Knife Display Case

[wtnhighlander]

I am posting this, not so much to share the experience, as to collect advice as I go.

My son asked for a case to display his collection of pocket knives. We decided on a wall mount, with a hinged, glass-front door. Acrylic, probably, not window glass. Anyway, I'm sort of winging it beyond those basic parameters.

We're experimenting with how to hold the knives. First test is a standardized block of MDF, with a cut-out to hold each knife. To begin, I made a field-expedient scribing tool to help trace the outline.

A carpenter pencil, shaved to the lead on one edge, and set into a groove at the end of a squared block puts the line directly along the edge of the knife profile.

The outline traced, and max dimensions marked for the block.

Several minutesof scrollsaw work later, and we have a holder.

Even vertical, the knife won't fall out. Mostly because I cut it tight around the handle, but I also put a 2 degree slope in the cut, so gravity would drive the knife inward. Frankly, I don't think that made any difference.

He wants to display 24 knives, and wall space dictates 2 colums of 12. At 8.75" long and 2.25" tall for each block, that makes the overall size of the case around 20" wide by 28" tall. Final depth TBD  but will include an integral hanging cleat. Could be as thin as 2", but likely will be a little deeper.

Ayone have thoughts on this approach?

[treeslayer]

I think you’re right on track Ross, thinking felt or veneer for in top of the MDF ? 

[wtnhighlander]

Considering flocking, but possibly just flat black paint. Depends on how the blocks are held in the case, which I haven't worked out yet.

[pkinneb]

On 1/9/2022 at 4:36 PM, wtnhighlander said:

Considering flocking, but possibly just flat black paint. Depends on how the blocks are held in the case, which I haven't worked out yet.

I've used flocking with good success it is a bit messy though :) 

[Coop]

I’m thinking Fastcap Kaizen foam which will give you a black background and less scroll work. Or rare earth magnets and have the knives on the surface of your board?

[wtnhighlander]

@pkinneb, I have used kits from Flockit.com before, and you aren't joking!

@Coop, one of my son's "special needs" is an OCD thing that leads him to pick foam apart without even thinking about it. The magnets are a possible solution, though... but they would only work on the blades. Has possibilities.

[pkinneb]

On 1/9/2022 at 6:12 PM, wtnhighlander said:

@pkinneb, I have used kits from Flockit.com before, and you aren't joking!

@Coop, one of my son's "special needs" is an OCD thing that leads him to pick foam apart without even thinking about it. The magnets are a possible solution, though... but they would only work on the blades. Has possibilities.

I have found for smaller items if you set the item in a box and do it that helps 

[Chestnut]

I think the outline is the best way to make the whole knife visible. It also makes for a specific spot for the knife which could be a potentially bad thing if the knife is lots and can't be replaced. My thought would be an angled tray like 10 degrees with a lip to hold the knife so they could be set on and not have to meet a specific space. That said I think cutting the outlines would look awesome and hold them really well.

13 hours ago, Coop said:

I’m thinking Fastcap Kaizen foam which will give you a black background and less scroll work. Or rare earth magnets and have the knives on the surface of your board?

13 hours ago, wtnhighlander said:

but they would only work on the blades.

You'd have to do some tests. The few things I hold with magnets have magnetized the object being held. I'm not sure I'd want my pocket knife to turn into a magnet. Also may not work if the knife is stainless steel or aluminum as they aren't magnetic.

[curlyoak]

Good work. I like the pencil holder. Have you thought about using hardwood?

[wtnhighlander]

4 hours ago, curlyoak said:

Good work. I like the pencil holder. Have you thought about using hardwood?

Hardwood for what, the cut-out pockets? No reason that wouldn't work, and I could darn near make them out of ebony for what MDF lists for at my local big box right now. I prototyped with MDF because it is easy to scroll and shape, and I initially thought to go black with them.

Regarding a comment from @Chestnut, I had planned to make the cut-outs in a series of uniform blocks, so they could be re-arranged or replaced as the collection evolved. Even large knives could be housed in a block that was sized as a multiple of the standard. Still thinking this through, because affixing the blocks into the case in a visually pleasing manner is challenging me.

[wtnhighlander]

Oh, @curlyoak, the  pencil holder to scribe with came from a magazine, but I don't recall which. Down side of using a pencil is tha you constantly have to advance it as the lead wears. A ball point pen would be great, if you can locate the point correctly.

[Mark J]

Yeah, could be a problem when you try to cut away half the pen .

[RichardA]

Cut the ballpoint pen holder the same angle as the point of the pen.

[wtnhighlander]

I saw an Asian guy on Youtube using the ink 'cartridge' extracted from a cheap Bic pen this way, seemed to work pretty well.

