.

Shirasaya, a quick look on the ryujin swords website shows a price of £350, however I was led to believe it is possible to have these fittings made up for less through a contact on here: http://www.northerntokensociety.org.uk/links.html

Also you mentioned blade condition, I've been lead to believe it's amazing what can be polished out (but expensive) see the kizu (rust) on this example-
http://www.liverpoolmilitaria.com/viewphoto.php?x=2