To any DIY guys (Grey, Sean, Kirk, etc): when I am making a new core for the handle do you think it is easier to make a split core or a one piece? I'm working on a one piece for my old AC viking sword but for future reference I was wondering if a two part hilt would be simpler/less time consuming, etc.

Thanks for the help.

Jan Downs

If this is your first time rehilting, the easiest is to make a two piece (which is just as "period"). You make an outline of the tang and carve out both sides for it to lie properly. The better the fit, the less need for any more glue that you have to use. The rest of it, is what you are going to cover the handle with to help keep the two halves tight.

Thanks, Laurie. It is my first time doing a hilt, although I'm handy with tools. For this old sword I've already started making a one piece core but for my next project I'm definitely going with a two piece core. I don't have a drill press which made getting the drill to go in straight a bit tricky.

Regards,

Jan Downs

Just in case someone is wondering about this same stuff in the future and comes across this thread as a result of their search:

I addressed Jan's questions (kind of by accident) in this thread.

-Grey

Good advice Greyson.

Kirby uses a variety of woods for his one piece grips. Hardwoods like Oak and Maple mostly. Even made a few dirk handles from Desert Ironwood. The problem with that is finding a block the right size without any cracks but it polishes beautifully and the grain is wonderful. Unless the sword requires a two piece grip because of style or period (i.e. Shamsher, Kopis, Celtic Leaf,) all of his are one piece. Same thing with daggers or other knives. Of late he has been hilting some swords with bone and this calls for a different technique. The same thing with any staghorn.

Yes, drilling a hole can be tricky especially in long wood handles like on a Landesknecht Great Sword or Scottish Claymore Kirby does not use a drill press but a hand drill with a special long bit. Then the handles are fire fitted to the tang. He has been making the grips this way for the past 50 years.

But he has rehilted a few other swords through the years. Each case is different depending on the steel and initial tang construction. Recently, a customer sent us a Paul Chen Godfred Viking "Damascus" Sword to rehilt. Ummm, yes....different.

Kirk and Laurie, I really appreciate you both taking time to give such excellent and useful info to a newbie "cutler".

This will all come in very handy in the future. I think the Gorilla glue will actually help with this hilt I'm doing right now.

High regards,

Jan

People always seem to talk about "stabilized" wood. What does that mean? If I walk into Home Depot and grab a small piece of hardwood, will that work? Assuming that stabilized wood is actually necessary, where can I get it?

Thanks!

I've been doing a little fishing in the forums but I can't seem to find info on how wooden hilts would have been finished historically.

Does anyone have any ideas on how wooden hitls were finished historically? I'm assuming they were rubbed down with some kind of oil but I don't know what kind.

Also, while I've got the floor (so to speak), I had an idea on the sandwich technique of hilt construction. Why not make your tang with "spurs"? What I mean by that is, make the tang look like a cross, so that it is very hard for the grip to move up and down the tang. I know that it shouldn't move anyway once you rivet/glue the grip in place but it seems like having a tang with little spikes on it to hold it in place would be a neat idea. I've never seen this done historically but maybe some of you either have seen it or can tell me why that might not be the best idea. The only reason I can think of why it wouldn't work well would be if the repeated impacts would eventually drive the "spike" on the tang through the grip into your hand. That would be most unfortunate indeed! :-)

Spikes or spurs on the tang aren't nessessarily a bad idea, but I think they are a solution to a non-existant problem. They would make the tang much more difficult to shape, and offer no real benefit. All of the shifting I've noticed with grips is side to side as you swing the sword, not up and down along the tang. That is best fixed by having the grip fit the tang correctly. As long as your gip is the correct length, "spurs" would be redundant.

At least, that's my opinion. :D

-Grey

Shawn, to add to Grey's comments on the "spurs" concept - these would also make the grip core harder to shape around those spurs. If the fit was not correct, the spurs might not provide any function at all. Furthermore, the more complex shapes might lead to stress risers and premature failure.