Hello everyone, I'm Jim. Been reading and admiring here for some time before I ever registered. 1st of all let me say that this is not only a very knowledgeable group here, it has to be one of the most cordial and well mannered sites that I've come across so kudos to both the members & the moderators.

I've always had a love for anything to do with ancient times, especially the armor & arms pertaining to both Europe and the Middle East. I meant to start a weapons collection years ago but something always seemed to spend the money I had earmarked. Now that things are really tight around here I had forgotten about ever holding a real sword or feeling what 30 pounds of armor feels like after a days wear. Imagine my surprise when my 2 girls ( ladies now actually) and my wife walked me into a Phoenix area 'The Knife Shop' and led me to the displays where I was expected, lol. I guess they did pay attention whenever I would talk about the difference between a wallhanger & a full tang sword or how I always thought a hand & 1/2 would be the way to go. They felt like they needed to explain that it wasn't truly historical and that it wasn't any of the ones they see me looking at online but they had ordered it through the shop because, bottom line it was affordable. At least I think that's what they were saying, at the moment my heart was a bit full and I suddenly found something was in my eye and needing wiped. We left there with a very happy me totting a CAS Iberia hand & 1/2 warsword

Now that it's been here all night and I've had some time to look it over it's hideous, lol and you know what, I don't care in the least because I love fixing things up. Well that and whenever I pull it from the equally hideous scabbard I just hold it and grin like an idiot. I'm instantly transported back to summers spent wielding a garbage can lid buckler & a sword made from Uncle Eugene's old rolled up picket fence as my cousins and I defended our fort from the Huns (kids from the other side of the park) or practiced our offensive/defensive moves on each other, accompanied by many a busted finger. It doesn't matter that the balance is extremely blade heavy or whether its a good cutter. I have an advanced disease so full speed exercises or cutting trials won't be something on my agenda. I just want it to look the best that it can while I daydream.

To that end I've had the Dremel running most of the morning seeing if I could get a mirrored finish on the blade. Hideous is a strong word but I don't know if 'fixer upper' is a term applied to weaponry? The blade, guard & pommel all show, I'm certain, every single grinding mark that was made in the process. The guard in particular was very poorly finished and not seated exactly square to boot. The wrap on the handle looks like I may have done it during a blackout from 20 years ago on a Jim Beam sort of night. I've already put a much better finish on one side, the spring steel it turns out is much harder than I would have imagined. That end of the 'fixing' I can handle on my own as soon as we go back to Phoenix I just need to pick up a courser abrasive to remove the grinding marks.

So that leaves the grip. Trouble is I don't really know which type I prefer. I look at close-ups here in the reviews or somewhere like Albion that has very nice close ups and other than wire I like them all. So I thought with all the experience and know how to be found here it would be the best place to ask some of you to share your lessons learned & do's and don't of making your own wraps. What type did you like the best? least? What type was the biggest pain to do or the easiest? If anyone replies with suggestions please do keep in mind that with my bone disease arthritis comes part & parcel. If you had trouble doing a certain style or technique then I assuredly will also. Time or tediousness isn't at all an issue , I've got time kill , lots.

Now I must get back to polishing and reliving childhood daydreams. I look forward to hearing from the do it your self crowd & your suggestions. ......................................P.S. If this isn't the right place for this my apologies

Hi JIm -

Welcome! There are multiple threads around that have much information on redoing and rewrapping grips... Here are a couple, but use the search feature to find more.

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=7922
http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=2648

Best of luck, and I hope you enjoy your new toy.
Gordon

Thank you for the thread links. After reading up on some of the polishing tips in other posts here I felt like I should add that unless you have some experience with metal working you should stick to hand sanding/polishing. I have over 25 years spent in moulding & finishing metal so I have picked up a thing or 2 about metallic properties.

To anyone reading that post and thinking "ahh a dremel would really cut down on the time, yes it can. It can also ruin the temper of your blade. . Without getting technical if your power tool is producing color patterns on your blade stop using it. Besides which I should have clarified. I only use the dremel with my own homemade steel wool heads for the final polish. All the other work is done by elbow grease.