Yeah guys, though I have the knowledge and tools to make every single piece from scratch, I tend to improvise by using items already on hand. I also purchase semi completed materials (like the base) to make the job that much easier.
The guessing that you guys have done, tongue depressors, clothes pins, and that the round depressions in the base are for stabilizing the butt ends of the khukuri knives, are all correct
What is not seen in the photo is my use of some toothpicks
Here are the items that I used:
*The second tier block of wood was cut from a six foot 1 1/4" x 1 1/4" (paid a dollar for this wood at one of the areas dollar stores). The piece I cut from this wood measures 10 1/2" long.
*Two 1 1/2" wood dowels to secure the above wood to the wood base. Paid nothing, I already had a stash of them in my closet.
*The base was purchased at a local craft shop. Measures about 14" long by 6" wide. Cost was about $3.60
*The blade rests are made from craft clothes pins. A little shaping and one ends up with a perfect component. "I" paid nothing for them, I hit the wife's stash in her craft box.
*Two toothpicks, which I cut to a proper length and used them as wood dowels for the above clothes pin blade rests. Paid nothing, we have a ton of them in the kitchen cupboards.
*Two cut down tongue depressors. Paid nothing for them, hit my daughter's craft supplies
*Wood glue, which I already had.
*150 and 220 grit sandpaper, which I already had.
*Minwax stain, which I already had.
*Minwax spray satin polyurathane, which I already had.
And there you have it, not including the items that I already had, this little project cost me a grand total of less than $5.
Improvision
Here's a photo showing the display from it's side view. It also shows a few of the craft clothes pins that I've been using, (my wife has a few less)
http://img275.imageshack.us/img275/3065/dscn04557hz.jpg
Though all of this works great, one good drop to the floor and it would most likely damage it. The tongue depressors are definitely perfect to hold up the small scabbards, but they would be the first to go if I get careless and drop it. I'll just have to be careful.
To install the tongue depressors one should slot the wood where one is placing them. Put some wood glue into the slot and insert the tongue depressor. Make sure that you don't overdo the glue, you don't want glue on any area that you will later want to stain. If there are any gaps left of the slot after the wood glue has been left to harden, just carefully suround the area with some masking tape and fill these small gaps with a little bit of water based putty (the water base putty dries pretty quickly). After that, remove the tape and once the putty is dry, sand excess with some fine sandpaper (like a 220 grit). Make sure the putty will match the stain color that you plan on using.
When you install your wood dowels (including those toothpicks), make sure to use some wood glue. As with the tongue depressors, avoid getting glue on any area that will need to later accept stain.
Minwax oil stain has "oil finish" ingredients, so it does work as a base sealer. Once you have finely sanded the wood smooth, stained it, and wiped it off, you can then wait about an hour or so before taking a soft lint free cloth and hand rub the surface of the wood (rubbing with the grain of the wood). You should rub with some force, but not so much that you are trying to remove the color, you are just helping the "finish" ingredients to smooth and seal. It's then best, in my experience, to spray the first coat of finish a few hours later (using minwax polyurathane/satin being my choice). Just before you spray on the first coat, take a soft clean unused paintbrush and lightly brush off the stained wood surface with it. This will brush off any lint particles that may be on the surface, and will act as a final buffing before you spray that poly on. My advice is to stick with the oil based stains and standard Polys, and to avoid the water based stuff. It too can give decent results, but the standard stuff is easier for most folks to work with. Besides, you avoid the added work (wood grain raise) caused by the water.
The amount of coats one sprays is up to the person making the display. If my instructions are followed on smoothing out the minwax stain/sealant and brushing/buffing with the soft paint brush, then one can often-times get away with as little as one somewhat heavily applied coat (careful with your spraying, you don't want to cause sags and/or runs). For two or more coats, my advice would be to wait until each coat is totally dry, lightly and carefully sand or scuff the dried finish with 320 and 000 nylon pad (pad is great for contoured areas and edges), remove the sanded finish dust, and then apply the next coat. The step of sanding the finish has to be done very carefully. You don't want to go through the finish, and therefore possibly go through the stain (causing unsightly lightened areas). A lightened area can be touched up, but preventing them is much easier.
It is possible to avoid sanding the edges altogether (with the 000 nylon pad being most useful if an edge does require a very light once going over). Remember, try your best to not go through the finish, especially only after the first coat. You only want to smooth things out a bit.
How about an end view to show the detail of the evidently split piece that holds the blades upright, can do? 
