Hexagonal Display

In this instructable, I will create a wooden hexagonal display to show off my collection. As a kid, I had collected a lot of daggers and while I did get rid of most of them, I had to keep my favorites. I did not want them to collect dust in some box, so I dug into my scrap wood bin and went to work.

I was inspired by the shou sugi ban style for my final finish. However, there was no dye utilized, as you can plainly see.

For this build I used my miter saw, primarily, as well as:

nail gun

wood glue

painters tape

propane torch

spray shellac

brass bristle brush

I knew I wanted to do a hexagon, so in order to get that shape, I turned the bevel on my miter saw to 30 degrees. 90 - 30 = 60 and 360/6 sides is 60 degrees. That is all the math you will need. The length of the sides, i.e. how big you want it is up to you. If you wanted a pentagon instead you would just take 360/5 = 72 degrees, so you would need to set the bevel to 90 - 72 = 18 degrees.

You could do this on the table saw, as well, or even a bandsaw, depending on what you have at your disposal.

After making the hexagon, I cut a middle brace/shelf and go to work taking more random scraps to create more spots for items to sit.

After getting all the spots created, I glued everything up and reinforced the joints with my nail gun. In hindsight, I could have drilled and placed some dowels to reinforce them better. If you used different species of wood, it could be nice to have that contrast.

Depending on your style, you could place a seal on the wood itself, stain it, or in my case, burn it. I just used the propane torch to get the char I wanted and then used a brass bristle brush to "clean it up." This bristle provides enough power to remove the ash but not as strong, as say steel bristle, to damage the wood grain. I wiped the excess with a brush and cloth and sprayed it with shellac to seal it. Now it is ready for your collection!

Now that you are ready to go, display whatever you have collected. I had originally intended to do a different collection of mine, but that would have left so much unused space that it would have looked odd (my trinkets were smaller than I remembered).

I like the way this turned out and that it didn't take long to complete. This could be accomplished in a weekend where the longest part is waiting for the sealant to cure. If you have a childhood collection stashed away in a box or attic, I hope this inspires you to bring out for others to see.