I built a new wood core. I shored up the pommel and cross with metal shims and then epoxied/glued the 2 wooded slabs that make the grip (similar to the Albion way) to the tang. The sword rings like a bell now. Everything tight and right. The blade had an uneven tip that I reprofiled an I did my best to remove the diamond cross section that was on the final portion of the blade when I got it. I really like the sword. The blade has some stains and some very small pits and the hilt furniture (besides the new grip) is worn looking and has some stains and a few marks, so the sword has a lot of character, which I actually like in contrast to some of my higher end pieces that I don't modify and keep in pristine condition. This sword looks like its been through some hard times but its still very sound.
The wire I bought at a Michael's craft store. It was 24 gauge (pretty thin) and it is sold for making jewelry (beads etc). I bought a copper and a steel and twisted the 2 together by stretching the wire the full length of my basement, attaching the far ends to the wall and then basically running my hand drill with a little do-dad thing I also picked up that sort of spins the wire, and twists it together. At first I thought the wire experiment was shaping up to be a disaster but it somehow worked out, right down to having enough wire by 1 or 2 wraps left, got lucky there.
