How high should you hang a sword on the wall?

Hang the guard at roughly eye height, mounted into wall studs, with the blade supported at two points. Higher and the detail is unreadable; lower and it sits within reach of children and passing doorways.

Should a sword be stored in its scabbard?

No, not for long periods. Tanned leather holds acid and moisture against the steel and will etch and pit an edge over a season. Display the blade bare and oiled, with the scabbard hung separately.

Is it bad to hang a sword point down?

Yes. Standing or hanging a sword point-down puts the entire weight of the blade on the tip, which rolls the point and makes the piece easy to topple edge-first. Hang horizontally, edge down, wherever possible.

How often should a displayed blade be oiled?

Check and re-oil roughly every month in a normal home, and more often near a coast or in a humid climate. A light film of mineral or gun oil applied to a clean, dry blade is enough.

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How to Display a Sword on a Wall Without Ruining It

Most swords are killed by their own display, not by use.

The wall kills more blades than the field

Almost every ruined sword we are shown was ruined hanging up. Damp walls, sealed scabbards, salt from bare hands and one thin hook carrying thirty inches of steel account for nearly all of it.

Display is storage. Treat it with the same seriousness you would give a blade in a case, and a sword on a wall will outlive you comfortably.

Horizontal, vertical, or crossed

Horizontal, edge down, is the safest and the most honest. The weight is spread, the blade reads left to right the way the eye wants, and nothing rests on the point.

Vertical, point up, is dramatic and hard on the fittings; the whole mass of the blade hangs on the guard and pommel. Do it only with a peened, full-tang piece.

Never stand a sword point-down on the floor or on a plinth. The tip takes the entire weight, the point rolls, and a knock topples it edge-first into the room.

Crossed pairs look magnificent and scratch each other constantly. If you must cross them, pad the crossing point.

Light, damp and glass

Direct sun fades scabbard leather, dries out wood grips and cooks any wrap. Hang out of the sun's path or accept the fading as part of the piece's life.

A closed cabinet is not automatically safer. Sealed cases trap humidity against steel. If you use glass, use silica gel and change it.

Below forty-five percent relative humidity, carbon steel is content. Above sixty, it will find a way to rust no matter how well you oiled it.

Where children and doorways are

Do not hang steel above a bed, a couch back, a cot, or anywhere a fall lands on a person. Mount into studs and assume the worst day.

Anything within a child's reach should be either blunt or secured to the cradle. A display peg is not a lock.

The method, in order

01Choose the wallPick an interior wall away from a bathroom, kitchen or exterior door. Steel corrodes from swings in humidity, not from dust.
02Find the studsMark the studs and mount into them. A hardwood plaque held by drywall anchors will pull out in a season under a heavy blade.
03Set the heightHang the guard at roughly eye height. Above that the blade is unreadable; below that it is within reach of children and doorways.
04Support at two pointsCradle the blade at the ricasso and again near the point or the scabbard throat. One hook loads the whole weight onto a single stress point.
05Pad every contactLine the cradles with felt or leather that never touches the bare edge. Bare metal hooks scratch, and untreated leather in contact with steel etches it.
06Leave the scabbard offStore the blade out of a tanned leather scabbard. Leather holds acid and moisture and will pit an edge over a season.
07Oil before hangingWipe the blade clean of fingerprints and lay on a thin film of mineral or gun oil. Salt from one handling will bloom rust behind glass.
08Look at it every monthTake it down, wipe it, re-oil it, and check the fittings for movement. A blade that is never handled is a blade nobody notices rusting.

The wall this cry speaks of

The Long Blades

Asked of the house

How high should you hang a sword on the wall?: Hang the guard at roughly eye height, mounted into wall studs, with the blade supported at two points. Higher and the detail is unreadable; lower and it sits within reach of children and passing doorways.
Should a sword be stored in its scabbard?: No, not for long periods. Tanned leather holds acid and moisture against the steel and will etch and pit an edge over a season. Display the blade bare and oiled, with the scabbard hung separately.
Is it bad to hang a sword point down?: Yes. Standing or hanging a sword point-down puts the entire weight of the blade on the tip, which rolls the point and makes the piece easy to topple edge-first. Hang horizontally, edge down, wherever possible.
How often should a displayed blade be oiled?: Check and re-oil roughly every month in a normal home, and more often near a coast or in a humid climate. A light film of mineral or gun oil applied to a clean, dry blade is enough.

Also cried