Posts: 386 Location: Agder, Norway
Sat 02 Dec, 2006 9:03 am
Thank you, Steve!
I will get more info about my sword to you, but you'll have to be patient ;)
I had some 2mm thick brown coloured cow/ox leather that was leftovers from some other small projects that I've had. It's been laying about for a few years, and when I got the broadsword from Donnie I knew I needed a new baldric for the sword. Donnie sent me a fine baldric pattern with good instructions and I decided to try making it. I got some different double-D buckles from Jas Townsend and chose one of these for the project.
First I cut out the pieces of leather and left them in water to make them easier to work with. I then made holes for the seams with a thin leather-awl. I used a waxed linen thread and did a pitch seam. I sow the main parts together (not the keeper), fitted the buckle and secured it with a pitch seam. I made holes in the belt to fit it with the tongues on the buckle and tried wearing the baldric. I then made the hole in the frog for the froghook on the scabbard.
After this was done, I started cutting out the brass pieces and filed the edges. I then made similar pieces to these to be placed on the backside of the leather. I drilled through the brass front- and backpieces and and made holes through the leather so that I could drive brass nails through. I then cut the nails shorter and bent them on the backside of the belt, so that they were firmly in place. I punched the "HBB" into the brass as decoration. The same process was applied on the keeper-part, but with a few differences... I then did some
polishing of the brass, and finished the polishing with some 0000-steelwool.
I then sow the keeper on...
I put the entire baldric into the bathtub (save the brass-pieces, these were held above water). I used normal cold water. I left it there for about ten or fifteen minutes, I think. The idea was to get the leather wet, but not straight through. I placed the baldric on a working bence and used a special tool to draw the lines etc. into the leather. When I was done decorating it I dyed it with a black leather dye. This leather dye is works best when the leather is wet, so it was ideal to start it as soon as the tooling was complete. To get a satisfying colour, I had to apply the dye some 6 to 8 times. I hung the baldric to dry after the dye had sunk into the leather and left it over night.
I treated the baldric with leather oil till it was softer and tougher than before the treatment. I used black shoeshining in a thick layer and left it to set for about half an hour. I polished it off and covered it with waterproofing wax and let it set for about as long as the shoeshining. Then I polioshed it with a soft cloth, and voilą! Done! :)
I think I've summoned it up without leaving anything out... :)
Cheers,
Henrik
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