[wtnhighlander]

So, I've been mulling this over, and I think the cut-out pocket idea isn't the way to go. He will want to cycle through the collection and carry one or the other at random, plus he may do some trading along the way. So a system that holds the knives securely, doesn't obscure them on display, and allows for easy removal, replacement or re-arrangement is in order. In short, a peg board, but better looking.

Here is what I came up with, driven largely by the need to mill parts using primarily my table saw.

First, the "peg" to rest the blade on -

This shape is relatively easy to cut on the TS, although for maximum strength, I will first need to construct a blank, similar to a cutting board, to re-orient the grain correctly.

The result looks like this:

The pocket is to receive a small magnet, which will help secure the blade against the peg.

The other peg profile is slightly different to accommodate the thickness of the grip.

You might guess from the hooks, a DT slat wall is needed. Slat profile like so...

These will be trapped against the back of the enclosure by side rails, but remain loose so they can be removed at will. The slat angle matches the peg DT angle (8 deg. in this sketch), although the actual angle isn't critical. The parts go together thusly:

So we can have a good 24 place-holders in a reasonable cabinet size, arranged in 2 columns. The "pegs" slide side-to-side to allow knives of various lengths, and also allow multiple blades to be displayed.  Here is a final representation with a crudely-drawn knife in place.

 

Now to design an enclosure around the "slat wall" system.

[Chestnut]

That's a great idea. Check the blades for being held by magnets though I know some stainless steels aren't attracted by magnets.

[wtnhighlander]

13 hours ago, Chestnut said:

That's a great idea. Check the blades for being held by magnets though I know some stainless steels aren't attracted by magnets.

That's true, but the non-magnetic steels aren't used for cutting edges very often. Don't sharpen / hold an edge well. The magnet is essentially insurance, anyway.

[Mark J]

Have you thought about a mechanical fastener?  Something inconspicuous like fishing line?

[wtnhighlander]

That's an interesting idea. I hadn't thought along that line (no pun intended), since I expect the knives will be removed and replaced frequently. Stapping them in with monofilament would be perfect for a more static display.

[Coop]

So will the dt’s be loose enough to allow you to slide the two pieces to accommodate replacing and adding different size knives?

[Coop]

On 1/15/2022 at 8:17 AM, Mark J said:

Have you thought about a mechanical fastener?  Something inconspicuous like fishing line?

Or maybe a strip of leather with a small piece of Velcro on the underside on the handle piece? 

[wtnhighlander]

28 minutes ago, Coop said:

So will the dt’s be loose enough to allow you to slide the two pieces to accommodate replacing and adding different size knives?

Yep, that's the idea. I've been working on the drawing a bit, maybe tomorrow I'll have the cometed 3D model to show.

[wtnhighlander]

Tired of harrassing the electrons that make up my CAD model, I decided to work with actual wood today.

Cody wants to use the "cross tie" he got from @Spankya while back. 

This is a 9"x7"x8' maple cant. Thanks to Spanky's excellent job of cutting, it remained fairly straight, with just a bit of twist. These cheap Swanson cutting guides make very good straight edges and winding sticks.

Cody didn't get away scott-free, I "encouraged" him to help square a reference corner on the cant. He didn't last long, but I don't blame him. I'm 6" taller and 100lb heavier, and was still quite tiring to hand plane so high up. Eventually, we got the first face flat and straight.

On the adjacent 'edge', I used a circular saw and guide to establish a square corner. Unfortunately, that still left about 4.5" of wonky material. I found the kerfing across every few inches and hacking the waste out with a chisel went fairly quick.

Only 6 more feet to go!

Spanky, if you are reading this, know that I owe you one....

 

[wtnhighlander]

Latest concept drawing of the case:

Still thinking about the slat arrangement. I realized that the slats can actually extend across almost the entire back. So long as I leave a half-inch gap at one end or the other, the "hooks" can be inserted or removed as needed to support knives in any arrangement.

I'd like to try mitered blind dovetails for the case, but I think it better to practice on something else first. Probably going to do a simple splined miter, instead. If I manage to saw a good plank from the maple cant, I should be able to resaw it and do the inside-out bookmatch think to make the grain line up at all 4 corners. The plank should wide enough so that I can "miter and fold over" the edges to form the front door frame. That should make it an 8-corder grain match, if all works as planned.

Wish me luck ...

[wtnhighlander]

Almost forgot... This morning, before work, I spent a little time prepping an old handsaw from my collection.

This is just an inexpensive hardware store handsaw, nothing special. It had the coarsest teeth of the lot, and I filed into the resemblence of a rip configuration. A quick test went well in this scrap of white oak. If it warms up this weekend, maybe I'll see how it does in maple!