I was wondering, what you gentlemen know about the use of rayskin on a European medieval sword grip?
Thank you
Godspeed
Francisco

I don't know how historical it is, but I wouldn't recommend it. It would be like using sandpaper for a grip, as it's been used as a natural sandpaper in the past.

I believe it was commonly used on basket hilts in the British Isles in the 16th-18th centuries but cannot offer more than that.

I believe Justin is correct. There are a number of Scottish basket hilts that have rayskin grips. Here's an example of an 18th century one:

http://www.firearmscollector.com/cat/cat_details.asp?id=223

Brian K. wrote:

I don't know how historical it is, but I wouldn't recommend it. It would be like using sandpaper for a grip, as it's been used as a natural sandpaper in the past.

There are different grades of rayskin, some of which are rougher than others. I don't know too much about it, but I believe different parts of the ray have larger nodes than other parts. The rayskin grips I've handled have been easier on the hands than wire wraps.

I don't know for sure that it is the same case for the basket hilts I have seen with this feature, but rayskin on Japanese arms is often lacquered, making it much easier on the hands. Raw rayskin can be rough indeed.

I don't recall ever seeing any medieval western swords with rayskin grips.

Isn't that what Europeans called (at least in later centuries) "shagreen"? It was definitely in fashion in the 18th and maybe 17th centuries and was used on all kinds of things, swords included.

Either way, the use of it as far I understood, was from the 17th century foward, so there is no record of it beeing used on medieval period!
Godspeed
Francisco

Isn't shagreen more commonly sharkskin?

Sorry for the OT post, but this may be useful.

Bill Grandy wrote:

There are different grades of rayskin, some of which are rougher than others. I don't know too much about it, but I believe different parts of the ray have larger nodes than other parts. The rayskin grips I've handled have been easier on the hands than wire wraps.

The tanned rayskin you can get at Tandy is smooth and hard, the nodes are rounded and the whole thing is flexible, unlike raw rayskin. It is actually quite comfortable in the hand. One I did:
http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m282/shazm...s/Grip.jpg

Nothing historical going on there.

On another sword, when I did a wire-wrap, I found it too rough on my hand, so I took a file and knocked it down some, which made all the difference. I don't know about a historical precedent for this treatment, but I've seen some examples on modern swords where this appears to have been done -some of Vladimir Czervenka's work for example:

http://www.sword.cz/detailvik.jpg

I suppose the rougher treatment of either would be ok in a gloved hand.