Displaying Knives -Part 4: Putting it all Together. - By: Bill Harvey

#4 Drill holes in board per your design.
Now it comes time to drill holds into the backer-board to hang your knives. Arrange your collection on the backer board and mark little dots where you will drill holes you will attach whatever you have decided to use to attach your knives. You will need to drill 3/16" holes -or thereabouts- for the screws you are going use to hold the little block / shelves for your folders. You will need to countersink them as well -so the screws lay flat to the back of the backer board. Same thing for the bolts that you will use to attach knobs if you are going in this direction. If you are using safety cotter pins, you will need to drill two rows of little tiny holes for the copper wire.

If you are using the notch and rotating tab to hold the board in place, now is the time to cut the notch. The next step is to upholster your board and this will obviously cover up one side or your holes. Not to worry. Get everything drilled or pierced or whatever.

5 Upholster the board.
If there is a woman in your life who does quilting and such like, your work is half done. If not -take your self off to a fabric store and be humble. If you have ever marveled at all the varieties of wood a craftsman has to choose from, prepare to be astounded. There are 10 times as many fabrics to choose from. Find a kind soul at the fabric store and ask for cotton batting. (Synthetic in a pinch, but cotton is a better archival material.) Unless your backer board is huge and you collect broadswords, the thinnest batting will do. Then ask her (and it IS going to be a her) for advice in the area of faux leather, suede, ultra suede, or whatever. Do not be tempted to use leather, it's MUCH harder to work with. Also check out velvet, crushed velvet, or even burlap if your collection is particularly rustic. Spend a little time seeing what is available. Ask her if she thinks you ought to iron it before you put it down. Stretchy stuff probably doesn't need ironing. (Remarkable, really, that we have all seen all these fabrics at one time or another -but -I at least- have never noticed them as possible materials that you could actually make stuff out of. I think it's an X - Y chromosome thing.)

Back at your work table, cut a piece of the batting to the same size as your backer board. If you are terribly clever you might make it bigger and wrap the batting over with the covering fabric. While this may make the upholstery more luxurious, it is also likely to mess up your careful measuring and cutting. I just cut it to the same size as the board.. BUT you MUST cut the covering fabric about an inch or two bigger -in both directions- then your backer board. Now lay the fabric down -pretty side DOWN, and lay the batting down in the center. Lay your board down on top of it, and snip off the corners.

Do NOT cut closer then 1/4 to 3/8 inch from the board. If you have inside corners, snip into them. Then fold the fabric over the back of the board and attach it. If you are using a thin or soft backer board, tape the fabric down. If you are using something stouter, plywood for example, you can use a stapler. Don't worry about stretching it tight. A little softness is nice at this point. Being a wood worker, I tend to use carpenter's glue for a lot of things. (Sear-to-goodness -wood glue in blue jeans -cured with the iron, will hold cuffs in place for 2 or 3 washings.) Glue does a fine job of holding most fabrics to most kinds of board. You have to clamp it down while it dries, of course. This is what the masking tape does.

#6 Install hangers and shelves.
Your holes are all drilled through your backer board, so you are all done, right? Alas, not so. You still have to go through the fabric. While drilling or poking a hole through fabric is easy, it's also easy to snag, ravel, and otherwise -mess up the surrounding fabric. Here is what I do. I grab a finish nail with a vice grip and heat up the nail with a propane torch, but the stove will work fine. You don't need red hot to melt most of the synthetics. You don't need red-hot to get through natural fabrics either. Go slowly here. The right temperature will both pierce the fabric AND melt a nice little grommet around the hole. And all with no snags etc.

Once the fabric has holes, you are all set to bolt, screw, lace, or whatever all your knife-holding hardware into place.

#7 Attach case to wall.
You have to do this part right. If you don't know how -find someone who does. A case that holds a valuable collection of sharp things NUST NOT come down by accident. Wood screws into studs are ideal. If the studs prove uncooperative, a hollow wall anchor will carry a lot of weight IF it's put in correctly. Check out Hanging Things on the Wall CORRECTLY for advice in this direction.

#8 Put it all together.
The purpose of going to all the bother of a backer-board is to hide the screws you used to hang the case on the wall. So once the case is attached to the wall, you have only to put in the backer board and hang your knives. Or put the knives on the board and then put the board in the case. Don't forget the labels. Labels are the perfect finishing touch.

Arguably knife making is mankind's first art. Beautiful things, knives. So beautiful that they deserve a special display. Here, finally, is HOW-TO to do the magic and put it all together.

Bill Harvey makes drawer and display cases for collectors and museums at Home-Museum.com.
He is also author of the COLLECTOR's HOW-TO series for dedicated collectors and hobbyists who wish to display and protect their very best stuff.